Sunday 29 May 2011

St Anne’s Church, Three Colt Street, Limehouse, 22.05.11

This week I finally yielded to temptation and visited a church built by Nicholas Hawksmoor. The fame of Nicholas Hawksmoor’s five London churches is only comparable to the critical praise given to his mentor Sir Christopher Wren, who built a high number of churches in the City of London (none in the East End) including St Pauls. Hawksmoor’s gothic churches inspired Alan Moore’s comic book masterpiece From Hell, Peter Ackroyd’s seminal 80s novel Hawksmoor and provided the most written and celebrated architectural sites for Ian Sinclair and other fellow London Psychogeographers . For readers unaware of the (o)cult reputation that follows Hawksmoor’s architecture please watch the documentary short below.


After that sensationalist documentary you might expect the congregation of St Anne’s to sacrifice a goat every Sunday and baptise their small children in the remaining blood before performing a nude fertility dance to encircle the church grounds. Such Gothic pagan fantasies never materialized, instead the congregation was predominantly white, middle class, and extremely mannered. The service felt so Middle England I felt I had stepped through a vortex when entering the church doors and had been relocated to a village nave in Surrey. Not that I disliked the congregation, the slower more reflective service did provide a spiritual rest from all the dancing and shouting of the evangelicals of recent weeks. The congregation just seemed to be dwarfed by the sheer grandeur of St Anne’s history. 

St Anne’s grounds were consecrated in 1730, one of the twelve churches built through the 1711 Act of Parliament. Built in 1712 to 1724, so much money had been spent on the building there was nothing left to pay for a priest. Dedicated to St Anne (the mother of the Virgin Mary and Grandmother of Jesus) the church’s name is also a reference to Queen Anne who commissioned an act of parliament to build fifty churches in London and the surrounding area. The details of history are lost in such a grand nave which has been numerously renovated  and filled with wooden pews and large stone columns, with a gallery on three sides, fully restored giant gold organ in the west end and the sanctuary recently returned to its original level in the east. Not that the church is a full restoration of Hawksmoor’s original building, originality is always a casualty of history, instead the church’s wonder comes from the mystery of its old age typified by its huge size. The nave was first gutted by a fire on the Good Friday of 1850, starting the first restoration from 1851 and/to1854 by Philip Hardwick and a further restoration in 1983 and 1993 by Julian Harrap’s inclusion of tubular steel trusses as roof support and not forgetting the most recent restoration of the organ, altar and floor from 2007 to 2009.




 Fitting the church’s long history, St Anne’s building is difficult to visually comprehend from the outside, every angle has a different facet of character.  To attempt to describe the building would take forever so instead I focused on the main architectural oddities.  My favorite entrance is the West Elevation (see above), when walking towards from the west the entire building appears to come forward and extends its entrance yet it seems to grow further away in height the closer you come. The entrance creates a feeling of the church being unavoidable yet unobtainable. Another outside oddity is the rogue pyramid nestled within in the corner of the churchyard under a tree, many believe that Hawksmoor intended pyramids to be placed on the turrets (as indicated in his drawings from the British library), it’s an odd feature for a church building and has been explained as a throwback to the Egyptians, a signa of masonry, or even a prophetic symbol of the future construction of Canary Wharf (I made that up). The other most notable exterior feature is the large clock tower, one of the highest in London, so as to be visible from boats on the Thames.  All the noticeable architectural characteristics cannot be viewed from one angle, however luck has it that some kind person has posted a walk around the church grounds.


 The church's complexity cannot be encapsulated in a single photo, even the film is limited by the intense atmosphere the building creates, an atmosphere that is only fully realized when seen in the flesh/stone.

The congregation is surrounded by such grandeur and heritage that they could not help but feel a bit self-satisfied. No Rapture predictions, no despairing diatribes on the decline of modern society, no urgent wrongs to be righted. The congregation of St Anne’s were comfortable and content in their beliefs which were well illustrated by Reverend Richard Bray sermon on the 8th Commandment Thou Shall Not Steal. St Anne’s proudly claimed in their pamphlets and online that they offer “straight forward bible teaching,” and it is true there was a clear and practical understanding of the scriptures in everyday life that did not look to spiritualism or the mystery of god. Reverend Bay indicated that we are all thief’s in some regard be it the criminal burglar who recently robbed the parish crypt or the dishonest customer who paid less because their item was wrongly priced. The only person who is not a thief is Jesus (him again) who also is the only person who can show us salvation through giving.  So we might all steal but as long as we give like Jesus we can make amends for our natural disposition to sin. Call me puritanical but this all seemed very easy and I felt Reverend Bay seemed a little too “straight forward,” in his bible teaching.  Especially when the main act of giving would be a financial donation paid to the church, perpetuating the most clichéd but valid criticism aimed at organized religion.

