Church turns negativity into positivity for its community

From arson threats to community acceptance, God has transformed local relationships for Word of Life Church, London. Pastors Rowland and Folake Henshaw told Chris Rolfe how

“If you park here again, I’ll fire-bomb your church,” an angry resident threatened. It’s fair to say local people were hostile when Word of Life Church moved into Grove Park, South London, in January 2016.

But today, pastors Rowland and Folake Henshaw are full of praise for the way God has helped transform this toxic situation into one of acceptance, friendship and a growing community spirit.

The aggression Word of Life faced stemmed from long-standing hostility towards another church that was there before it, the couple explain.

“When that church first moved into the building fire was set on it, so when we arrived there were high wires all around it and grids on the windows,” says Rowland.

“Residents had had a lot of issues with them over parking. We heard that when they asked them to move their cars they’d been told, ‘No – we’re praying.’ As far as the residents were concerned, they thought we’d be the same. In our early days here, literally every member had their car scratched.”

Fortunately, God had known the troubles Word of Life would face and prompted Rowland and Folake to lay valuable foundations before they moved to Grove Park.

“We felt God telling us to talk to people in the neighbourhood before we arrived, so we went out to do a questionnaire asking locals what they would like from the church,” says Rowland.

“They told us they wanted things like aerobics and music classes, so we began by introducing them.

“Another thing the Lord laid on our hearts was to speak to councillors in the area, so I emailed them to introduce ourselves and offer our help to the community in any way it might be needed. Building those relationships proved really helpful as we got started.”

The couple, who have pastored Word of Life Church since 2005, had plenty of experience of organising community events elsewhere and decided to use this to host a sports and fun day during their first summer in Grove Park.

“We held it in a park behind the church and had lots of sporting events like football and sack races,” says Folake.

“We had some opposition from a guy who was organising another event around the same time, but we were flexible with him about our date and it was fine.

“The turnout was amazing and people kept telling us they’d never had anything like this before.”

The couple had also previously hosted summer street parties and so decided to organise one in Grove Park. The relationships they had built with the council paid dividends and permission was quickly granted.

“We had food, a barbecue, a bouncy castle and face painting,” says Folake.

“It was so popular that we’ve held one every summer since then and numbers have grown. The last one coincided with the Queen’s Jubilee and we had 300 people from the community come along!”

As well as regular events, the church provides food hampers at Christmas and runs summer sports days

The church has also run projects to support local families in need for several years. When the building was shut during lockdown, Rowland and Folake heard God’s call once again.

“I heard in my spirit, ‘Why is the door to the church closed?’” says Rowland.

From this, a weekly emergency food bank was opened which acts as a source of last resort for struggling families.

Rowland tells how God has moved through this project, with all the funds needed to run and stock the food bank arriving from donations and grants.

Faith relationships are starting to blossom too.

“The volunteers are finding that while people come for the food, they also sit down to talk. It’s got to the stage where they have started sharing the gospel and seeing people give their lives to God there,” he says.

As a result, First Steps discipleship courses have been launched, adds Folake. “What God is doing there is amazing and he’s answered our prayers that the food bank wouldn’t just provide physical food, but spiritual nourishment too.”

To make sure local residents are kept aware of and invited to all the activities the church is organising Rowland and Folake now publish a community newsletter twice a year.

It highlights things like the street parties and food bank, along with other events such as Word of Life’s Body & Soul fitness class, the provision of food hampers at Christmas and the music academy it has just partnered with London City Mission to launch.

“We’ve had people joining the church because of the newsletter,” says Folake.

“One couple saw that we do marriage counselling and came with their two children. They’ve been with us for a year now.”

Rowland and Folake are grateful to look back at their time in the church and see how God has allowed them to transform relationships with the community.

“We’ve learned that we just have to reach out in simple way s, be consistent and be flexible about small things like moving our cars and parking considerately,” says Folake. “We’re really thankful that we have local families coming to the church now and for the rapport we’ve built in the area. It’s so different to when we first moved in!”

How the church was born

A decade before Word of Life Church moved to Grove Park, Rowland and Folake felt God prompt them to do something a little unusual.

“He said, ‘Put the Gift Aid from your offerings aside and don’t touch it’,” says Rowland.

“We did that for ten years, then when we were looking to buy our building we had enough for the 30% deposit required!”

Today, Word of Life – which was birthed from Kensington Temple – is home to a congregation of 15 nationalities including people from Iran, Poland, Greece, Uganda, Brazil, Jamaica and Curacao Island.

It offers a vibrant mix of children’s and youth ministries and adults’ worship services, along with its active community outreach.

But despite this full programme, Rowland and Folake still find time to work four days a week elsewhere too – Rowland as a fraud investigator for the Department of Work and Pensions and Folake as a finance advisor at The University of Greenwich.

The couple are also parents to three adult children, Ibukun, Ini and Ima.

This article first appeared in the March 2023 edition of Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.

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