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Normally at this time of year, Co-Mission churches would have been reflecting on another cracking REVIVE weekend – the annual Co-Mission festival.

We’d have been thanking God for over 2,000 people squeezed into a big top for excellent Bible teaching and singing; we’d have been reminiscing about late nights chatting around blazing fire pits, about packed kids’ programmes, about silent discos, about soul-nourishing seminars and about sipping something cold under the stretch tent as the sun sets.

London church planting network, Co-Mission, gives an update on some of its newest congregations:

‘Realistically, a few of the Co-Mission church plants in and around London might not come out of this alive. But so far – to the credit of our church planters, the resilience of their launch teams and the goodness of God – none of our recent church plants, nor any of our proposed church plants, have had to close or look like they’re facing imminent death. We pray that this will remain the case.

Along with churches throughout the country, Co-Mission churches in London are adjusting to life in the face of a global pandemic. We are finding new ways to keep congregations connected, preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and care practically for one another and our neighbours.

On Sunday 15 March, Dundonald Church met together for the last time before social-distancing rules made church gatherings impossible. Richard Coekin (Senior Pastor of Dundonald Church) led the congregation in this expanded version of the Lord’s Prayer:

Co-Mission is committed to planting and strengthening churches throughout London to reach the lost for the glory of God. We want to reach people who wouldn’t normally come to church to hear about Jesus. Here are two examples of Co-Mission churches using the opportunity of Christmas to present guests with their need for a Saviour.

Christ Church Balham held its annual ‘carols in a pub’ service with a unique twist – mashing up traditional carols with pop music! This has become CCB’s biggest outreach event of the year. The theatre at the Bedford Pub in Balham was packed with friends and family of churchgoers, as well as those in the pub curious at the merriment. All enjoyed belting out carols with the ten-piece band, to a mix of merry renditions of Take On Me by Aha (or Angels from the Realms of Glory), Giant by Rag’n’Bone Man (or See Amid the Winter’s Snow) and All the Small Things by Blink 182 (or O Come All Ye Faithful).