I have no problem with the concept that we are all thieves of some kind (it's a sentiment I agree with) but I do have an issue when people claim that stealing cannot always be justified. Reverend Bray knew his audience and chose to focus on the small acts of stealing that his privileged congregation might identify with.  Bray’s rationale was that all stealing is wrong and there is no harmless crime yet he never acknowledged that some people might steal out of necessity and for survival. My anger was not only generated by the assumed wealth of the congregation within the sermon but the concept that giving is forever the solution and a natural reaction to guilt. Giving is not always an altruistic act, it can be used to assume and project power and identity onto someone, thing or people. A great example is the information I have given you in regards to St Anne’s Church.

In “London's Scariest Churches” we are given analysis and historical research  by Ian Sinclair and friends of the pagan history surrounding Hawksmoor, but from the present congregation of St Anne’s I was given an entirely more conventional impression of the church. Naturally the differing experiences and perspectives can co-exist and they help form a more overall impression of St Anne’s church but in both cases the act of giving information colours your primal impression of the church.

 Arguably Hawksmoor and his churches have been so entwined with historical mysteries, as well as being the subject of such huge amounts of cultural analysis and survived such vast social changes within the Church of England that Hawksmoor's personality has been stolen and then given back to us. In this regard the act of stealing and giving is merely a constant exercise in recycling, a process which I am continuing. I guess I am not suited to “straight forward bible teaching.” I am too interested in the multiple meanings of buildings. Lost in the imagination of St Anne’s Church of Limehouse or my imaginations of St Anne’s Church of Limehouse, now which one is it?

Saturday 21 May 2011

Church of theThe Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and St Dominic, Ballance Road, Homerton, 19.05.11

