Parish Profile St Catherine's, Hatcham

'There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus'. That quote from Galatians 3 is almost the first thing you notice as you walk into St Catherine's, Hatcham

The poster faces the door and declares - 'everyone is welcome in this church irrespective of race, culture, faith etc. etc. - a declaration of the ethos of this friendly south-east London church.

Hatcham - in case you wondered - is mostly the 'posh' bit of New Cross, around Telegraph Hill with a fantastic, panoramic view across London and its two and three storey semi-detached houses, built around the turn of the century for the better off who wanted to move 'up the hill' from the river - the 'room at the top' syndrome. Around the 'hill dwellers' are terraced streets with smaller properties and a sprinkling of council and housing association flats.

To meet their spiritual needs an imposing 'Gothic style' church was built around 1894 on the top of the hill and despite war damage and re-roofing, is structurally little different today except that in 1972 the western end of the church was incorporated into a new community centre.

Today the area's residents are mainly 'comfortable' rather than wealthy, mostly professional, self-employed, skilled and semi-skilled workers, with a relatively small number of unemployed. Many of the larger houses - including the old Vicarage next to the church - have been divided into flats - and today it's a very mixed community of many different races, age groups and life-styles.

About five years ago St Catherine's set out its 'mission statement' - thankfully quite short and to the point - "firstly to worship God and secondly to serve the community". How well does it achieve them? I think, very well - but judge for yourself.

I joined St Catherine's at their main Sunday service - an ASB Eucharist. The congregation, around fifty or so, all ages, from eight months to 80-plus; Asian, African, Caribbean and Anglo-Saxon; everyone seemed to be on first-name terms and every arrival seemed to be a cue for a round of vigorous handshaking. According to churchwarden, Ben Haines, 'a disproportionate number are in the caring professions, social work, teaching or retired from them.'

The Vicar, Francis Makambwe, only just back in harness after a heart problem, was joined 'up front' by OLM Arthur Obiora and Reader Lesley Goodwin, who because of failing eyesight commits everything to memory - liturgy, readings, even her sermons. There was an extraordinary degree of lay involvement - as well as a crucifer and stewards, lay people read the lessons, intercessed, preached, administered the sacraments. The Vicar's role is as President, and he clearly had little to do but 'preside' - except that week to give a clearly heartfelt 'thank you' for encouragement and support he and his wife Zena had received during his illness.

I have to agree with Ben Haines' assertion that the service was "more heartfelt than discreetly holy". The singing - traditional and modern hymns - was lusty and enthusiastic.

The young people have their own activities for the first half of the service, usually coming in for the Eucharist. They meet in the Narthex Hall, a strangely shaped 'bridge' between the church and the community centre, where, after the service, tea and coffee were served to the congregation many of whom seemed reluctant to stop chatting and go home! Francis Makambwe came from Zambia, where he'd risen from rural parish priest to Director of the Mindolo Ecumenical Foundation - a top pan-African training institute. In 1991 he came to Southwark as a missionary, part of Africa's contribution to the Decade of Evangelism - attached to St John's, Waterloo as a parish evangelist but also working with mission agencies based in the parish like USPG and CMS. It was originally meant to be a 'limited engagement', but when Malcolm Torry left St Catherine's, the parish was offered to Francis and he and Zena decided to stay!

"It's a very interesting parish" he told me. "There are around 10,000 people in all - but a very high number of very talented people, artists, actors, dancers, musicians.

"There is a close link between the church and the community, fostered obviously by the presence of the community centre - but that's not the only factor. St Catherine's actively works at breaking down the divisions between 'us' and 'them'".

The churchmanship of the main Sunday service is deliberately middle of the road and non-threatening so that no-one in the community need feel excluded. The diversity of the community is also catered for - with regular BCP Communion and prayer and praise evenings - plus the use of liturgy from other parts of the world from time to time (African liturgy is planned for Pentecost), reflecting the multi-racial make up of a local community which according to OLM Arthur Obiora "has made an effort to ensure that racial tension is minimised".

