Globe Church has been family for Esther and me for the past couple of years. I moved to London ahead of Esther, who was living in Canada at the time. My first task was to find a church..

We all know that London is huge. Despite being home to 8+ million people, it can easily seem lonely and isolating at times and for many. There are many reasons for this… we all have busy lives, work and study can be time intensive, we live so far apart, and enjoying all the city has to offer can also be expensive!

Looking for a church and knowing myself (if you also know me, you know that I’m painfully introverted!) meant finding a church which values and actively pursues being relational. To be honest, I probably couldn’t have articulated being relational as a priority when choosing a church. But it turned out to be a deciding factor.

I guess valuing relationship shouldn’t be surprising with God as our father. God’s very nature is relational, he is described as one God existing as three persons (Father, Son and Spirit). Therefore, if God himself is relational and we are made in his image, it follows that relationships should be important to us too. Genesis 2:4-24 clearly shows us that God intended us to be in relationship, not only with himself but also with each other.

I found Globe Church before ‘Relational’ was a banner at the front of service and a section of the website, but it already seemed to be part of the Globe Church DNA. This was demonstrated in countless welcoming and generous ways, from the very first person that greeted me (thanks Esther W), to being invited to newcomer’s brunch (thanks Jonty and Linda), starting 1-2-1’s (thanks Phil), and being invited to join my first small group (thanks Jonny and Lili M). It was an easy choice to stick with Globe Church.

Drawing on our father’s relational nature and applying this to how we see church as a family is thoroughly Biblical. For example, in Colossians 1:1-2 Paul uses family language (our brother, brothers and sisters and our father) to relate with fellow believers he hadn’t even met!

Over the past couple of years, one of the ways in which Esther and I have enjoyed building relationships is through hosting people. Whether it be sushi making, board game nights, painting evenings, hot-pots, dumpling rolling, wine & cheese tasting or pancake brunch – it’s always encouraging to see our church family investing in building relationships with each other.

We’re both thankful that Globe Church strives to create an environment which overcomes busy city life. Through God’s generous provision we have received blessings such as Globe Space, which has already been used to great effect. Our weekly meals together and hosting evangelistic events allows us to show our friends how distinctive church family can be within a society which can feel so individualistic.

My prayer is that we find joy in service to each other and continue to be purposeful in building relationships which are centred on Christ.