E1: How to work in dense urban areas with flats and apartments

Biblical/Practical Intro

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’ Luke 10:1-2 NIVUK

At a glance

Areas of new apartments or flats are almost impossible to access directly – but don’t avoid these areas.
Friendships can be developed with residents over time by connecting creatively with local stakeholders, businesses, and organisations.
God is at work in these areas as with all new areas – the stories below show how two pioneers were inspired by God and made an impact in their areas building community and sharing faith.

Key Points

Many of the underlying principles of these How to guides, such as being Christlike, listening to the community, being led by the Spirit, are transferable to all different contexts. However, the practical realisation of the principles can look quite different in different areas. One of the biggest differences is between new areas of housing and areas of flats and apartments. Accessing apartment blocks to visit or deliver welcome baskets is almost impossible if you do not live there, as external doors are locked and door knocking contravenes social etiquette if you do live there. Betsy and Hasna however, have both found ways of pioneering into these hard to access new build areas by taking a creative and indirect approach to connecting with the community. Neither could connect directly with residents in their homes, but worked with others to impact the community and share faith in creative ways. These are their stories.

Betsy’s Story

Betsy is in a densely populated area of London and the new builds are high-end. The building strategy is complex involving many different developers over several years and the area itself crosses council boundaries. It is impossible to identify who is moving in, as there are so many new residents, and the apartment blocks were impossible to access. Betsy believed that God gave her a vision for an arts ministry in the area, which was confirmed by the creation of a new post by Southwark Diocese. This was both contextually relevant as the development was on the South Bank – and there was an expectation in the plans that each developer would have their own cultural policy – and drew on her previous experience working in the arts, including for the National Theatre. Betsy connected with stakeholders, and ‘anyone who had connections.’ Although she resisted being co-opted onto local committees, she connected with lots of groups and networks and became known for being committed to the community and started to be seen as a key person. She also began to make connections with people engaged in the arts and arts organisations. She felt that God led her to connect with the right people and joined in with the vision he had given her to establish Nine Elms Arts Ministry, focussed on arts, spirituality and social justice.

Betsy had no building for the ministry, so she began pop-up events. Given the demographic of the area, these had to be high quality credible events. Working with a number of Christian creatives she ran: a series of arts wellbeing events, an Easter Hope installation and a large-scale Advent Calendar project involving around 50 organisations. These helped develop stakeholder relationships and connect the existing and new housing. Betsy notes that it was nearly two years before she could begin to directly connect with residents through these events and organisations but felt, in her context, that it was essential to work in this way. There was a sense in joining in with what God was doing as she saw resources multiply. The artistic credibility of the events enabled the emerging ministry to reach more of the public, and begin to bring together the existing and new residents and embody the good news of the gospel.

Hasna’s Story

Hasna lives in an apartment in the south of England. Like Betsy, physical access was an issue, so she took a creative approach in connecting with stakeholders, organisations, businesses in the area. She states, ‘I spent the initial 6 months building up trust with key stakeholders and people of peace. This involved connecting with people as humans. These included developers, estate management, local businesses and residents; key people in the community. All this work was the equivalent of laying the foundations.’ She particularly connected with the cafe on the estate and within the first six months she was able to produce and direct the first ever ‘alternative Nativity’, with social justice carols in the café. This was so well received that she was repeatedly invited back. ‘Entering a community space like a local café or library as a guest won the trust of key stakeholders, which meant I could then use the cafe to showcase activities because of the mutual respect.’

Hasna similarly connected with the local library and through this was able to serve local children. On the day the library was closed, Hasna asked the main librarian to deliver a story time at the café. This meant that children who would not have visited the library were able to access these sessions.

During her reflection time one day, Hasna noticed some raised beds in the communal garden area. Hasna shares that she ‘wondered if the developers would let me use them to get residents to grow produce for the whole community of Centenary Quay. A week later, there was an advertisement for the same plots free of charge. So I adopted a little patch for the community, it was blessed by Bishop Jonathan. No wonder it was so successful! Residents became involved in the care of this patch and produce was distributed to the community free of charge.’

Hasna concluded that ‘the mission work in this area flourished despite the physical access issue in apartment buildings.’ Unfortunately, the ending to Hasna’s story is that this was a three-year post. The work within the new apartments has now ceased, leaving no opportunity to continue to build on the solid foundations.

Learning Points

Both Betsy and Hasna noted that it takes a considerable amount of time to make a lasting difference in these communities. This requires longer term posts and funding. The Fresh Expression trajectory suggests 7 years.
Culturally connecting with high-end city apartments requires considerable financial investment. Obtaining grants from other stakeholders and organisations operating in the area may be key to the sustainability of these projects. However, match funding may be required from the denomination or supporting body in order to secure these financial partnerships. Hasna notes that in her case, despite match funding, and her post being funded from elsewhere, it was decided that this work would be terminated and a different project started because of a change of priorities. Hasna advocates a longer commitment to make a lasting difference.