“All of them were united in prayer, gripped with one passion, interceding night and day.”

Acts 1:14

In the spirit of Rewilding The Church, over the last couple of months we have used our Monday Hubs to pause and listen to what He is telling us as a church to do here in Barking Riverside; not only our next steps as a church but how we can help those in our community thrive. Each week the same sort of themes kept coming out of our prayers and discussions, even discussions outside of our core group who meet in Monday and Sunday Hubs were reiterating the same vision. It soon became clear that there are clear areas He would like us to move and work within. We are now calling these areas our Dream Themes: the dreams we have as a collective to see God moving in and reaching those within our church and wider community.

Our Dream Themes

Church without walls

These were all of the ideas around what we as a church should be for ourselves but also for those in our church family and wider community. We really do believe in being a church without walls and the fact that church isn’t just a building or Sunday services but those who are a part of the church, with the same belief and trust in Him. We also need to be a beacon of hope and light for not just Christians in Barking Riverside but the whole community. From here we hope to grow, touching the hearts of every person here, even in the smallest of ways.

Young People

Young people came up in basically every conversation we had. There are so many temptations within Barking Riverside and the surrounding areas that worry parents and the rest of the general public alike. We would like to inspire our young people to find God, find themselves and carve out who they would be proud to be in years to come.

Families & Children

This follows on from Young People: inspiring and facilitating parents and in turn their young children to feel safe and belonging in Barking Riverside. We want to spread love, healing and hope to all those who need it and in time become a safe haven for families to join in and explore their faith and walk with God through our Family Hubs.

Community

We are very much aware that our community is so diverse with people of all creeds, colours and faiths and even where people live within Barking Riverside can cause tensions bearing in mind the history of the area. But the hope is that despite this, we can all come together as human beings to make this THE place to live in London. A place of love, understanding and real, authentic community feel. We regularly throw community events throughout the year. If you’d like to keep up with news and events from us, Subscribe to our newsletter.

Creativity

Lastly creativity sits under each of the above themes. There is so much talent in our area, those we have had the pleasure of meeting and worshipping with and so many more we are yet to meet. Creativity of all kinds brings people together, even those who wouldn’t deem themselves creative enjoy music, plays, dance etc. Its a massive umbrella term that hosts a plethora of different ways to express yourself as an individual and as a collective.

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Once we had these themes and knew what was important to us as a church in Barking Riverside, we reached out to Emmanuel to create a piece of art that would embody all of these themes for us. We couldn’t be happier with this gorgeous image he’s created for us.

I had the chance to chat through his inspiration of this beautiful image with Emmanuel last week:

Credit to Kirk Franklin’s Love Theory for the background track.

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Now we’ve gotten to this point and have heard clearly the areas He would like us to work within, we need to discuss and listen further to how each of these themes can be manifested and brought to life. This won’t be something that will be carried out in the next month, there may be projects that come out of one or all of these themes that happen year on year or for months to come. We are yet to know the answers but if there is a particular theme that speaks to you, or you have an idea of how you would like one, or some, or even all of these themes to come to life practically, please Get In Touch.