Presence

Presence is a church that meets in downtown London. Our vision is to love God by also genuinely loving people. We are a group of people who are passionate about faith, creation, humanity, community and social justice.

The Presence community is comprised of people from many unique backgrounds. Some even call us “eclectic”. We place a high value on learning from those who are different than us (ethnically, religiously, etc). We see a lot of worth in “transcending” the socioeconomic strata of society to be a community rich in diversity.

We have a very focused concern for the intersection of Christian faith and social justice. We believe that religion is alienated from the message of Jesus if it is not exercising compassion and justice for the hurting and oppressed. This value is manifested both by our priorities as a community and equally by our personal lifestyle choices as individuals (although nobody here is claiming to have “arrived” on this by any means). We believe that one of the most foundational reasons for the Church, and gathering together, is to challenge and sharpen one another to be as fully alive and engaged with the world’s social and ecological issues as possible.

Our foundational point of common unity is found in the life and teaching of a Jewish man named Jesus (Yeshua), from Nazareth, who lived in the first century of the Common Era. We also inherit a long legacy and historical tradition surrounding the story of his life, death and resurrection, some of which is profoundly beautiful and some of which is disgustingly corrupt. We believe that “following Jesus” is not merely an experience of conversion but an on-going, daily, reflective practice of choosing love, peace and compassion over selfishness, resentment and pride.

[The Presence vision and identity is described in The Presence Ethos document; this document is also the text of this website.]