Building transformational community in Enfield
We spoke to Gareth and Jenny Skyrme about how their family were able to buy a home with the help of a Kingdom Bank mortgage, so that they can plant a new church in London.
Tell us a bit about yourselves and your ministry:
We are Gareth and Jenny, we’ve been married for 21 years, and have four children and two dogs. Our roots are in London, which is where I (Gareth) trained as a pastor in 2011. We attended Enfield Town Community Church, and the church has been part of a network focusing on planting and revitalizing over the last few years. Three years ago, we moved to Plymouth to plant a church, but felt called back to London when we were made aware of a new plant taking shape that needed a pastor.
In 2022 we confirmed that we would be moving back to London, in order to lead the Turkey Street Community Church plant. But we were struggling to work out how we could afford to live in London; though the church is in a deprived area, house prices were still incredibly high. This meant we needed to find a mortgage to enable us to plant into the community.
What’s exciting about your ministry at the moment?
As a network, we have planted in the past, but that’s usually been with a ready-made team. Now that the network is bigger, we are working across churches to form the team for the plant. So that’s really exciting, but also is a lot more work. This looks like spending time with different church families, raising funds and prayer support, and doing presentations to different congregations. We are still in the planning stages, so are forming a team and doing the groundwork, meeting with individuals who are thinking of joining us.
We recently ran a mission week, which was in partnership with a church in Alabama, who sent a team over to help. This meant we could do loads of ministry, going door to door sharing the gospel, and doing surveys of the local area. We don’t have a church building at the moment, so we ran the week from our house.
On a personal level, we are really thankful that we have settled back into London life as a family, with the kids feeling settled in school.
What does this mortgage enable?
This house provides a base in the community, which we can do ministry from. We’ve been so encouraged by the reactions in the community, as people have noticed our decision to live here. People are pleased to see that we are making an effort to get alongside them.
We are building community in this house, and it’s a space to run Bible studies, have people round, and host meals. Practically, this mortgage enabled us to move to London to start this plant, as house prices were too high for us to buy on our own. This particular house has been a gift and has really felt like the right house for our family.
How was your experience working with Kingdom Bank?
In helping us to purchase this house, Kingdom Bank have become a significant part of our journey as a family. We hadn’t heard of Kingdom Bank before but were put in touch through Mission Housing. It was brilliant being able to work with Jackie, and we found that working with a Christian bank meant that you understood when we were discussing our ministry. We were even able to pray with Jackie on the phone a few times.
As we were looking for a shared ownership mortgage, most high street banks wouldn’t consider us, but Kingdom Bank understood how it all worked and had the expertise to do it. Because there haven’t been any complications or issues in the process, it’s given us one less thing to worry about, meaning we can focus on our ministry without stressful distractions.
If you’re in Christian ministry and looking for a mortgage, we’d be delighted to see if we can help, including discussing shared ownership options if appropriate. Get in touch or click here to find out more.
Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.