In 1995, Deb and I moved to London to lead
require a massive team effort, faithful and
a small, struggling church which met in a
consistent service, and huge financial
run-down building in Catford. At that time
sacrifice once again.
we could not have imagined the grace, mercy and favour King’s would experience
By the time 2030 is upon us, I expect my
over the following years. What an amazing
time leading King’s will be drawing to an end.
God we serve.
However, over the coming decade we have the rare opportunity to be involved in major
We are grateful for every person saved, every life transformed over the last 23 years. But as we look to the
Kingdom extension. Together we can reach, restore and resource many people.
past and give thanks, we also feel compelled to look ahead
What an opportunity, what a
and seek God again, asking Him
responsibility! I therefore ask
for another move of His power
each of you to read this Vision
among us. We are trusting and
2030 booklet prayerfully and come
believing that what we have seen so
prepared to commit with your heart,
far is just the foundation for an even greater
your prayers, your gifts and your money, as
work of God – for our city, the UK, the nations
we move into this exciting new season.
and ultimately His glory! I believe we have a God-given call to build a church that can serve many thousands in our city and be a blessing to hundreds of
Steve Tibbert (Senior Pastor)
churches in this nation and beyond. It will
SEPTEMBER 2018
THE STORY SO FAR.
The Story Begins
1878 Catford Hill Baptist Church starts in 1878, led by a pastor in his early 20s. The church plant was part of Charles Spurgeon’s vision to reach London. 1985 Catford Hill and Allerford Chapel come together to become King’s Church Catford.
Early Days
Small Steps
1995
2000
Steve and Deb Tibbert arrive to lead King’s, a
King’s starts to grow and King’s Centre 2000, a
church of around 200 people.
major extension of the building, is completed.
1996
2001
We begin to run the Alpha course which has run
The Jericho Road Project, our mercy ministry to
each term since, seeing hundreds of lives changed
the homeless and disadvantaged, is launched, and
as a result.
South Lee Christian Church joins King’s. 2004 Over 500 people are now coming to King’s. To accommodate this surge in growth, a further extension to the auditorium is completed.
Move to Multiple Meetings
Move to Multiple Sites
2005–2008
2010
As the number of people joining continues to rise,
We purchase a new building in Lee which will go on
we become a church with multiple meetings – a
to house a new site and our offices.
second meeting starts in 2005 and a third in 2008. 2011 2008
King’s becomes a multi-site church as Downham
The Gracism series helps us take intentional steps
Family Church joins us and we launch the Lee site.
in building a diverse church.
We are now one church meeting on three sites in Catford, Downham and Lee, with over 1,000 people attending each Sunday.
The Story Continues
2012
2017
Since we are no longer based only in Catford,
We explore the issues around diversity further in
we change our name to King’s Church London to
our Invited series. To serve our growing team, we
reflect our wider vision and reach.
move the offices to fantastic new facilities on our Lee site.
2014 The newly refurbished Lee auditorium opens,
2018
accommodating 500 people.
King’s gathers over 1,500 each Sunday. We launch Vision 2030 and a fourth site opens in Beckenham.
Inspired by Scripture. The church in Antioch, which we read about in the book of Acts, is both an encouragement and a challenge to us at King’s. Like us, they were a large church in a strategic city, socially and ethnically diverse, with a desire to serve the poor, strengthen the worldwide church, and reach the nations. Their example of gracious courage and Spirit-led generosity has a lot to teach us as we look to imitate them in being a church that will reach, restore and resource.
Reach And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. Acts 11:21
Restore When [Barnabas] came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose. Acts 11:23
Resource Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. Acts 13:3
Reach And a great many people were added to the Lord. Acts 11:24
Restore So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. Acts 11:29
Resource And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. Acts 14:27
Prophetically led. We believe that God speaks today, often through prophetic individuals who know the church well. Over the last decade, three words in particular have encouraged us to believe God for greater things, and shaped the way we
King’s is like Niagara Falls, strong
see our future.
about King’s...
and secure. You do not need to worry
...but I am calling you to be like Victoria Falls, a church whose reach goes much further, a wider calling.