And of course there is the community centre. In the late 60s the PCC converted the rear of the church into a neighbourhood centre. It was paid for partly from the proceeds of the sale of land to a housing association and the rest by the local council, who gained space for a library in the deal. An independent trust was formed to run the centre on licence. In 1988 when the trust had to cut back because of lost Council grants, the PCC took over the management which it exercises through a sub-committee made up of PCC nominees and community representatives. Part of the centre is leased to the Carr Gomm Society as offices, and the income is donated by the PCC to the Centre. When the Council decided to close the Library, the Church and Centre together raised the mone, mainly from the Haberdasher's Company, to buy it and Carr Gomm now use it as a community cafe and catering training facility for adults with special needs.

The centre is used for a very wide range of activities from toddler and pre-school groups to old people's activities including a thriving lunch club.

"Whoever wants to use it can do so - and that includes people who want it for wedding receptions and so on" said Francis.

The centre and the church itself are the focal point for the Telegraph Hill Festival now into its seventh year. The Festival Secretary and also the Chair of the Centre Management Committee is Susan Edwards. She told me "The Festival began when Malcolm Torry was the Vicar. There was a history of community performances by the St Catherine's congregation and of one-day Festivals in Telegraph Hill Park and Malcolm was keen to bring the two together." Since 1993 the Festival has centred on a major community production - this year from 10-19 March it is to be the musical, 'The Music Man', - with a number of other events in schools, the park and other local venues.

"The Festival couldn't happen without the co-operation of the church" said Susan. That co-operation means that St Catherine's is the auditorium for the production - and for the weeks leading up to it, the main rehearsal rooms.

So a church which is very much part of and at the heart of its local community. What else has St Catherine's got going for it? They are certainly well blessed with clergy. In addition to the Vicar and OLM Arthur Obiora, there are two NSMs, both retired priests - James Bogle and Dr Daniel Haines, who look after the ASB Rite B 8am Sunday service. And they seem to have an astounding ability to 'grow' more, perhaps because the laity are encouraged to step beyond the normal boundaries of lay involvement. One of the two Readers, Sarah Scott is in her final year of ordination training at SEITE and will shortly join the team at a Rotherhithe parish. She will be the fourth woman priest ordained from St Catherine's in just five years. In addition to Sarah and the other Reader Lesley, there is also a licensed preacher, Gillian Reeve.

Lay involvement also extends to 'policy'. There are a number of groups, looked after by PCC Vice Chair and Deanery Lay Chair, Anne Atkins, who are encouraged to look critically at different aspects of St Catherine's life - from worship to children's work - and their views really count. If change is seen to be needed- it happens.

So are there no flies in St Catherine's ointment?

"Finance is a problem" said Francis. "We're not a rich congregation. There are quite a few people with low incomes so it's a struggle to pay the quota. The church itself needs some major repairs - the roof leaks, for example - and that will be hard to pay for. In theory we could use the income from the centre lettings to support the church building but we've take the decision to plough that back into the community and we stick to that decision."

Surprisingly despite the church's close affinity to the local community, translating that into 'bums on pews' isn't easy.

"We get a lot of people in church during the festival and not just for the performances. But the rest of the year it's a struggle" said Francis.

That problem also translates into a shortage of 'leaders'. Children's church, which operates every Sunday for fives to teens, has a problem. Lesley Goodwin and Sarah Scott have been running it but Lesley is about to have a baby and Sarah is off to Rotherhithe and so far despite appeals, there is no-one jumping at the chance to take it over.

There's a fine organ - and organist - but the choir stalls are empty, despite the fact that two children's church members have joined the new Cathedral Girls Choir.

But there is a 'five year plan' of which the first phase was to buy the library - done - and the second phases will look at the needs of the community centre and only then in the third stage will the church's needs be reviewed as part of a study of the whole complex.

Let churchwarden Ben Haines have the last word...To most people we're just the church next to the community centre! We are conscious that we carry on through the Fairer Shares generosity of churches in South Croydon and so on - anyone who'd like to come and see what their money buys would be very welcome. We certainly don't waste it!"