‘Our pastor’s home was to be demolished – we needed to act.’

We are a London church that enjoys meeting together every Sunday. We have people across London, so midweek ministries and small groups are key for regularly spending time together, and are a chance for deep friendship and community.

Life in central London

It’s great to meet in central London, as it means we have lots of people who turn up at church with no prior connection, simply because they googled ‘central London church.’ But it’s also a challenging location, as our church members are so spread out across the city. Another challenge is that housing prices have escalated massively, so most people are renting and end up moving around. It was this London housing crisis that prompted us to buy a house for our pastor and his family to live in.

An urgent need for stability

Our pastor had been living in private rented accommodation, but the block of flats was purchased by the council who planned to demolish it. There had also been various problems with the flat, leaving them without hot water for weeks and carrying buggies up flights of stairs when the lift broke.

We felt really strongly that someone who is such an integral part of the life of the church needed a stable living environment.

He has been such a huge part of the gospel work we are doing as a church, so we felt that buying this house would help him to flourish and continue loving people well.

A strategic investment

The house is also strategic, as it’s in a part of the city where we don’t have an existing midweek group. The plan is for them to launch a group that meets in their home, meaning we can cater for more of our church family. This property also provides a comfortable workspace for the pastor – a place for him to meet with people and have good space for study and work.

An overwhelmingly positive experience

We had an overwhelmingly positive experience working with Kingdom Bank. The staff went above and beyond to make sure we met different deadlines, enabling us to purchase the property. As a volunteer, I don’t know the specifics of commercial mortgages, so it was great to have the team working alongside me patiently, helping answer questions. I felt very listened to throughout the whole process. I’ve already been recommending Kingdom Bank to people doing similar projects, as I just don’t think you’d get this level of care with a high street bank. They have operated with integrity and responsiveness. Even more importantly, our values are aligned, which is why it worked so well.

I just don’t think you’d get this level of care with a high street bank.

If your church or charity is looking to purchase a home for staff members, or for other ministry use, our Housing Mortgage for churches and charities could help! You can find out more here, or please do get in touch to discuss whether a Kingdom Bank mortgage could be right for you.

Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.