We were there because one of our sons has just set up a stall, selling
re-cycled clothing, at the Vintage Market in Brick Lane. So, we thought we’d do the ‘parental’ thing
of giving encouragement to a venture we barely understand!
Like many areas of London this patch, between Shoreditch in the north and
Whitechapel to the south, has many layers of history.
Back in 1612 Spitalfields saw the foundation of the very first Baptist Church
in England. It was led by Thomas Helwys
who, just a few years later, was thrown into Newgate jail for his ‘dissenting’
views in matters of faith. Us Baptists
have always been part of the awkward squad!
Towards the end of the 1600’s Spitalfields saw the influx of thousands of
French refugees who we have come to know as Huguenots. Louis XIV’s Edict of Nantes declared that
France would no longer tolerate their Protestant belief, so 50,000 of them
settled in Britain, many in the East End of London. The Huguenots were tremendously industrious
and made the area famous for their silk merchandise. They settled so well because Spitalfields was
outside the legal and financial jurisdiction of The Guilds and Companies of The
City. An obvious sign of the success of
the Huguenots was the establishment of ten small Protestant Meeting Houses in
which they worshipped.
As if to teach them how
the English really built churches, the Parish of Spitalfields commissioned
Nicolas Hawksmoor to come up with a truly grand and monumental design for the
new Christ Church, standing at the centre of this community. We had lunch in the church grounds this week
and the building still towers over everything around it – it’s truly massive. Recently Christ Church has become one of the
many satellite congregations of Holy Trinity, Brompton. It’s contemporary worship style and heavy
support from HTB has re-energised it so much so that it now regularly holds
three services on a Sunday.
Another example of ‘thinking outside the box’ is the recent establishment of a
Community Café on Brick Lane, Spitalfields, sponsored by Baptist Home Mission
and set up as a ‘crossing point’ between church and community.
Oh, and of course, Spitalfields is also the famous location of many Jack the
Ripper cases. We even did the tour!
Well, it’s a fascinating place with a long history and a contemporary
multi-cultural feel.
The Bible regularly invokes a ‘Sense of Place’ as shorthand for various
observations and messages about faith and life.
We talk of The Garden of Eden in terms of a lost paradise. Whilst Sodom and Gomorrah stand for
all that is beyond the pale.
And isn’t it significant that Jesus was born in the, comparatively,
insignificant town of Bethlehem and died on a cross outside the capital,
Jerusalem, at Golgotha, a place of shame.
All making the point that this King never lived in a palace or sat upon
a cushioned throne.
There is a modern Call to Worship that says:
and this is the time;
here and now,
God waits
to break into our experience;
to change our minds,
to change our lives,
to change our ways……
This is the place
as are all places;
this is the time
as are all times.
Here and now
let us praise God.
And it’s surely an inspiring thought that God is with us at all times and in all places.
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