Clapham Methodist Church
121 Clapham High Street
Clapham Town
London SW4 7JR
Tel: 020 7622 2617
Pastoral Oversight: Rev. Dr. Eleanor Jackson
Sunday Worship: 9:30 a.m. (due to Covid 19 these are currently cancelled until further notice)
11:00 a.m.
6:30 p.m. via Zoom
Sunday School: 11:15 a.m. (2nd & 4th Sunday)
On Bus Route:
Direction: See map below...
In 1872 Revd. William Arthur purchased Dunoon House which stood in Clapham High Street on the site of the present church. Worship was started in the drawing room of this house and these services continued while the school hall was built and ready for worship in 1873. The main church, seating one thousand people was built and opened in 1874. It was an impressive building with a spire that matched St Mary’s Catholic Church. Clapham Methodist Church was then part of Lambeth Circuit, so as we become one circuit again, we are re-joining our sisters and brothers in Christ.
Worship and service have continued on the original site without a break to March 2020 this year, when due to the global pandemic activities had to be suspended in the building, as with churches all over this country and indeed the world. During the Second World War the church was bombed and made unsafe. Services with just a few people attending were held in the choir vestry and the hall was used for the storage of furniture from bombed houses. After the war, effort and fundraising led to the new church building which was opened with great rejoicing in 1961 and refurbished fifty years later in 2011.
We now have a modern and attractive sanctuary with the glass-fronted Hub onto Clapham High Street; this allows those who are passing to see right into the worship area and provides an attractive space for church meetings and socialising for our large, lively, diverse congregation. We are a busy, active Church, with the 11 am. service being the centre of our weekly activities, along with a weekly evening service at 6.30 pm. and an earlier monthly service of Holy Communion at 9.30 am. We have church groups meeting regularly for fellowship and prayer, including a Bible Study on Wednesday evenings, the Ghana, Women’s and Men’s Fellowship and Senior Friends who each meet after service on one Sunday a month. We are delighted to host Saturday Sunbeams at festival times such as Harvest, Christmas and Palm Sunday, when we invite all the children who have been baptised in the church and those in Junior Church to participate in a short all-age service or activity followed by a party. Each week we have Junior Church and Youth Fellowship. There is a Choir with weekly rehearsals, who lead special services at Christmas and for Palm Sunday. We had recently begun to have a music group too and the young people’s music group is active, playing and singing in some of our worship services. On Monday evenings we host the circuit Youth Music Project (more details later the newsletter). Our hall is used by community groups (such as Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Brownies, Guides; those working with babies and toddlers). Our main community work is Clapham Night Hub which is open on Friday and Saturday evenings from 11 p.m. to 5 a,m, to meet the needs of the young people enjoying the night in the High Street. We also host a ‘Coffee Shop’ on Wednesdays and Fridays from 10.30 am to 12.30 pm.
We thank God for his presence with us and his guidance in the past. Many of our activities have been suspended or have had to move online during the lockdown, however, we have supported each other, and have found and are continuing to discover new ways of working. The church reopened for morning worship in August. We look forward to the future and a new start on our return to the Lambeth Circuit. We know there is still work needed to transform the middle section of our premises and we look to God to guide us in our mission, service, and growth.