Forgive me reader for once again I have sinned. But this time it’s a real sin, not an act that goes against religious dogma instead I have committed a sin in the sense that my action disobeys my own moral code. One of the few tenets of my blog is that I attend a service every Sunday, if unable to uphold this principle I must go to another service later in the week.  I did neither but I did get to have a very nice chat with a cheerfully informative Father Tony from the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and St Dominic on Bannister Road.
I am proud to say my principles do hold emotional credence and are not hollow and masochistic rules I have placed upon myself. Despite the pleasure of a lazy Sunday morning in bed as the week progressed I became distracted by guilt and regret at my lack of spiritual voyeurism. The guilt and regret flourished into a shrugging stroll and supplicating stare as I entered the empty nave of The Immaculate Heart of Mary and St Dominic. The church was as lavish as its name with a light blue marble dome shaped sanctuary forming a blunted point at the end of the nave. Creating an annular communal space. Religious wooden figurines were placed either side of the aisles between the pillars. From the front you are greeted by St Patrick recognisable by his four leaf clover and St Dominic with his loyal dog, while at the back of the building  you find wooden replicas of the Vatican statues of St Peter and The Pieta.  The Immaculate Heart had great depth with tall and long arches, whose height was doubled by the reflective geometry of the arched stained glass windows positioned directly above. The high ceiling was fittingly made up of sky blue stone squares but with hidden lights nestled within stone carved stars placed in brown pirouetting squares. The nave’s large interior was matched by the large cultural scope of Catholic art, the right hand side of the wall adorned with traditional numbered wood carvings of the stations of the cross (common in any Catholic Church around the world) but to the left hand side was a diverse collection of Christian art from South Africa, Haiti, South American and India. The Immaculate Heart had all the grandeur I had expected from the Catholic Church before I began my blog but had not yet experienced in the East End. It was not a surprise when Father Tony informed me that the church had garnered the reputable title “Cathedral of The East.”  Perhaps the nave seemed so large and romantic because it was lacking the congregation I had missed, the grand but empty architecture mirroring my own pining heart.
The imaginary congregation and church’s history (no online sources) was in the hands of Father Tony, a less holy Priest may have taken the opportunity to increase the attendance of the faithful and concocted a more persecuted past but Father Tony had sincerity and infectious enthusiasm for his faith, congregation and church history. I was informed that the congregation were 75% African and West Indian (with Nigerians and Ghanaians being the most predominant nation) the other members range from being Irish, Polish and from Latin America (Columbia being the most notable country). Father Tony had been Reverend for The Immaculate Heart for 7 years, before working in South America (Columbia and Venezuela) and was brought up in Ireland so his international experience seemed a key facet in working with such a diverse congregation. Interestingly Father Tony never described any of his members as English reinforcing my own prejudice that the Catholic Church is forever the immigrants’ church of England. The history of the East End however would contradict my ignorant assumption with the heavily documented migration of French Huguenots and German Lutherans arriving and building homes around the eastern docks. Yet the Catholic Church has a changing émigré face in its vast history. Father Tony pointed out that in the 1960s the congregation was predominantly Irish and Italian and the first Nigerian does not appear in the directory until the late 60s. I am often been critical of the Catholic service’s routine rituals but with such diverse congregations through the ages you realise the rituals are not just intended to be transcendental but transnational and transcultural. Father Tony informed me that various services range in numbers, the liveliest services being on Sunday at 11 AM gaining 600 members  with organ and occasional African drumming while the morning mass held every day except Monday brings in a more modest 10 to 20 parishioners. These numbers are huge in comparison to the Anglican churches I have visited but the Catholic faiths endurance comes from sets of traditions that have thrived despite historical opposition.  
