Unlock is a charity run on a shoestring that aims to equip churches in the poorest area of our country.
Each year it organises a sponsored walk in a different area of London, with local churches as the checkpoints. Along the way walkers get an intriguing insight to urban church life
Their website explains their work: 'Unlock is a Christian charity that was founded in 1972. It exists to help urban churches of any denomination to respond to the challenges in their areas. We are especially concerned with Bible engagement in 'traditional tabloid' ('non-book', 'oral learners', or 'text-shy') cultures.'
It was on a Unlock walk - some years ago - that I first visited St James, Bermondsey and the Salmon Youth Centre. Today's walk was in the Eltham area and included a number of the attractive 'cottage estates' built by the London County Council in the 1930s, very similar to the St Helier estate in Morden where we lived from 1994 to 2001.
This is also the area where Stephen Lawrence was murdered - the walk passed the roadside memorial to his death - and it is also the scene of huge urban regeneration with the creation of the new 'Kidbrooke Village' to realise the 1960s concrete monstrosity of the Ferrier Estate.
As always it was good to meet local churches of all denominations. Life can be tough and progress slow. One vicar said to me 'the people round here could withstand a direct hit by the Holy Spirit.' I knew what he meant but I like to think, and indeed do believe, that the Spirit can melt the most hardened heart. Pray God he will.
Another good Unlock day, roll on the thirty-first walk.
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