From Bridge Church Peckham Website

OUR SAD ANNOUNCEMENT

It is with great sadness that we announce that Bridge Church Peckham (BCP) will no longer continue to function as a church from Sunday 12th September 2021. It has not been an easy decision or one that we have taken lightly.

Despite the considerable efforts of many for which we are very grateful, we have sadly been unable to address the underlying issues of sustainability. After much prayerful consideration and in consultation with others, we reached the conclusion that the church does not appear to be viable going forward. Whilst there have been multiple contributory factors to our slow decline in recent months, COVID has undeniably been a massive momentum killer. In due course, when the pain of closing is less raw, we will reflect on the lessons that God has taught us through this whole experience. Please pray for us.

We are hugely grateful to God for his kindness and generosity towards us throughout the whole endeavour. Almost three years ago to the day we met in a kitchen in a house in Peckham for our first pre-launch meeting. God helped us to assemble not only an enthusiastic and experienced leadership team but also a team of able and willing gospel-hearted servants wanting to try to plant a new church in Peckham. We prayed, we planned, and eventually, we launched in the Salvation Army Building in Nunhead in January 2019. In September 2019 we were able to move to what has been our home ever since, St Mary Magdalene Primary School. We engaged with the local community, we knocked on doors, we shared the gospel, we saw people come to faith in Christ, we studied the scriptures together, we equipped one another for service, we sang and we worshipped. But in March 2020 we moved online. And although the Lord has sustained and grown the faith of many, this appears to have been a critical moment in the life of our church family.

This church planting initiative was always a bold undertaking. We were trying to be a new ministry reaching new people with the wonderful news of the gospel. We were aware that there was no guarantee of success. However, we knew it was a risk worth taking. And we are glad to have done so. We are richer for having trusted the Lord and given it a go.

We are so very grateful to God for all that he has taught us during the period from pre-launch to closure. We do not doubt his goodness. Nor do we doubt that his gospel purposes in Peckham will prevail. He’ll simply do what he wants to do without BCP. We trust him. We thank him. And we will continue to serve him in different church families.

We are putting our efforts into helping those left at BCP to transition to other gospel-centred churches for the next stage of their Christian lives. We pray that they will be a huge blessing to the church families that they join.

Please do not hesitate to contact us at peckhamchurch@gmail.com if you have any further questions.

Yours in Christ,

Richard Perkins and Rufus O’Justus

Co Elders Bridge Church Peckham