The church grounds were founded in 1873 by the once Anglican Cannon Ackiers, Ackiers  was keen to build a grand Catholic church in the East End. However the majority of the current building is no longer standing after being bombed in 1941 during The Blitz. Massive reconstruction funded by the war indemnity and the local community saw the current building resurrected in 1956. Father Tony was unsure if the grand stone entrance with its large wooden door and statues of St Dominic and Mary would have been a part of the original building, he was unsure if the entrance would have been too flamboyant for a Catholic church in the 1800s but more acceptable in the more tolerant world of the 1950s. If the bold entrance was or was not in the original building at least Ackiers's founding desire for grand Catholic Church eventually came to promise. Father Tony was essential in creating an understanding of the congregation and history of the church and in effect creating a penance for my own transgression but he also provided a perfect opportunity to talk to a Priest and get his opinion, especially on my feeling of guilt around my own sanctimonious perception of sin.
Guilt does not create sin, the first myth that Father Tony dispelled for me, he claimed that often during the confessional he has helped his parishioners have a sense of perspective of their own religious morality, claiming some members needlessly worry about the implications of their actions.   Not that sin needs religion despite the word’s origins. Below is a definition of sin taken from an online dictionary (sorry its not the Oxford English Dictionary for all cultural snobs).
Sin1. transgression of divine law: the sin of Adam. 2. any act regarded as such a transgression, especially a willful or deliberate violation of some religious or moral principle. 3. any reprehensible or regrettable action, behavior, lapse, etc.; great fault or offense: It's a sin to waste time.
Clearly this week’s personal shortcomings qualify with the second and third definition of sin. To shoehorn my morality into Catholicism seems unnecessary as I share different principles (or less rigid regulations) but I was interested in the concept of sin. In my very limited knowledge of Catholicism I knew of venial sin and mortal sin but was unsure what qualifies an action to be a mortal sin. I presumed mortal sin was murder, rape and torture but actually none of these horrific acts qualify unless they are committed with the criteria below.
1.       Must be a serious matter
2.       Must have absolute Freedom
3.       Must have absolute Knowledge
4.       Must have desire to offend God
Judging by the above criteria my agnostic sins will not lead to certain damnation until I start to believe in god and subsequently commit sins with the very intention of upsetting him.  In answer to what sort of person would believe in God and would want to upset him I suggest people read Graham Greene’ Brighton Rock (as it could only be a person who exists in fiction). Separate from the religious ideas of sin and guilt, I do have retrospective worries around my blog.
My original idea for this week was to confess but after some thought it seemed cheap and offensive to confess to a Priest an action I do not feel guilt or regret about. Instead it makes more sense to confess to you (the reader). I often view my posts as confessionals as they are not inhibited by desire to appease my Christian hosts.  So reviewing my own flimsy moral code which I created on my first post I have created a list of my recent blogging sins.
So forgive me Reader for…..
1.       Every time I say Amen at the end of prayer yet lack the belief. Its instinctive to want to join the group but  do feel I mislead the congregation especially when I cannot understand the mumbled prayers of quieter services or the West African accents of louder forms of worship.
2.       Inaccurate research and blatant ignorance: Father Tony pointed out that St Chads (27.03.11)  was not a Catholic Church (far more hung-over then I originally imagined) and my great friend Gareth pointed out that Joseph Grimaldi  was not buried in the grounds of The United Benefice of Holy Trinity (06.02.11) despite his annual memorial service being held their on the first Sunday of February.
3.       Being too pompous and self-absorbed to focus on the many different and interesting parishioners and instead on my own failings.
4.       For leaving the Greek Orthodox Church (30.01.11) early after I realised the service had over run to 4 hours and I was late for work.
5.       Telling the Pentecostalists of  Ritson Road that I would come again (still a possibility)
6.       Not talking enough to congregational members because I was too keen to have a Sunday roast or watch Arsenal lose another game
7.       Forgeting Father Tony’s last name….

Despite my lack of religious conviction Father Tony did provide the opportunity to face one of my main sources of guilt since I began my blog, the guilt I feel when members of the congregation assume I am a Christian and I do not have opportunity to be honest and correct them. This week I decided a suitable penance is to email all the churches I have visited and ask for their opinion on my blog. Hopefully in future instalments I will be able to garner the opinion of various different churches I have visited and post them for you all to read. I see this as the next step in creating a dialogue between Christians, agnostics and atheists. Now that last statement was guilty of being incredibly pompous and sanctimonious another sin for me for me confess and for you all to judge.

