In Depth:  Association of Grace Baptist Churches (South East)

Grace Baptist Chapel, Tottenham, sits in the middle of a dense tangle of London streets, a mile south west of White Hart Lane. Gavin Childress (see photo) has been the pastor since 1987, and the church now includes people from 11 different nations.

The effects of Covid have been felt strongly in Tottenham. ‘One lady who attends our church lost three people she knew well; a mother, father and daughter all died.’

London’s churches reflect the multicultural nature of a world city. Among Grace Baptist churches in inner London, there is a strong Caribbean, African and Latino presence, in contrast to churches in provincial towns and villages. Ministry has to be consciously cross-cultural, understanding a range of cultures and relating the gospel to each of them in one church.

Who will pastor such churches? Across London and the Home Counties, Grace Baptist churches have pastors who come from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, India, Mexico, and Brazil. They are also seeing people from several European nations coming to the UK to train for ministry. This mix of cultural backgrounds is enriching local churches.

Didcot is England’s most normal town. Statisticians reached that conclusion after crunching the numbers in 2017.

With a working-class population connected with the railway and power station, a sizable benefits class in social housing, alongside large numbers of nuclear scientists and biotech research labs, and huge new housing developments that are more affordable than Reading and Oxford, Didcot is an interesting microcosm of English life. It is set to double in size by 2035 as a ‘Garden Town’ with 10,000 homes being built. It is also home to the Baptist Union headquarters, but, given its rapid growth, not overwhelmed with churches, particularly on the new estates.