Why Do We Partner With God’s House Church?

In 2018, Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol, challenged church leaders that the race and class divisions that exist within Bristol are also within the churches of Bristol. He challenged us to take the lead and 'stitch the city together.'

We at Hope took on this challenge. One of our main strategies is to grow in friendship and partnership with God's House, a church with which we already had good relations. God's House International Centre (GHIC) is based in Staple Hill, and their members live all across the greater Bristol area. God's House members are from all over the world and especially from many different African nations.

Chris and Alice and family went to South Africa with Pastors Osien and Fatima in 2022, ministering with them around Cape Town and Johannesburg. Visiting their home country was a big part of building friendship and partnership. Since then we've grown closer as churches through having several joint services each year, doing the Living Free course together, Hope joining the GHIC Women's Conference and Football tournament.

In 2024, recognizing God's House's strength in prayer and fasting we asked them to teach us to pray as they do. They all came for a joint service in Hope that included Abraham speaking on 'nagging God in prayer' and a wonderful combined churches worship team.Then in January 2025 we prayed and fasted for a week in the same style as God's House. That was a wonderful time, and will likely become a regular feature in the Hope calendar.

We're planning a combined churches ministry trip to Botswana in 2026.

And the prayer around and over all the joy of this relationship is that it will be powerful in overcoming racial divisions and stitching Bristol together.

• photograph is from our joint baptism Sunday in July 2025