Sunday 15 May 2011

The Overcomers Church, Dalston Lane, 8.05.11

What makes a Church successful? Surely, a church that provides spiritual salvation to all its members can be regarded as successful.  But how can one person’s spiritual salvation be measured by the next? Is it to be judged by the individual? Or the church! Or God! And why do they have to be saved in the first place? I don’t have the answer to these questions and that is why I ask them but often Churches claim they do.  The churches on Dalston Lane are keen to advertise themselves as providing a spiritual service and guidance to the everyday; moving away from religion as tradition and towards being a modern Christian theology. In my visit to The Mission of Faith Christ Gospel Ministries (on 16.01.11), Christ Apostolic Church’s Fire Chapel (on 24.04.11) and now The Overcomers Church (08.05.11) I have found all three churches  follow the theological belief of the ” prosperity gospel.” “Prosperity Gospel,” united these churches in theology but are they also spiritual competitors?

Prosperity gospel is a Christian religious belief whose proponents claim to have millions of adherents (primarily in the United States) centred on the notion that God provides material prosperity for those he favours. Not a clearly defined denomination, “Prosperity Gospel” emerged from the Pentecostal and Charismatic movement in America after World War 2. Championed by American televangelist Oral Roberts, the prosperity gospel grew to huge popularity in the 1990s and has been exported to countries across the globe.  In following Jesus Christ through prayer and donations, adherents of the prosperity gospel believe they are sowing the seeds for a more materially rewarded life. Under the theology of “Prosperity Gospel,” Christianity becomes a motivational provider for a consumer led society leaving behind the sacrifice and toil of the Catholic and Anglican Church.
The churches material theology is reflected in the modern terraced building that houses The Mission of Faith Christ Gospel Ministries, Christ Apostolic Church’s Fire Chapel and The Overcomers Church. The placards mark the entrance but they could be mistaken for any commercial building, the unassuming exterior merging into the high street. The three churches clustered into one building: The Fire chapel has the entire first floor, The Mission and The Overcomers Church are situated on the ground level, only separated by “1ST Class Master Dry Cleaners.” The dry cleaners are a Muslim family business that has been on Dalston Lane for 20 years but were unhelpful when asked questions on recent history, they rented the space but would not disclose to who and they claimed they were unaware of the existence of their Christian neighbours (in fairness the dry cleaner is closed on Sunday) stating that so many businesses have been and gone it was hard to keep up.  In comparison to the dry cleaners the churches were of a younger age; Christ Apostolic Church had moved to Dalston lane three years ago, The Overcomers and The Mission had only been in the building for a year. The ownership of the building interested me and appeared to be a moot point to its tenants. Congregational members of The Mission and The Overcomers stated they paid rent to Christ Apostolic Church but their ministers merely described their tenancy as an agreement and looked puzzled when asked about money. Despite Christ Apostolic Church being an international organisation with ministries in the US and Africa I got the impression that they did not own the building but were sub-letting the space to The Overcomers and The Mission (for a material or spiritual fee). As every minister told me they all worship the same God but have different forms of worship.
Differences I could not personally see in my visit but I could find in my research. The Christ Apostolic Church is an international organisation, Nigeria’s first Pentecostal Church with 20 ministries across the London area and churches based in North America and West Africa.  In comparison The Overcomers Church was founded in Nigeria and its Dalston Lane branch is its only European church. Even rarer is The Mission which is the one and only church of its kind made up of a mixture of West African and some West Indians it was formed in London and is only two years old. Talking to ministers they do guest appearances at each other’s churches but seemed perplexed when I suggested they join together. I got the impression the Ministers are protective of their congregation as any firm would be protective over the ownership of its clients. Despite these cultural and historical differences the sermon delivered by Pastor Sylvester Oyibocha would have fitted in any of the churches within the building, his passionate baritone voice providing classic “Prosperity gospel” rhetoric.
The conference room setting had only one noticeable religious symbol which was the plastic transparent stand in which laid the bible. It would not have been surprising if the room was rented out during the week but the noise from the communal prayer was unmistakably evangelical. Pastor Sylvester conducted the small congregation from testimonies, readings, hymns, communal prayers and blessings interspersed with some amazing sound bites. I have listed below my favourites
1.       “There is power In the name of Jesus Christ may he wash away my enemies.”
This is a classic communal prayer opener in which the congregation constantly repeat the pastor’s words out at the top of their voices but interject more their own personal grievances. I find the term enemies worrying but key to prosperity gospel that one group prospers over another.
2.       “You do not need a passport to be successful; to make it in this country….Who owns Harrods… Mohammed Al Fayed…. He does not own a British passport. Who owns Chelsea football club…. He is not a British citizen. A British passport will not make you rich.. there is no excuse.”
I personally love the use of contemporary cultural figures in a church sermon and its shocking that both Al Fayed and Abramovich are referred to as role models for the immigrant experience. Plus the Al Fayed reference is out of date as Fayed sold Harrods. Arguably the focus on passports has more to do with the congregation’s Nigerian roots than a belief that God is materially punishing them for a lack of faith but the pastor’s rejection of stagnant social mobility for positive thinking is pure prosperity gospel. 
3.       “It is not a sin to be rich. ….I am sick hearing it is holy to be poor, there is no pride in being poor.”
Pastor Sylvester’s rejection of the austere and humble Christian life (commonly advocated by the Anglican and Catholic Churches) is a key controversial facet of “Prosperity Gospel. Following Pastor Sylvester’s logic if you believe in God you will be rewarded but if you don’t believe in God you will remain poor. Prosperity gospel promotes capitalism and consumerism in a much more open dialogue than Christianity of the past.
4.       “This church just needs one Donald Trump and we will rise.”
How Donald Trump got to be a role model I will never know but this fixation that an individual can help to save his church is common, it is symptomatic of evangelical churches merging with mainstream celebrity culture.
The above quotes could be put in any church that ascribes to “Prosperity Gospel” and not be out of place.  The irony is the familiar formula of the impassioned preaching detracts from the minster’s individualism; therefore it becomes important that the minister keeps his followers. If the churches had all joined together certain ministers would be marginalised but by fragmenting the potentially large congregation they remain powerful. Christ Apostolic Church holds the purse strings as it is their charitable letting that makes The Mission and the Overcomers be in their debt. I would compare Christ Apostolic Church’s hegemony over the The Mission and The Overcomers to when a company invests in its rivals.  The Mission and The Overcomers remain separate from Christ Apostolic Church but they are non-competitive rivals as they depend on each other’s success.
The micro politics of the three churches does reflect my key criticism of “Prosperity Gospel,” that despite promoting social mobility and material wealth through positive thinking it actually plays into the hands of the already powerful.  All the ministers I talked to on Dalston Lane shared respect for each other but were also protective of their congregation. The most interesting Minister was The Mission’s Minister Sonny who runs a text message daily prayer service called Textministry. Minister Sonny made it clear that this service was not the work of The Mission but his own project for his own followers. The innovative and individual thinking of Minister Sonny made me realise that “Prosperity Gospel” means ministers can exist outside their church affiliations as they promote their own relationship with God. If The Mission dissolved then Minister Sonny would still have his Textministry followers to persuade him to join a new evangelical sect.  Prosperity Gospel takes the notion of success away from the church and onto the individuals that form the congregation.
Personally, I believe “Prosperity Gospel” is a reductive theology that limits Christian faiths that are too insecure in their position in the modern world. The desire to answer the opening questions “What makes a Church successful?  How can one person’s spiritual salvation be measured by the next?” Led to Christians following “Prosperity Gospel” as a simple philosophy to understand their faith. “ Prosperity Gospel takes Christianity way from more complex moral questions by declaring that heavens rewards can be had on Earth.

