Worshippers are celebrating a new church in Clapham.
Clapham Junction Church is open for Sunday services and Wednesday Bible study sessions.
Services are held in Thames Christian School on Grant Road – a three-minute walk from one of Britain’s busiest train stations Clapham Junction – which the church rents.
The church was set up by staff from St Nicholas Cole Abbey and St Helen’s Bishopsgate in the City of London.
Assistant minister James Lilley said: “We realised at our churches we had quite a lot of people who worked in the City and came to us because they worked in the City but actually lived out in Southwest London.”
Media officer and congregation member Claudia Toma, 25, said: “I prayed for a long time that a new church would come to this area.”
She explained why she was keen to join a new church.
“You’re literally helping something come up from the ground up.”
Clapham Junction Church describes itself as evangelical and Anglican but is not a member of the Church of England.
Lilley said: “We think the Bible is trustworthy, we want to read it and do what it says.
“I would happily own the label of evangelical. I think that also just means that we’re normal, orthodox Christians. We believe what Christians have always believed for generations.”
So far, the congregation has averaged about 35 people per week.
In April, the Bible Society published a study, conducted by YouGov, suggesting church attendance in the England and Wales is on the rise, especially among young people.
In 2018, 4% those 18-24 surveyed attended church at least once a month. In 2024, this figure was 16%.
This compares to an increase from 8% to 12% for the general population over the same time period.
Toma said: “There’s definitely more of an openness to discussing things. I’m not sure I’ve personally seen higher church attendance.”
Banker and congregation member Joshua Ejakait, 37, said: “I’m on YouTube a lot. A lot of podcasts and a lot of conversation for young men over the last couple of years has gone back and forth from very intense, hypermasculine commentary to people asking questions about what truly matters in life.”
Ejakait joined Clapham Junction Church from St Helen’s Bishopsgate.
He said: “We’ve seen lots of young people just turn up to church without any family background of Christianity. The church of St Helen’s is growing and we’d love for this church to grow as well.”
Lilley said: “Come along. We would love to welcome you, to get to know you. We’re not very scary, we’re quite friendly.”
Clapham Junction Church meets in Thames Christian School at 4pm on Sundays and at 6:45pm on Wednesdays.
Find their website here.
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