Balham in London was once famously described by the late comedian Peter Sellers as the “gateway to the south” in a much-loved comedy parody of American travelogues.
Now decades later those words are proving prophetic as Christ Church Balham (CCB) seeks to reach out and plant a new church some six miles to its south. CCB is part of both the Co-Mission reformed church planting movement and the Anglican Mission in England (AMiE).
Jonny Burgess is an assistant pastor at CCB, and will be leading the church plant in September. He writes: “We are in the thick of planning and preparing, seeing great answers to prayer, and feeling the spiritual battle.
“We want to balance prudent planning and risk-taking, wisdom and faith, bold expectation and sober realism.
“We have identified an area in great need of a gospel-centred church: Hackbridge, which is six miles south of Balham. In many ways, it’s a very ordinary place – a fairly generic urban/suburban area, an uninspiring high street but some nice green areas nearby. In God’s eyes, it is a harvest field, and He has promised an abundant harvest (Matt. 9:38)! Living there are 8,000–10,000 image-bearers (depending on where you draw borders).
“The more established working-class population is increasingly being added to by an influx of newer commuters, with 1,500 new homes having been built in the last ten years. As a launch team, we are preparing to relocate from the Balham area to Hackbridge in the coming months, so that we can really get stuck into the local community.
“From January 2025 we began monthly meetings in Hackbridge... At every step of the road so far, God has been encouraging us and answering prayers. He is building an increasingly broad support base of gospel partners, and he has assembled a launch team – 17 adults and seven children to date – who are willing to relocate, pray hard, hold out the gospel and see what God does. There is always scope for discouragement and fear – please pray that we would resist the devil’s attacks and stand firm in Jesus.
