Small church? Big building? A great God – no problem

What do you do if you are a small church in a large building that is falling apart?

This challenge faced West Ham Baptist Tabernacle (part of the Association of Grace Baptist Churches SE) in Newham, East London. Their building was about a century old and was badly damaged during the Blitz. They had recovered in the 1950s and 60s, then reached a low ebb in the 90s. Reuben Danladi came as pastor in 1999, stepping out in faith to revitalise the church, and while the church grew again, the building rotted and was often vandalised.

A number of redevelopment schemes were considered over many years, but rejected by the Council. Then another Association church in Homerton, just across the Olympic Park, underwent an exciting rebuild, the two churches worshipping together in West Ham while the Homerton build went ahead. West Ham decided to follow a similar scheme. Working with Spacelab, a London developers and architects, the site was cleared, a basement was dug, and a new six-storey apartment block went up (photo left). The ground floor and basement, as well as the freehold, belong to the church, while five floors of apartments above are being sold off to pay for the redevelopment. The developer takes the risk, so it is a zero-cost project for the church. The church gets a deceptively spacious facility (photo right), with a main hall seating 200, and two halls downstairs, as well as a kitchen on both levels and full facilities, including a lift.