Sunday 8 May 2011

The Sight of Eternal Life Church, Shrubland Road, Hackney, London, 01.05.11

City Churches should standout, carving out their own space from their urban surroundings; architectural oddities that belong outside the local council’s planning permission. Long gone are the days when a new faction of Christianity would insist on building a new church instead new denominations find solace in disused government buildings, derelict warehouses or old abandoned Anglican churches (if they are lucky). These “make do” churches lack the mystery and romance of the religious relics that inspired my blog. A church like The Sight of Eternal Life Church, whose corrugated iron exterior and sharp dagger shaped steeple frighten and thrill the imagination in equal measure. The church’s name “The Sight of Eternal Life” clearly but unintentionally states its visual power, implying the sheer sight of the building would inspire everlasting life. I was awe struck the moment I set eyes on such a magnificent metal model, like an alien ship had landed on the most non-descript residential road in Hackney.  The church’s mystery was heightened when I realised that the wooden doors that opened the metal shell would only part on Sunday for the weekly service (actually they are also open on Wednesday but that does not sound as romantic and a fact I only discovered after the service). The exclusive interior really made my mind boggle but such architectural anomalies need to be savoured, they need to be reserved for the right occasion. So after feeling a mini Easter crisis of faith I hoped The Sight of Eternal Life Church would provide a sense of renewal and regeneration in my non spiritual pilgrimage.
I am always apprehensive of unravelling mysteries I have concocted from my imagination, afraid that reality will be more disappointing. In the last six months I had created many fantasy stories about how The Sight of Eternal Life Church had come into existence. My favourite fantasy was that the church’s corrugated iron slabs had been obtained piece by piece and the gothic windows and wooden doors had been scavenged from derelict churches, robbing from spiritual competitors. My imaginary congregation would have obtained the land from donations and started slowly building the church as money was raised from charitable means. Yet my nonsensical story appears boring when I learned about the true history of Shrubland Road Church thanks to the brilliant book Corrugated Iron: Building on the Frontier written by Adam Mornement and Simon Holloway. Forget my speculation that the church was founded by a modern day evangelical sect, in fact its corrugated iron exterior harks back over 150 years. Corrugated iron churches were a common feature of mid-nineteenth century Hackney, a period that saw the borough switch from a middle class suburb to a poor inner city area. Examples include St Marks on Ridley Road, St Mary of Eton in Hackney Wick, St Augustine’s on Dalston lane, and St Mathews on Upper Clapton Road. Over the years the majority of churches withered and were replaced with permanent structures or fell into dereliction. The Shrubland Road Church (its original name) was founded by Presbyterians, built in 1858 and commonly thought to be the oldest surviving corrugated iron church in the world.
The church was made by W. Browne of Messrs Tupper and Co. (formerly Tupper and Carr) of Moorgate Street. From the 1860s Tupper & Co. iron church and house builders, were among the leaders in the field of iron churches.  Tuppers and Co .may have provided the physical foundations but the church’s spiritual base was laid down by Reverend Thomas Udall. By 1871 worshippers describe themselves as Congregationalists rather than Presbyterians. Under the leadership of Reverend Thomas Udall the church had its most successful period for thirty one years, the congregation grew from 50 to a 300 membered Sunday school, hosting 250 members of the Temperance League and listed 520 members of a Social Guild.  After 1909 Revd Thomas Udall died but despite the church suffering from roof leaks and hygiene problems the congregation continued but inevitably dwindled. In 1971 the congregation merged with Trinity Chapel on Lauriston Road. That same year the Sight of Eternal Life Church took ownership of the church.  Despite Adam Mornement and Simon Holloway’s excellent study dispelling some of my made up myths it lacks a contemporary depiction of the current congregation and a commentary on the present state of the building’s interior. The interior and the congregation did not disappoint in surpassing my vivid imagination yet they inspired new fantasies due to their quirky and strange atmosphere.
The Sight of Eternal Life Church’s most ecclesiastical features are its 48 feet high belfry and the pointed Gothic style windows; these are the only characteristics that move the corrugated iron shed towards a more spiritual shape. Inside the structure of this giant shed the congregation have compensated for its lack of Christian iconography with an amazing array of religious treasures from across the ages.  The corrugated iron has a wooden interior painted white but peeling, wood had never seemed so rustic. The church was populated with dark varnished wooden pews separated into three rows all pointing towards the church’s main central attraction, its giant broken organ. Positioned behind the altar, the large pipes of the 19th Century organ loomed over the congregation. Unheard but seen by all who entered the nave, the organ’s sheer stature means it must have been constructed within the church. Decorated with rows of synthetic flowers bunched in baskets across the organs skirting, the central platform is home to two rotating tinselled mini crucifixes, one red and another white, placed on either side of a draped flag of a white crucifix on a red background. The juxtaposition of the tasteful wooden furnishings and the plastic robotic crucifixes marked two very distinct ages brought together through a love of god. The church’s grandeur lacked a cohesive style so that its adornments could never be perceived as vain. The empty wooden pews had to their front right empty rows of chairs for an absent choir and to their left was a large blanket covering an assortment of disused instruments, drum kit, guitar, electric organ peeking out from their cover.  The massive collection of material objects compensated for the church’s small but most prized asset, its congregation.

The regular congregation consisted of six members, all elderly and all from West Indian descent who held their service like a conversation in which one could only communicate through words taken from the Holy Scripture.  The individuals that made this small flock were Pastor Peter who was warm and welcoming, like a human teddy bear, the more proud and refined Deacon, a well-dressed gentleman who wore and occasionally played the guitar, a small lady who said nothing the entire service but was forever tentatively smiling, Mother Maria who was returning after being recently away and the large, loud and unforgettable Sister Stanis. The visiting guests were I and Pastor Noel Pond, who attended a church in Seven Sisters but had been asked to visit the service. To say the service was intimate was an understatement; every congregational member (with the exception of the smiling silent woman) provided a personal testimony.   The most touching moment of the service was Mother Maria stating she only felt close to God when she prayed at church in the company of the congregation. Despite the friendly manner and quiet nature of the congregation the testifying did have an end of days bent. The average old age of the congregation may have unconsciously led the service to focus on the forthcoming apocalypse instead of more savoury areas of the Bible. I am sure the congregation would disregard my criticism as youthful naivety but I would reassure them that no forthcoming apocalypse in my living memory has been prophesised with such sweet and soft voices.
The congregation fitted the building perfectly, like its material content they were all unique, antique treasures. I attempted to unlock the church’s recent history of the last 40 years but was greeted by answers that merely put all developments down to the glory of God. It was like the congregation were shushing me with praise the lords and hallelujah every time I asked a leading question. The congregation seemed happy to wrap themselves up in the mystery of God and not be interested in their own history but instead celebrate their own spiritual salvation in the present and eagerly wait for the salvation of the future. Maybe if I had been forceful in my questioning I could have gathered some recent local history but like the congregation I enjoyed a good mystery. The congregation contributed to my own personal mystery creating an atmosphere and community that seemed so separate and unique that it could not exist outside these corrugated iron walls
The Sight of Eternal Life Church / The Shrubland Road Church is a listed building due to its great history but the members of the congregation cannot be there forever despite their church’s name. The apocalyptic service implied that all the members are aware that their mortality and that their own day of judgement is not far away. But where does that leave the church? Surely the church will need to find some new owners. The new owners will have to understand the church’s great history but also realise that the church’s strange and stunning architectural power comes from not just celebrating God but also inspiring mystery.   
 

