Evangelicals Now
<< September 2010 >>

God set to use London?

Does God have a plan for London? People from all kinds of ethnic and cultural backgrounds from across the globe pass through or have become part of Britain’s capital city.

The world is in London. This means that, even apart from what might happen as people come for the Olympic Games in 2012, London has enormous potential in God’s purposes for worldwide mission and it seems that many Christians have begun to understand this.

Adopt a borough

One such group is from among the American Southern Baptists. A number of Southern Baptist congregations in the United States have begun to ‘adopt a London borough’. The vision is to present the gospel in a culturally appropriate manner, especially among those who are unchurched, in particular areas of London.

Hunter Street Baptist Church, in Hoover, Alabama, has adopted Camden as its focus and Spencer, one of its pastors, spoke to EN about this.

His church’s desire is: first, to pray over the borough, sending people to do prayer walks; second, to learn about people in the area and their needs; and, third, to find partners within the borough (churches and other like-minded mission organisations) who they can help with outreach. They are very aware that they need to come humbly, not giving the impression that ‘the Yanks are here to save the day’! There is a great desire to find out what God is already doing and be useful to him for his kingdom. They would like to partner with churches and help them plant other churches in areas where there are none.

A city of prayer

Tim, one of the Southern Baptist workers already in London, also spoke to EN about his vision. He hopes to see a link between the US and London in such a way that every street in London is constantly prayed for in the ‘Adopt a borough’ scheme. This is a vast undertaking but, in this sense, he longs to see London as a city of prayer.

Already five boroughs have been adopted for the prayerful concern of US churches. These are Camden, Islington, Hounslow, Ealing and Bromley. They in no way wish to dominate, but to do whatever they can to encourage, help and walk with what God’s people are already doing in these areas.

Bridges and barriers

As they investigate areas, they are looking for bridges and barriers to the gospel. They want to pray for barriers to be removed and bridges to be built. They find that some churches, especially those with a liberal outlook, are more of a barrier than a bridge. They do not want to come with a recipe, but to learn and see the ministry change as it develops over time. ‘It’s about what God’s doing rather than our own agenda’, said Tim. ‘We are conservative theologically but liberal in love and outreach. We want to support those who don’t have support.’

Matt, one of the workers who recently arrived in London, is already involved in a church in Ealing and learning how culturally different the Brits are from the Americans. He has a particular burden for those who in the past have had some kind of Christian background or upbringing but are no longer involved in the church.

Spencer first came over in spring 2007, recognised how many nations are represented in London and saw what a key city this could be in God’s plans. Since then, he has met with the International Missions Board of the Southern Baptists, hence the ‘Adopt a London borough’ scheme got off the ground. ‘There is potential to reach the whole world in London’, Spencer told EN. ‘But we need great dependence on God.’

If you want to find out more about this ministry, go to the website http://www.adoptlondon.com which is currently orientated towards American churches in seeking to get more interest from across the Atlantic. But churches and Christians in London who would like to find out more about this ministry can do so by logging on here as well. In coming months they hope to change the website to make it more ‘Brit friendly’.

John Benton