The idea behind The Globe Church was birthed six years ago when a group of seven London pastors in London, including Jonty Allcock and myself, met over a year or so to pray and discuss how the idea might be put into action. As those plans began to take shape Richard Coekin, director of the Co-Mission network, approached FIEC to see if the two networks might work together to help plant the new church.

Co-Mission began in 2005 as a network of churches committed to working together and with others to play some part in reaching London with the Gospel by forging generous co-operation in planting new churches and revitalizing failing ones. It has proven to be a happy and fruitful partnership.

From day one Globe has been both an FIEC and a Co-Mission plant. We’ve had the benefit of learning from both networks, the focus on London from Co-Mission, on the UK from FIEC. The partnership has helped shaped our vision to be a church with a missional focus for Bankside, Londonwide, Nationwide and Worldwide. The partnership has also assisted in some of our financing costs and our staffing.

Jonty benefits from the fellowship that the weekly gathering of senior Co-Mission leaders for prayer and networking provides, whilst also enjoying the support of many of the original 7 FIEC pastors through his involvement with the FIEC London planning group. This helps keep the two networks aware of each other’s plans and challenges and has also proven the catalyst for more church planting, not least that of Hope Church Vauxhall.

In a very real sense, Hope Church is the fruit of the kind of generous gospel partnership which both FIEC and Co-Mission are passionate about. Eighteen months ago, London City Mission approached FIEC to see if there was any way in which The Globe Church might help re-establish a church at their Vauxhall Centre. The existing partnership with Co-Mission made it an obvious avenue to explore and very quickly a plan to re-launch a church was formed.

London City Mission would provide the building and some ‘pump priming’ start-up funds; Co-Mission additional funds to help support the calling of a pastor, Sam Gibb, FIEC a significant share of the cost of completing Sam’s training at Oak Hill College via the FIEC Training Fund – and Globe the coordination, supervision and management support to see the church launched.

As we mark Co-Mission Sunday at the beginning of January, it provides us with a timely opportunity to celebrate the partnership between FIEC and Co-Mission that has not only brought about The Globe Church itself but in God’s goodness seen us play some part in the creation of Hope Church Vauxhall.