Given to Steve in Zimbabwe in 2013
Time to see 5000, it’s time to see God’s best, It’s not just growth or buildings, money and the cost, It’s Catford, London, UK too, to reach the millions lost.
Guy Miller – April 2010
You took the step, you paid the price, to be in this room tonight. Now comes the harvest. This night marks the beginning of a whole new season – a season of favour, a season of harvest, a season of amazing miracles. And I think that what’s coming is now a season of seeing just what God can do.
Steve Nicholson – September 2014
I believe we have a God-given call to build a church that can serve many thousands in our city and be a blessing to hundreds of churches in the UK and beyond. Steve Tibbert
Reach. Restore. Resource.
Reach. The atmosphere of the New Testament is one of mission empowered by the Holy Spirit and the proclamation of the Gospel. The church in Antioch was born out of the scattering of believers under persecution (Acts 11:20-1). We believe that the next season of the King’s story will be an intentional and rapid expansion towards proclaiming the Gospel and building a church of 5,000.
1.
“Come and See”
2.
“Go and Tell”
We believe God is calling us to build a church of
We want each of us at King’s to play our part in
5,000 believers, each of them known by Jesus and
fulfilling Jesus’ Great Commission to His church:
precious to Him. We will continue to encourage
to “go and make disciples of all nations”.
everyone at King’s to invite friends, family and neighbours to Sunday meetings, especially at key
We believe this is a call to the many not the
moments such as Christmas and Easter. Hundreds
few! With that in mind, we will seek to equip
of people have already visited King’s in direct
every believer to be able to share their faith.
response to an invitation to “come and see” Jesus
We will encourage people to reach out in their
for themselves; for many this has been the first
communities, families and workplaces, to initiate
step in their own journey to faith.
other outreach activities, and to take every opportunity to invite people to “come and see”.
Over the last 20 years, King’s has seen consistent growth. As the number of people attending
We also believe God is calling us to be involved
the church has continued to increase, we have
in spreading the Gospel not just in London and
extended our facilities, moved to multiple meetings
the UK, but in the nations beyond. King’s and its
and opened new sites – a growing family needs
members already have links with churches in other
more rooms!
nations, including Romania, China, DRC, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
As more people come to faith and the church grows, we will need yet more places to meet. We
In addition to our support of certain specific
envision starting many new sites across south east
overseas churches and projects, we want to
London – from Croydon and Bromley in the south,
encourage individuals and groups to get involved
right up to the Thames in the north, Lambeth in
in short- and long-term overseas mission, both to
the west and Bexley in the east – with multiple
provide opportunities for personal growth, and to
meetings at most of our venues.
advance the Gospel in the nations.
Restore. The church is a place of restoration. Partly, this is because the Gospel restores people as we become believers and find new purpose, wholeness and life. But it is also because we see things that we cannot simply walk past. There are needs and injustices all around us. Biblical churches restore communities, not just individuals, and if we ever “shut up shop� as a church, the local community should miss us and the positive impact we have on the area.
1.
“Inside”
2.
“Outside”
Over the years, King’s has seen thousands
We have contributed towards restoration in our
of people who have come through our doors
local community through the Jericho Road Project,
experience healing and restoration. Many have
which we want to continue. However, we want
come to faith here, and as we have grown
to broaden what we do in the local community
as disciples, we have had our lives radically
so that our work is not only amongst the most
transformed by meeting Jesus in the midst of His
disadvantaged, as vital as that is, but affects other
people. We want this to multiply and to deepen in
sections of society as well.
the future. Some of these projects will be initiated, financed There are a number of ways we currently express
and overseen through the leadership of the church,
the Gospel that have been particularly powerful in
whether they are expressed at all sites (like Big
seeing lives change. Obviously this includes our
Red Box) or only one site. This will include working
Sunday meetings, but also settings like Alpha, our
with young people on the margins of society who
groups, and courses such as The Marriage Course,
are endangered by the threat of serious youth
Restored Lives (for anyone separated or divorced)
violence. We will partner with charities that have
and Freedom in Christ.
particular expertise, such as the mentoring scheme for children run by Transforming Lives for Good.