Sunday 1 May 2011

Christ Apostolic Church, Fire Chapel, Dalston Lane, 24.04.11

Jesus died for your sins. He died so you could go out and get drunk and snog some girl, piss on a stranger’s house and wake up with a hangover. Don’t you regret that hangover, God gave you that hangover, bask in its glory.  Jesus is the truth and he died for truth.  He died so you could tell all those little white lies to your girlfriend, so you could trick your friends into cooking you dinner, and pretend to your boss that you’re busy at work when really your waiting for your bid to be accepted on eBay. All the unearned praise you have enjoyed, Jesus gave it all to you. Let him into your life because he died before you were born. Before your parents were born. Before anything good had ever existed.  So thank Jesus for all the times you have masturbated, thank Jesus for when you smashed that green house with a brick down yard, and thank him for when you pretended to have read that book in R.E. when really you had spent the entire afternoon drawing derogatory cartoons of the fat girl who sat opposite. Shelly or Stacey! What was her name? You don’t even know!  Jesus died for all this and what do you do?
 If the minister’s sermon had contained any of the above it might have struck a chord but in fact it only featured the five key words “Jesus died for your sins.” I guess everyone  knows what their sins are and don’t need to tell the rest of the world but the problem with this week’s Easter service is that everything became so literal and it offered no insight into reality. Personal and social issues were far removed from the church service leaving the age old story to be told yet again without any modern day comparisons.  Perhaps comparing the crucifixion and the resurrection to contemporary society is blasphemous but at least it would have made it more interesting. Understanding sacrifice in a modern context must surely be essential to making a person a Christian. Despite my personal disappointment at the lack of context around the service I was never bored. The congregation of The Christ Apostolic Church on Dalston Lane are like most evangelicals: extremely forthcoming and accepting of my random appearance but also unsettling in their unquestionably assertive friendliness. The service consisted of a few gospel Hymns to a West African tempo (the congregation were predominantly Nigerian) intersected with bible readings. Sadly the sermon not only lacked a context but was filled with clichéd Christian sound bites,  “Jesus died for your sins,” “Accept the blood of Christ,”   “It is not too late to let God into your heart.” The only words that really got me thinking was when Minister said that if you do not have God in your heart when you worship then you are nothing but  a “ noise maker.” I am definitely a “noise maker. “I think most of my friends and family would agree. This indirect insult inspired me. As a “noise maker,” it’s my responsibility to find the little modern sacrifices within the congregation to contextualise this experience and provide myself with a reason for my visit.
Searching for sacrifice within a crowd of happy, clapping, all dancing, arm waving Christians is hard. No one is complaining let alone carrying a wooden cross. My natural architectural interest led me to ask questions of the congregation on the church’s origins. After a few polite but probing queries eventually I found my modern day concession. The Christ Apostolic Church had been situated on a road between Roseberry Place and Kingsland Road but was forced to move a little further north to Dalston Lane due to the construction of the new East London Line station, Dalston Kingsland and the new housing complex, Dalston Square. Dalston’s two landmarks of gentrification brought upon the area by the 2012 Olympics which had featured heavily in the local press for upsetting locals  however these grievances had been recently muted  bythe  media as the Olympics loomed closer. Not that I got any sob stories from the congregation, it was more a matter of fact account. Despite the forced move put upon the church I appeared more angry at the City of London’s ability to rehouse the church than the congregation. The Christ Apolistic Church was proud of their new home which they had now occupied since 2009. The building is a two floor office  built by Hackney Council as Hackney Connextions Centre with the mission to provide disadvantaged youth with an opportunity for an education and employment. Hackney Connextions moved further down Dalston Lane, it was hard to establish with the Minister if the church owned the building outright or rented the building from the council. The building is the most unlikely location for Dalston’s largest evangelical Christian community: it is not only the home of Christ Apostolic Church but also the home of The Mission of Faith Christ Gospel Ministries (featured in the blog on 23.01.2011), The Overcomers Church (coming soon as a blog entry) and a dry cleaners (not doubling as a church as far as I could tell). In future instalments I will look into the relationship between the three churches and their close proximity to each other. Despite my desire to claim that the Church’s make-shift home demonstrated their persecution within the newly gentrified area this was not the case. In short the congregation may have made a concerted effort and material sacrifices to keep their church alive and independent but they do not seem to feel persecuted. In the ever increasingly expensive newly gentrified area of Dalston, could the church survive another resettlement?  And if they are asked to move on, will they feel they are being persecuted or will they blindly accept the situation as the will of God? Should sacrifice create a sense of regret, upset and pain or should it be blindly accepted? These questions remained unanswered but typified the insufficient vague dogma that ran throughout the service.
