About us
WELCOME
We want you to feel at home from the moment you step through the door at St John’s. Whether you come on a Sunday morning or turn up for a midweek or special event, you are assured of a warm welcome and a great experience.
Who are we?
Originally a Church plant from St Helen’s Church in Rainham, St John’s and St Matthew’s South Hornchurch is now a worshipping community in its own right and has been for the last 60+ years. It meets in a large building which was purposely built for the local community, so that it could be used all week as well as weekends.
St John’s is a group of people of all ages, backgrounds and cultures who want to create community here in South Hornchurch, building relationships, finding new friends and loving one another as Jesus commanded us. This means living life together, meeting in our small groups, loving one another in practical ways, and always being open to welcoming others, just like they did in the early Church.
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So many people are struggling with the difficulties of life, particularly since the pandemic, but Jesus brings hope into all situations. If we have his Holy Spirit living in us, we can be ‘bringers’ of hope and care for those in need, befriending the lonely and sharing God’s love with everyone we meet.
What you can expect
Our 10.30am Sunday morning service is relaxed and informal, it begins by grabbing a cup of coffee and finding a table with other people. Then someone usually sets the scene and tells us about the theme for the morning, either as a short talk or video which we then discuss around the table where we are seated. There will also be opportunity for prayer and worship with contemporary music.
Young people
Children and young people are at the heart of our family and we want them to feel valued and enjoy the experience at St John’s. Our Sunday morning programme is intentionally family friendly, so don’t worry about noise and although we don’t have any set Children’s work as yet, we do have a very colourful children’s area for families to gather around, while joining in with the discussion.
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MEET THE TEAMS
Administrator - Sharon Evangeli
Parish Safeguarding Officer - Samantha Storer
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Church Wardens - Luke Leadbitter / Ray Akuaku
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Trustees - Kevin Browning / Jim Morton / Rowena Lawrence / Luke Brown / Josh Mathieson / Jack Harper / Elisa Harper
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Treasurer - Jim Morton
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Recovery - Luke Brown / Jane Bradley
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Bereavement Team - Glenda Morton
Kevin & Annette Browning
Kevin and Annette moved to South Hornchurch in 2018 with one of their four children, their youngest son, his girlfriend and three crazy spaniels! Kevin is the Vicar of the Church, and along with Annette they have a shared vision to see their local community transformed and to help and support people while they go through difficult times. They are both creative; Kevin was once a Graphic Designer and Annette an Interior Designer, so they want to encourage creativity in people.
Small groups
These provide an informal setting for spiritual growth, friendship, sharing, prayer, worship and learning together from the bible. In these groups people can develop deeper relationships where they are known and can give and receive help, encouragement and support.
Missional groups
We are called to go into the world to make disciples, so other sets of small groups are looking at finding ways of getting to know our local neighbours, supporting them through life events, inviting them to social events and generally looking for every opportunity to introducing them to Jesus. At the moment we have one on the Orchard Village estate, we are setting another one up in Mungo Park Road and our hope is to do the same in other areas of South Hornchurch.
Women’s WhatsApp group
Through Covid we have found this invaluable to keep in touch with each other despite not meeting up, we might want to share good news or ask for prayer for a difficult issue, either way it is so good to just share together. As we come out of lockdown and are able to meet indoors, we are looking at hosting regular breakfast get-togethers on a Saturday morning, where we can share and learn together further all that God has for us.