Central hall, Bermondsey

Today was our monthly C4T ministers lunch. C4T stands for Christians for Transformation in Bermondsey and Rotherhithe, and links together the churches in the area.

For the first time today we met at the Methodist Bermondsey Central Hall (left), hosted by their minister, Janet.

It was good to hear of their thriving and growing congregation and the hive of activity that their building is each day, with its plethora of community activities.

The Central Hall was built in 1900 as part of a project to reach out to some of the poorest districts in London.

The original building had a hall that seated 2,000 people and in the early part of the century huge numbers flocked to the hall. 656 ladies belonged to the Mothers Meeting and no less than 439 young people aged 15 and above came to the 'Young People's Pleasant Sunday Afternoon', a kind of follow on to Sunday school (which itself had 620 members and over 30 teachers).

In the 60s the building was remodelled and additional residential accommodation was provided that continues to provide much needed affordable housing for single people to this day.

Today it was good to see the church is in good heart, still serving the people of Bermondsey after more than a century.