Vol 4/7
September
1999

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Parish Profile

Christ Church, North Brixton

Twenty years ago, North Brixton parishioners took the Church Commissioners to the Privy Council over plans to close their church - and won.

Faced with a listed building he had to keep open, a congregation of six and next to no annual income, Bishop Mervyn Stockwood tagged Christ Church, Brixton onto the neighbouring parish of St John the Divine, Kennington where Lyle Dennen, Vicar of St John's even then, put its day to day care into the hands of curate, Nigel Godfrey. Today Christ Church is a separate parish. It has a lively muti-cultural congregation, an annual turnover of around £500,000 and makes a major contribution to community life well beyond its parish boundaries. Nigel Godfrey is still there - Vicar for the past ten years - and by general agreement, the one whose vision, drive and determination transformed this once ailing parish into a hive of Christian community and action. It's impossible to visit Christ Church and not come away 'gob-smacked'.

That was its hey-day and fortunes declined to the extent that it was ripe for redundancy in the 70s. But many now have cause to be grateful for those rebel parishioners, the subsequent decisions of Mervyn Stockwood and Lyle Dennen - and the curate who stayed.

The secret of Christ Church's success is easy to work out. Know your community, its make-up, and its needs - and use your building and people to meet those needs.

For example, North Brixton has always been a popular area for new immigrant communities to settle. When Nigel Godfrey first arrived the predominant group was from the West Indies. The small Anglican congregation worshipped in the vestry and the New Testament Church of God in the hall behind. Today the Carribbean population is mainly 2nd generation and the 'newcomers' are from Africa and eastern Europe. Now up to ten different congregations share the building meeting the worship needs of the different communities in the area - French and Spanish speaking churches, African churches and the West Indian New Testament Church of God. On any Sunday there can be three services taking place at the same time in different parts of the building.

Then there's Brixwork! A parish audit in the late 1980s identified the training and skills needs of the high numbers of unemployed in the area - particularly among the ethnic minority communities. A project, Brixwork was set up and over the past ten years has taught marketable skills, provided job-search help and personal development for many hundreds of trainees. The training centre outgrew the Christ Church premises and today has its base in Westminster Bridge Road. Now Christ Church are developing a Foyer Project to assist under 25s - also targeting ex-offenders, refugees and young people coming out of care - to live independently and, with Brixwork's help, to find jobs.

Then there's the halls behind. Today they are the base for Lambeth Co-operative Development Agency providing premises for starter businesses and co-operatives - a major need in the area.

To 'manage' this complex operation the PCC set up four departments (Central Services, Church, Brixwork and Neighbourhood) looking after 12 teams, each expected to be self-funding. The whole organisation has been set up as a group of related legal entities; the PCC, two trusts and a trading company.

North Brixton Trust is the parent body for Brixwork - managed by Felicity Truscott - which runs the employment projects but also looks after the training and development of the forty staff, mainly volunteers, many of whom like Vicar Nigel Godfrey and his colleague priest Alex Mills live 'over the shop' in a Christian community.

Central Services are managed by John Wilson who oversees administration, development (including fundraising) and the heady job of managing the half a million pound annual budget.

Brian Hammond went along to Christ Church to sample its worship. He writes: The Sunday morning Eucharist started at 11am. I got there early and watched the preparations, setting out the chairs in a horseshoe round the altar. I found a censer burning in the entrance lobby, sending its scent through the church and wondered what was in store. When the Eucharist started I was immediately reminded of one Sunday I worshipped in the Metropolitan Cathedral in Istanbul. It wasn't just the Icon near the altar, it was the whole atmosphere. There was no organ or piano, just unaccompanied singing, led by cantors. People kept arriving as the service went on. Above all, there was the quiet dignity and depth of meaning that said 'God is being worshipped here'. The Sunday of my visit was the feast of the Falling Asleep of Mary. I had been told to expect 'a sort of evangelical worship'. It was more a delicately balanced synthesis of Catholic, Evangelical and Orthodox in which many people took their part. A team of assistants wearing albs helped the concelebrating priests, both of whom wore vestments. We used the Peruvian setting to Kyries, Gloria, Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei. Alex Mills roots are Greek Orthodox. She told me that I happened to see their worship the week after Eric, their regular musician and pianist, had returned to Texas. He had come to the end of his year at Christ Church under the auspices of the 'Time for God' scheme. Stephan from Germany and Judith from Denmark will be replacement musicians and youth workers. Cantor - and Brixwork leader - Felicity Truscott is part of that community. She told me how they have developed a diversity of styles in their music. I asked her particularly about their setting of the Lord's Prayer - sung to the tune of 'I don't know how to love him' from 'Jesus Christ Superstar'. We joined hands as we sang this - and it was followed by The Peace. Felicity's comment that Christ Church is a 'Big Family' certainly came across at that point in the service. Fund-raiser Sylvia Golden is another member of the community. Her Roman Catholic background helps her appreciate the breadth of worship they share here. She explained that the Sunday of my visit was possibly more reflective than they have when young people lead the worship 'with drums, tambourines and other percussion instruments'. Lucille Barber told me that this form of worship was developed gradually during the 1980s, when Nigel Godfrey came. Gladys French, here since 1976, said how much she enjoys the worship as does Marjorie Johnson who came here 30 years ago. Lennie Strachan gets " electric when I come in through these doors". Liston Knight (who often acts as sub-deacon) described the feeling of thankfulness and respect he finds in Christ Church worship. Margaret Longe is one of a team who welcome people as they arrive. She told me how God speaks to her through the freshness and variety of their worship. That's how it was for me. What still puzzles me is how they managed to combine depth and freshness and freedom in their worship. Perhaps it is the fruit of years of waiting on the Holy Spirit and the prayer that goes into the preparation for each Sunday. Perhaps it was the subconscious influence of the architecture - seen from the west it is reminiscent of Hagia Sophia, the great cathedral of old Constantinople. No wonder the worship had Orthodox vibrations!

Alex Mills also looks after the church's pastoral activities. She is hoping to build a visiting team. They are also keen on developing vocations - several priests have started in Christ Church's congregation - and today the emphasis is on encouraging leadership from all the divergent groups within the congregation. She is also keen on developing the social life of the parish "an important aspect of a church is what it does when it isn't worshipping" she said.

So how do you describe Christ Church? It's a Christian community - priests, laity, paid staff, volunteers sharing their lives and ministry seven days a week. It's a 'big business', with management structures, 'cost-centre accounting' and serious money annual turnover. It's a community service - providing skills and life training, recycling basic necessities and supporting local initiatives.

Where does Nigel Godfrey fit into all this? He says he doesn't have much to do nowadays - but the team tell a different story. "He's good at giving you a job and letting you get on with it," but "he's always coming up with new ideas, new ways of doing things - and he's always there when you need advice with a wealth of experience you can tap into".

"It couldn't have happened without him".

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