Bow, East London

Bromley by Bow is found in the heart of the borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End, historically a place of great need with extreme levels (57%) of child poverty.  The Bow area in particular demonstrates the contrast of prosperity and poverty in London as overcrowded residents in substandard tower blocks look out of their windows towards the shining towers of Canary Wharf – one of the world’s most lucrative money-making centres.  It has also been a place where Christians have responded to that need in really creative ways.

In September of 2010, Cris and Beki Rogers (right) began a church regeneration in the local parish church, All Hallows, which had been in decline for many years. Cris and Beki are developing and growing a church community that is passionate to see faith radically impacting the surrounding community. The most recent addition to this church family is Eden Bow.

Alex and Phil Hall (left) moved into the area to start Eden in February 2011 having been part of Eden in Sheffield. Alex is a qualified youth worker and Phil is currently on a year out from his final year of medical studies. They have a real passion to see Eden Bow as a praying community of people learning how to take an active role in loving one another and the people around them. They desire to see young people reach their full potential in Christ by building genuine relationships with them in a variety of contexts.

The focus for Eden is the estates clustered around the Devon’s Rd corridor – most notably the Lincoln Estate. Physically the area combines maisonette style rows of flats with some high rise blocks and a few streets of conventional terraced housing. The population is very ethnically diverse with Asian, Afro-Caribbean and white families living side by side. Demographically the area is very young with a high proportion of children and youth.

We have been given a prophetic image of our calling within the Lincoln Estate. This image is from Isaiah 55 and it’s our desire to be a explosion of joy in this community.

Alex and Phil, along with All Hallows, are looking for people to join them on their journey, falling in love with the people of Bow, praying and worshiping together along the way.

3 interesting things about Bromley by Bow:

• The local canal – the ‘Limehouse Cut’ is the oldest canal in London dating back to 1766
• Mahatma Ghandi lived in the area for 3 months back in 1931
• Is the home of ‘Grime’ music popularised by local heroes Dizzee Rascal and Tinchy Stryder

All Hallows Bow has a website that you can visit: www.allhallowsbow.org.uk

You can keep up with what’s going on currently through their Facebook page facebook.com/EdeninBow and you can contact Alex directly on bow@eden-network.org