Christ Church United Reformed Church, Bellingham

Who we are

Serving Bellingham

Bellingham was built as a forerunner of the garden estates, to provide "homes for heroes" after the First World War. Christ Church has been present from the start of the estate in 1923. The building has gradually become a hub for small community-led groups. Although small in number, the church congregation values the individual, and seeks to serve the community and the needs of the world’s poor. 

According to many of the indices of deprivation, Bellingham Ward is one of the poorest in the borough of Lewisham. And yet there is a strong sense of community cohesion and resilience. The majority of the Christ Church congregation walk to worship on Sunday morning because they live locally and don't own vehicles.Across the week the building hosts a lunch club, a toddlers group, a social group for older people, and a weekly drop-in providing lunch, digital support, mindful exercise, and a help desk. Christ Church also runs Bellingham Linking Lives which is a befirending project. The majority of Christ Church activities are led by volunteers.

Our culture and values

Christ Church believes in drawing on the strengths and gifts of the people who come through the doors or live locally. This can be a challenge at times because many of them have lived experience of homelessness, chronic illness, mental health issues, domestic violence, neurodiversity, poor education, and substance abuse. Throughout its history the church has lived a hand-to-mouth existence yet shared what it has with the communities around it. 

We value working in partnership with other local organisations which bring their specialist skills to the warm and inviting space that we have gradually developed. The congregation, which just about reaches double figures on a good Sunday reflects the composition of the local community in most areas other than age profile. Across the week the building receives up to 100 visitors, many of whom voluntarily help to maintain the building by cleaning up after their group and setting up tables for the next group. 

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

As a member of the United Reformed Church we adhere to the equalities policy of our parent body: https://urc.org.uk/equalities-policy/

This is not easy to achieve when working with communities that have experienced life as a series of deficiencies. We act firmly and kindly when someone labels or stereotypes somone who is different from them, encouraging them to understand each other's frailties and getting to know one another by name. We hardly have a workforce, although we do have a wide pool of helpers and volunteers. The voluntary Minister and the part-time Coordinator of Bellingham Linking Lives work closely with helpers and volunteers to instill in them the values of mutual respect and understanding. The people connected to Christ Church through the local groups are unlikely to change their behaviour due to something that they have read or heard, but they may develop a more equitable attitude when dealt with fairly themselves and being gently admonished when they fall short. We keep self-reported statistics for the Friday Drop-In to show the breadth of the demographics of the people who attend.