However, we want to extend and develop these to help bring restoration in new areas. This will
In addition, we hope to see many “mini restore
include parenting, helping people find freedom
projects” develop, led by individuals from King’s,
from addictions such as pornography, and
supported by their group. As people sense a call to
numerous other courses.
do something to serve the local community, they will discover others in the church who have the same vision, and then, with the encouragement of the site they attend, begin a group focused on that issue. This will encourage initiatives and enable us to bring increasing restoration in our community.
Resource. Our vision as a church does not stop at the M25. “Resource” refers to the ways in which King’s can best serve and equip the wider body of Christ, both nationally and internationally. We have lots to learn from the church at Antioch here. They recognised that their role was not just to make disciples in their own city, but to serve the global church with resources – people, expertise, money, and practical and theological help (Acts 11:27-30, 13:1-3, etc).
1.
Nationally
2.
Globally
We believe King’s has an important role to play in
The Gospel crosses international boundaries, and
the UK. Some of this comes from the fact that we
so does our responsibility as a church. Again,
are a large, urban and diverse church, and we can
some of the ways in which we work this out will be
therefore help other churches with our example
very specific. The Newfrontiers family connects us
and our experience (even as we continue to learn
with 1,500 churches worldwide, and we will serve
ourselves!). Our resources – Sunday teaching,
many of them with practical, theological, financial
material for groups, courses, articles, books, videos
and leadership resources. We are also developing
and the like – already reach widely, and we expect
a closer relationship with River of Life Church in
this to increase.
Harare, led by Scott Marques and his team. We have a number of things in common with this
We also have a part to play in the wider
church – size, influence, urban context, diversity,
Newfrontiers family we are part of. This includes
apostolic base, focus on mercy ministry among the
the leadership given by Steve Tibbert, our Senior
poor, and so on – as well as many historic links
Pastor, and the theological influence of Andrew
with Harare and the Ebenezer Project.
Wilson, our Teaching Pastor. We believe it goes well beyond this, however, and will include
Yet we want to look beyond this. Our calling is not
coaching pastors, hosting conferences, training
just to the UK, or even our family of churches, but
interns, providing financial support, sharing best
to the nations, and the commission Jesus gave His
practice, strengthening churches, and so on.
church to go into all the world and make disciples. At times this will mean sending missionaries,
We believe that the gifts God has given us are
teachers, money and skills overseas, without losing
there for the benefit of the church nationally, and
sight of our local church in London. The Antioch
we want to use them wisely.
church in Acts is a great encouragement here. They were hugely effective at reaching their own city – but they also preached the Gospel, served the poor and planted churches thousands of miles away. May we follow their example.
Turning Vision into Reality. Each of us who calls King’s home has a part to play in turning this vision into reality. It will involve our time and our talents, our prayers and our pounds. King’s is a remarkably generous church, with hundreds of people giving generously, regularly and sacrificially. The growth and impact we have seen thus far would not have happened without it, and future growth and Kingdom impact won’t happen without it either.
An annual faith target.
RESTORE – Provide £50,000 to fund new Restore
Up to now we’ve generally set an annual budget
projects as well as existing ones like our Jericho
and provided termly updates on the giving against
Road Project.
budget. Going forward, however, we will set a more defined faith target each year, a target for us all to
RESOURCE – Provide £150,000 to give away
participate in achieving. It will be split between two
beyond King’s through gifts and ministry.
funds – King’s and Vision 2030 – which will help us turn this vision into reality.
BUILDING DEVELOPMENTS – Provide £150,000 for developing our existing facilities.
King’s Giving to King’s covers all our day-to-day ministries
Reducing debt.
and running costs. This includes all our work with
As part of a recent strategic review we will make
children and young people, running Sundays,
a one-off debt repayment of £550,000 to reduce
developing disciples, and all our worship, outreach
the outstanding debt of the Lee building from
and pastoral care. This will replace our historic
£2.15 million to £1.6 million, refinancing this over
Revenue (General) Fund.
