St Matthew's, West Ham, is a church on the Evangelical wing of the Church of England. Built in 1896 it was a well attended church in the early days, as was the nearby mission hall. It suffered the post-war decline of so many inner city churches and reached the position of, by the end of the sixties, being considered for closure. However a faithful few fought to keep the church open and eventually a decision was made to create a team ministry. St Matthew's was teamed with St Saviours, Forest Gate, with St Matthew's having a team vicar on a five year appointment.

Since this time St Matthew's has been in renewal, growing both in numbers and spiritually. In the appointment of our team vicars we have seen God's hand at work as each vicar has clearly brought to us what we needed and revealed to us more of God's purpose for our congregation. The team ministry has proved to be a blessing when maybe some saw it as second best.

We would describe ourselves now as evangelical and charismatic, although we have a lot to learn about using the gifts the Holy Spirit gives us. Over the years the church building has been adapted to provide first a worship area and, more recently the long term plan has been completed to provide a hall, two meeting rooms, an office, kitchen, toilets and two large walk-in cupboards for storage. This hall is now known as the "Family Centre", with its own entrance.

We have grown to be a multicultural fellowship; with members from the UK, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia, people from all walks of life and many different parts of Britain. We are a good representation of the local population and, as we grow closer together and learn more about each other, it provides us excellent training for our long term plans for outreach into the community, both for social action and evangelism. Almost all members live within a mile or so of the church, which is a plus when it comes to involvement in the community and weekday activities.

• Every Day with Jesus as our Lord and King
• Daily prayer and reading of the Bible
• Regular worship together
• Receiving of Holy Communion
• Praise of God and listening to God

Disciple people of all ages to be followers of Jesus Christ by:

• Providing ways for people to explore the Christian faith
• Making commitments to our Lord Jesus Christ in Baptism and confirmation
• Encouraging development of gifts, abilities and vocations so that people grow to maturity in their faith

Support Christian families in discipling children and young people to be followers of Jesus Christ