Who we are
What we believe
We are called “Grace Church” for a reason. God’s grace is his extravagant, undeserved kindness to us in Jesus. And God’s grace changes everything:
- it restores us to the relationship we were made for
- it unites us and empowers us to be a new kind of community
- and it ignites us with compassion to reach out to a needy world
At Grace Church we seek to be a place where God’s grace is received and lived out.
For a more detail on what we believe, see the UCCF Doctrinal Basis, the CEEC Basis of Faith, and the Renew Statement of Faith, which our Ministers and trustees subscribe to.
Our Story
We have been meeting in Greenwich since we began in 2015. Find out more about our story in the article beneath.
In September 2021 an exciting new chapter began as we started an additional afternoon service at Eltham College, in Mottingham.
The book of Acts shows us that the Lord leads his church in different ways. Sometimes the Lord leads us through inspiring us to make strategic plans, for example in Acts 13:2 when the church in Antioch sent Saul and Barnabas off to plant churches in neighbouring areas. But sometimes the Lord leads us through providence, like when the church started spreading into new areas through being scattered due to persecution in Acts 8:1-5.
On this occasion the Lord led us to Eltham more through God’s providence than through our strategy. During the covid lockdown in 2021 we were unable to use our normal venue in Greenwich for 4 months, but an opportunity arose for us to use the Chapel at Eltham College. When the Naval College re-opened, because we had been growing in number, it was no longer possible to fit back into our old venue and so it was an obvious solution to run services in both venues.
There were already some Grace Church folk living in the Eltham / Mottingham direction and so it’s been wonderful for them to have a closer base, not least to make it easier to invite interested friends and neighbours along to church.
Fast forward two years, in 2023 we were facing another period of homelessness when the Naval College decided to renovate our usual meeting room over the summer and could only offer us a smaller room, seating half of our congregation. When many attempts to find a local alternative failed, God opened doors for us to meet in Canada Water library, and with this started our 3rd service in Canada Water.
Both in the case of Eltham and Canada Water, there were already some Grace Church folk living in these areas, and it’s been wonderful for them to have a closer base, not least to make it easier to invite interested friends and neighbours along to church.
Although we meet in three venues, we are still very much one church, and meet together for midweek bible studies, weekends aways, and many individuals attend one service and help teach Sunday school in the other. And we are excited to see how the Lord might use this new development to further his kingdom.
Vision
Accountability
Grace church is part of the Church of England. We are in the Diocese of Southwark, and have been granted extended Episcopal Oversight from the Bishop of Ebbsfleet. Find out more about our Bishop.
We are also a charity with trustees, who are accountable to the Charity Commission, and you can find out more about our trustees.
If you have questions or concerns about Grace Church you can address them here.
Who’s who
We believe that God has arranged every member of the church, like parts of a body, to work together to build up the church in love (see Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 4). By that reckoning, Grace Church Greenwich has over 200 ministers! We haven’t included them all below, but here are just a few of the people you might meet on a Sunday…
Rev Dr Andrew Latimer
Minister
Having originally trained as a doctor, Andrew left the medical profession in 2005 to train for pastoral ministry. Immediately before Grace Church began in 2015 Andrew spent 5 years at St Peter’s Barge running a ministry to workers in Canary Wharf. Alongside his role at Grace Church, he now serves as a part-time lecturer at the Cornhill Training Course. He loves Jesus, his wife Josie, their 4 daughters, hanging out with friends, over-analysing films, and seeing the English language used correctly. He does all his own stunts.
Rev Dr Andrew Sach
Minister
Andrew serves part-time at Grace Church Greenwich, and part-time as a tutor on the Cornhill Training Course, helping to train other preachers. He has been a regular speaker at university missions and is the co-author of several books with decreasingly-imaginative titles: Dig Deeper (2005), Dig Even Deeper (2010) and Dig Deeper into the Gospels (2015). He has a background in science that began with an explosives factory in his parents’ garage aged 15 and ended with a PhD on why two ears are better than one. He enjoys playing Bach on the piano and attempting to pour nice shapes in his coffee with frothed milk. He has 8 godchildren.
Jono Pick
Men’s & Students’ Worker
Jono was a part of Grace Church as a music student before joining the team as a Ministry Trainee and now as the Church Coordinator and Student Worker. He finds it a real privilege to get to know Jesus better, and to help others do the same. He enjoys spending time with his wife, eating good food, playing Fifa, and riding his bike (when it’s not too rainy!).
Michaela May
Operations Manager & Women’s Worker
Michaela joined Grace Church as a member shortly after moving into the area in 2019. When Grace Church was looking for a woman’s worker maternity cover, Michaela initially planned to just take a few months out from her Software Consulting job, but soon joined the team permanently, dividing her time equally between Operations Management and Women’s Work. She has been an active member of the congregation since 2019. She grew up in Germany, moved to Paris as a student and stayed there for 8 years, before settling in the UK. Michaela considers Greenwich to be the most beautiful place to live in, and loves to spend her free time in the park. Having lived abroad for so much of her life, she really values community and sees Church as a second family.”
Nina Reshetar
Church Administrator
Nina arrived to London in summer 2022 from Ukraine and joined Grace Church Greenwich right away. Being a Christian since student years, she was looking for and found a lively community, solid Christian teaching and new friends in Grace Church Greenwich. Having a legal and project management background Nina was happy to join the Church as an Administrator and serve God and the congregation. Her favourite hobbies include travelling, enjoying great food, hiking, skiing, and doing it all in a company of good friends!
Naomi Pick
Children’s Worker
Naomi started attending Grace Church Greenwich in 2017 when she moved from Edinburgh to London for her degree in Musical Theatre. It turned out to be one of the best decisions she’s ever made, and she is now temporarily serving on the ministry team as the Children’s Worker, helping families get to know and love Jesus more. Her favourite activities include crafting, baking and singing!
Carolina Lei
Ministry Trainee
Originally from Macau, Carolina is the first trainee with an interesting mix of a Chinese background and a Portuguese nationality. She became a Christian when she studied Economics at the University of York. Before joining Grace Church, she worked as a primary school teacher in Sutton and studied part-time at Cornhill. She enjoys travelling, cycling to new places, and meeting friends from around the world.
Tom Brown
Ministry Trainee
Born and raised in Somerset, Tom moved to London for university. He studied Aeronautical Engineering at Imperial College, where he was involved in the Christian Union as well as a local church. Tom joined Grace Church in September 2022 as a ministry trainee. He enjoys watching sports and movies and spending time with friends and his fiancée Ilona.
Jonny Tilford
Ministry Trainee
Jonny was born and raised in Warwick, but his desire to reach the nations with the Good News of Jesus was later ignited when he moved to London. He has spent time working in Portuguese and French-speaking churches in Europe, and is training in the UK before returning abroad long-term. Jonny is very thankful to be married to Julia, they live in South Bermondsey.