15 years. We will continue to pay off our debt at £150,000 a year from both King’s and Vision 2030.
Vision 2030 Giving to Vision 2030 will enable us to extend
A faith target of £2 million.
further, seeing new sites launched, reaching more
Our faith target for the current year, from September
people, launching many projects to impact our
2018 to the end of August 2019, is £2 MILLION.
community and increasingly being a resource to King’s
£1.6 million
Vision 2030
£400,000
This year’s giving to Vision 2030 will allow us to:
TOTAL
£2 MILLION
REACH – Provide £50,000 of seed funding for the
Our targets in the subsequent two years will be
new Beckenham site, to enable us to reach more
£2.1 million and then £2.2 million, an uplift of
people with the Gospel.
£100,000 each year.
other churches.
The invitation. We are inviting everyone at King’s to participate in making Vision 2030 become a reality. For some it will be relatively small amounts; for others it may be tens of thousands of pounds. We encourage everyone to seek God and to give generously in accordance with the resources with which He has blessed you.
Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7
Each playing our part.
Give out of what you have
In light of this new vision, we will have an annual
We recognise that your personal circumstances will
commitment moment each autumn so we can
affect how you are able to give. If this is a difficult
all play our part in achieving Vision 2030. This
time for you financially, please do not feel under
replaces the Annual Giving Review we have usually
any obligation – we believe you should only give
done each summer.
out of what you have. Feel free to ask for prayer on a Sunday or in your group, or to talk to a leader if
We are asking everyone who calls King’s home
you are struggling financially or with debt.
prayerfully to consider two things: how you can give towards this year’s faith target, and what
Gift Aid – An extra 25% for free
up-front gift you can make at our Vision 2030 Gift
If you are a UK taxpayer we are able to claim an
Days on 11 and 18 November.
extra £2.50 from the Inland Revenue for every £10
Commitment for this year.
you give, at no cost to you, from the tax you have paid or will pay. Please fill in the Gift Aid section
There is space on the Commitment & Gift Card to
of the Commitment & Gift card if you are a UK
let us know if you are planning on giving to King’s
taxpayer and have not done so before.
and towards Vision 2030 over the coming year. You do not need to tell us the amounts, but please indicate your commitment.
Up-front Vision 2030 gifts. We would love to see a significant start to Vision 2030 at our November Vision 2030 Gift Days. Please seek God for the part you can play through an initial gift. Please prayerfully complete the Commitment & Gift card and come ready to give on 11 or 18 November.
Find out more To understand more about our approach to giving and the different ways you can give, ask at the Welcome Desk on a Sunday, speak to a Pastor or visit kingschurchlondon.org/giving.
FAQs 1.
4.
Do you want me to split my giving equally
Will any pastoral staff know what I am giving?
between King’s and Vision 2030? It is our intention for none of the pastoral staff to No, please commit to your regular giving to King’s
know what you give. The staff in our Finance Team
first and then give anything over and above that to
are solely responsible for counting and processing
Vision 2030.
gifts and keeping records.
2.
5.
I am already giving towards the Revenue
How often will we have Gift Days to give towards
(General) Fund. What should I do?
Vision 2030?
Our Revenue (General) Fund is being replaced
We will take up our regular King’s offering each
by new accounts for giving to King’s. If relevant
week as part of our Sunday worship. In addition
for your site, please set up a new Standing Order
there will be a monthly Vision 2030 offering
or online payment using the bank details on the
starting with our Gift Days on Sundays 11 and 18
Commitment & Gift Card.
November 2018.
3.
6.
I am already giving into the Multi-Site Fund.
What if I’m reading this booklet after the
What should I do?
November 2018 Gift Days?
The Vision 2030 Fund replaces the Multi-Site
Don’t worry – everyone can play their part at any
Fund. If relevant for your site, please transfer your
stage. The November Gift Days are simply the
existing Multi-Site giving to Vision 2030 using the
initial moment we’re asking everyone who calls
bank details listed on the Commitment & Gift Card.
King’s home to consider their giving for the coming year. Please feel free at any point in the year to complete and return the Commitment & Gift Card.
FAQs