Searching for sacrifices does seem cheap but I do feel when presented with such overbearing optimism within a church congregation it’s important not to forget the trials and tribulations they may have faced to practice their faith. The problem is the congregation don’t want you to hear their sorrow but more to be grateful at the wonder of God. The Christ Apostolic Church wanted me to experience the Easter service as a literal story, best demonstrated by their Sunday school performance. I am used to watching children act out the nativity at Christmas but I did feel a tad apprehensive watching a children’s performance of The Passion. The crucifixion was nothing to worry about, the child playing Jesus was merely attached to a cross made of two cardboard tubes stuck together with tape. No nails and no wood. The crown of thorns was replaced by a more suitable gold coloured crown with some Holly attached from last Christmas. The play started with the last supper, moved onto Pontius Pilate, had a quick non bloody crucifixion and then ended with the resurrection. The most bizarre moments was watching a group of kids joyfully jumping up and down shouting “crucify him” and a crowd of women photographing little Jesus on his cardboard cross with their mobile phones. The entire performance was everything you would expect from a church play performed by children with biblical lines being replaced by awkward pauses, little kids staring into the audience and lots of pushing and shoving on stage so a child can wave to  Mum and Dad. Besides these childish elements the sentiments of the story were no different from the earlier sermon. The minister offered the same literal interpretation but just he knew the story word for word. When the bible is taken so literally it’s meaning in a modern context seems to get lost and therefore can only be understood by the modern world’s value system: money.
Every week I pay my spiritual tourist fee by putting money into a white envelope for the collection plate. The money is whatever loose change I have within my wallet. I think the random approach means I am not placing value in my contribution (which I don’t want to as I am not a Christian) but I am still giving (and more importantly I am seen to be giving) to demonstrate my gratitude to the congregation. A more sensible and moral man would have the egalitarian approach and give every church the same amount. It’s not that I am not sensible and moral it’s that I am just not that organized, a typically apathetic response. I do not view my small contribution to the collection plate as a sacrifice and I have never placed such importance on the collection plate but this week after the collection had been passed the minister asked for our “Sacrificial contribution.” The minister continued to explain “not to worry if you cannot put in £50 and can only afford a £10, but do remember to put in a pound for every family member.”    All my money was in the first collection plate and I had nothing left to give, let alone £10. It did anger me that the only modern comparison the Christ Apostolic Church could find for Jesus’s sacrifice was a financial one. Money is the value system of the majority of the world but religion should surely offer an alternative. The parishioners were not only paying for their entry to  heaven but for their family members entry, which raises questions do you pay double for known family sinners? Financial sacrifice is clearly for the benefit of the church, the members are asked to write their names and the total of their contribution on the envelopes provided. The minister stated that the majority of the money goes to the larger organisation and only 8p for every pound goes to their ministry. The “Sacrificial contribution,” can be seen as a self-serving investment, putting your money into an institution that supports you, a bit like a bank but with songs, religious dogma and a community atmosphere.   I do not mean to undermine the Christ Apostolic Church’s notion of sacrifice, it is pragmatic and modern, but I am just disappointed that the social and personal experience of sacrifice is entirely forgotten.
 In defence of the congregation some of the members had been fasting to experience a sense of sacrifice. Naturally fasting is a more personal sacrifice than a donation of money but it’s a personal experience I lack. Easter fasting is a simple answer to the issue of sacrifice, one to build more complex ideas around, which the minister invited his members to do so. The minster’s deliberately vague and general religious rhetoric was full of sound bite clichéd questions but it did make me think about my own situation.
So I will leave you with how I begun. Can you see sacrifice in the life I lead? Surely only a self-serving one! But arguably in Christianity all sacrifices are spiritually self-serving,
Jesus died for your sins, he died so could wake up every Sunday and go to church, any church you wanted and they would let you in despite your sins. Jesus died so you would have something to write about, something to laugh at, and something to question. Jesus died so you could lose your Sunday morning and most often your Sunday afternoons, so you could realise how appalling a writer you really are, so you could fill your life with a sense of self-loathing and self-importance and publish it all in a blog. Jesus died but without any shadow of a doubt he is alive today. Whether you believe in him does not matter, he believed in you and that is why he died.
PS
Below is an animated video of a Simon Munnery sketch. It seems fitting for my blog as it combines Christianity and Cockneys. Enjoy and I hope you all had a happy Easter.


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