For 280 years, St Matthew’s Bethnal Green has stood at the heart of a changing East End of London. Its recent anniversary celebration offered more than an opportunity to look back. It revealed a church with deep roots, a strong sense of belonging and a remarkable determination to keep serving its community.
Celebrated on 27 September alongside the church’s patronal festival, the anniversary brought together people from across the neighbourhood for a service presided over by the Rt Revd Rod Green, Bishop of Stepney. The celebrations continued with a procession, historic wands and staves, music from the East London Evensong Choir, food, stalls and speeches. Local figures, including the Pearly Kings and Queens, joined the festivities, while children showcased ideas from Kids’ Deziah Business, a group encouraging them to explore setting up their own businesses.
A celebration built by the community
Behind the celebrations was a collective effort by the congregation, the Parochial Church Council (PCC), churchwardens and volunteers. For Matthew Shelley and Yara Ziadé, the churchwardens, the occasion reflected the commitment of people who continue to give their time and energy to St Matthew’s.
Matthew has been part of the church since he was born. Yara has been involved for around ten years, but both emphasise that the church’s strength lies in its wider congregation.
“I think this church has really very deep roots all around the parish here,” Yara says. “Many people have been here for a while despite the ups and downs. They still show up for the church.”
Reflecting on the anniversary, she remembers people contributing wholeheartedly, eager to express their affection for the church. “I love this church. I’m here, I belong here, I want to be here,” she says, describing the feeling among those taking part.
Matthew sees that commitment as a defining characteristic of the parish. “I think it’s the resilience and the stoicism of the parish,” he says. “People actually do care and put their money where their mouth is.”
Keeping the church’s life going
That resilience matters as St Matthew’s continues its life through an interregnum without a resident vicar. For almost two years, the churchwardens and Parochial Church Council (PCC), past and present, have had a considerable amount to do. The council has 12 members, each bringing different gifts and contributing according to their circumstances and the time they can give. Sacramental worship continues seamlessly thanks to visiting clergy. As Matthew notes, neighbouring churches step in to offer cover priests each week, including visits on Wednesdays for evensong.
A parish of many communities
Matthew’s lifelong connection to St Matthew’s also gives him a particular perspective on the neighbourhood it serves. Bethnal Green has changed considerably over the decades. He remembers an area characterised by working-class communities, council estates and a large Bangladeshi population. In more recent years, younger people and residents from more affluent backgrounds have moved into the area.
The different communities now live alongside one another, but their paths do not always cross. Matthew illustrates the contrast with an observation about the local high street: there are hairdressers charging £10 and others charging £80 next door to each other, yet they do not necessarily attract the same customers.
St Matthew’s, he believes, offers a place where people from these different worlds can meet.
“You have the old Cockneys, the East Enders, the Bangladeshi community who are now in their third, fourth generation, and the more affluent newcomers,” he says. “They’re all kind of living side-by-side, but not necessarily always crossing over.”
“The church has always been a place where there has been at least some crossover between those groups, and that’s been really special,” he adds.
That diversity is reflected in the congregation. Across the PCC alone, Matthew estimates there are seven different nationalities. The wider congregation includes people who have lived locally for generations, recent immigrants, former Muslims who have become Christians, and people from different social backgrounds.
Matthew Shelley and Yara Ziadé, St Matthews Bethnal Green Churchwardens
Building belonging beyond Sunday
The church’s relationships with the neighbourhood also extend beyond regular worship. Matthew and Yara previously ran a children’s club designed to bring young people from different backgrounds together. Some participants went on to find a home in the church, while others have maintained a connection without attending regularly.
Yara recalls a Muslim teenager who had attended the club and later returned with her mother and sister to run a stall at an Easter event.
“They knew they would be welcome,” Yara says. “It was still like, yes, it’s a place where we can be.”
For Yara, the relationship between church and neighbourhood is reciprocal. Both continue to evolve, shaped by the people who live, worship, and build relationships there.
As St Matthew’s looks ahead, its anniversary celebrates not only a long history but the people who continue to sustain its life and mission. During the vacancy, Matthew and Yara, alongside the PCC and volunteers, remain part of that continuing story.
After 280 years, St Matthew’s remains rooted in Bethnal Green, sustained by a congregation whose commitment is evident not simply in what it celebrates, but in the work it continues to do.
