Nearly a quarter of households in London are social housing – meaning most of the capital’s churches have an estate close by.
Especially amongst white working-class communities, the church is often associated with mistrusted authorities. The result is that many residents go their whole lives without hearing who Jesus really is.
We come alongside churches to get to know residents and their needs, creating an environment for friendships where the gospel can be shared.
Ann's story
“I always believed in God, but I never felt connected to God or the church,” said Ann, who lives on an estate in Vauxhall. “After a while I didn’t even want anything to do with the church.”
Then Ann met Shane, an LCM missionary, and a friendship grew between them. One Sunday she decided to take up Shane’s invitation to church, which was the first step to her giving her life to Jesus.
“God’s helping me to get out and speak to people about him. Even if I’m on the bus, I chat about Jesus”, says Ann.
One of the best ways of getting to know your neighbours is to knock on their door and introduce yourself! Our experience has shown that an intentional, methodical approach to visiting residents of an estate is the most fruitful. We come alongside churches to help do this effectively. So often, people are happy to talk and to speak about Jesus!
Together with churches, we meet the community where they are, in relevant ways – realistically an invitation to church is rarely accepted straight away. We help churches host events such as Pie-and-Bible nights, where initial connections can be made with guests in a relaxed and familiar environment.
There has been a significant increase in needs amongst London’s estates since the pandemic struck. We help churches to build connections with guests and to find natural opportunities to talk about Jesus with them.
There are a lot of doors in a city. Behind each lives at least one person made in the image of God. But few of them are following Jesus, few of them have people who can tell them about Jesus. There’s a need to get the message out – an urgency to tell people the glorious gospel – but how do we reach the people behind those doors?
“As a very small congregation, it’s very easy to feel overwhelmed by what you see around you. LCM have come alongside us, and we’ve been able to invite clients from our food bank to a support group, where they can hear more about Jesus.”
Nick Gray, ELIM Pentecostal Church
LCM shares the gospel alongside the local church of London, equipping everyday Christians to lovingly bring a message of hope in Christ to those least likely to hear it.
Registered Charity No. 247186
