North Heath Family Church: Building church community in Southeast London

North Heath Family Church, based in Erith, Kent, is part of the Christ for the Nations movement and was started by Peter and Caryn Maine. 

In 2009, they were looking for help with refinancing their current borrowing on their church property, a former mission church of London City Mission that has been standing since 1877, and approached Stewardship, after their bank let them down. 

We interviewed Peter Maine, Senior Pastor of North Heath Family Church, to find out about the church, its mission and how Stewardship has helped the church with financing their building.

Tell us about your church and about the people you serve?

My wife and I started the church 29 years ago. We are based in Southeast London, not far from the Dartford Bridge. The local area is majority working class with a council estate near to where the church sits. Not long after the church was started, the council conducted a report in which the area was recognised as being economically deprived.

We do lots of outreach into the local community and feel now that we have a real standing and acceptance from our neighbours. Every couple of months we do a church fun day involving bouncy castles and craft which has been popular and has helped us grow relationships and trust over time.

Can you share with us any stories of how God has been at work in North Heath Family Church?

We have been seeding into the local community ever since we started, and we have seen God at work through that. For example, there were two teenagers who used to come along to our youth group. Their mother was a staunch atheist and was very suspicious of church, but she would come along to pick up her kids after youth group was over. Over time we got to know her, and we had some good conversations. Her kids have now grown up and left the youth group but recently she phoned me up to explain that sadly her husband has passed away and she would like me to take the funeral for him So, it has been amazing to see God at work in slowly building trust and transforming hearts and attitudes.

Because of the seeding, we are asking God and praying for a large harvest of people in our area to turn to Jesus.

What did a loan from Stewardship help facilitate?

We approached Stewardship for a loan after the bank refused to help us with a remortgage. We have an 1877 church building which we purchased from London City Mission not long after the church was formed, and it needed a lot of updating. We wanted to add a new entrance and disabled bathroom, but the bank was not comfortable lending to us as a smaller charity.

We approached Stewardship in 2009 and the team there were helpful and explained to us that because they specialise in loans to churches and Christian charities, they could help us with a loan, no problem. The whole process was smooth and easy, and we were happy to be partnering with an organisation that shared our faith and values.

What are your hopes for the future of North Heath Family Church?

We really want to see people born again – that is our heart.

We really believe God is going to do a big move globally and within the UK we have been listening to the British Isles Council of Prophets and watching what God has been saying through that. We as a church have been getting ourselves prepared for what God is going to do. It’s a bit like surfing, when God’s wave comes you need to get on top of it otherwise you will get wiped out and miss what God is doing.

How can we be supporting you?

Please pray for our church and our community. There is so much need which we see every day, with poverty, drugs and crime. What these people need is to know their Saviour Jesus Christ, so please pray for them that they would be brought into the Kingdom.

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