Date: 31st March 2013 (Easter Day)
Time: 14:00 procession to set off from Cranbrook Bpatist Church
Time: 15:00 United Churches of Ilford Outreach and Praise Concert
Venue: Ilford Town Centre (Town Hall steps for Concert)
Activities: Facepainting, Music, Food stalls, Henna, Childrens Art workshop, Bible debate, Learn more about Jesus stall, Book stalls, jewellery, Bouncy Castle and much more.
So par Participating churches include:
City Gates Church
Clementswood Baptist Church
Cranbrook Baptist Church
Eden Christian Centre
Grace Church
Ilford Methodist Church
High Road Baptist Church
Kings Church
Salvation Army Ilford
Ooberfuse a Christian Band of international acclaim will be playing live at our outreach concert.
Although the London Borough of Redbridge has a proud Christian heritage, it has never held an Easter day Celebration. So we are proud that as a minority community we have been able to be pioneers in establishing a long term legacy for Christians in Redbridge.
This Event itself has been organised in response to several callings from God. Whilst the BPCA has been felt led to coordinate an Easter event in the Borough, we have been strengthened in our resolve by similar callings that have been felt by leaders of Eden Church, Grace Church and High Road Baptist Church. Moreover the support given for the event through other local churches, has cemented our opinion that God's hand is at work.
Although we are concerned by the reduction in Christians form 50.7% of our borough to 36.8%, the main theme of this years event will be to galvanise unity amongst brethren It was felt by members of local churches attending the planning meetings for the event that our first priority was to bind together our brethren. The motto chosen for the event by The Revd Jon Law of Cranbrook Baptist Church is "One Lord, one faith." This does not mean we will not use the success of this event for outreach. Quite the contrary we hope through the joy and unity that will be exhibited at this event many will seek to know Christ.
Despite these reductions in members of the church locally, the majority of our historic churches are still in operation today. Moreover, I attend High Road Baptist Church which has an approximate population of 300 members and City gates in Ilford is said to have a congregation of around 700. Ilford Asian Church has close to 30 Asian Christian families, many of whom are Pakistani, so our own community is relatively large in this part of London. Work must be done to counteract this decline especially as Boroughs such as Newham, Haringey, Brent and Lambeth have shown an increase in followers.
Christianity has lost 13 percentage points since the 2001 census but still remains the largest religious group in the Country, now at 59% of the population. 42 % of the country no profess to be atheists the largest group increase. Muslim now make up between 4-5% of the country, although their percentage in Redbridge has almost doubled.
Please pray for a successful event!
The 2011 census shows a decline in the number of Christians in Redbridge:
| 2001 Number | 2001 % | 2011 Number | 2011 % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian | 121,067 | 50.7% | 102,755 | 36.8% |
| Buddhist | 1,052 | 0.4% | 1,840 | 0.7% |
| Hindu | 18,661 | 7.8% | 31,699 | 11.4% |
| Jewish | 14,796 | 6.2% | 10,213 | 3.7% |
| Muslim | 28,487 | 11.9% | 64,999 | 23.3% |
| Sikh | 13,022 | 5.5% | 17,377 | 6.2% |
| Other religion | 1,038 | 0.4% | 1,348 | 0.5% |
| No religion | 22,952 | 9.6% | 30,691 | 11.0% |
| Religion not stated | 17,560 | 7.4% | 18,048 | 6.5% |
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