Who we are

St John the Divine is a small Church of England parish church in Earlsfield, South-West London. We aim to be a place of welcome and worship for people of every age and background, reflecting the diversity of our surrounding area.

We are currently in a vacancy so do not have a permanent priest.

St John’s can be found on Garratt Lane by the Henry Prince Estate. We care deeply about our local community and all who live on the Estate. We want to work in partnership with our community to make our local area even better than it already is!

Come and meet us on Sundays at 10.30am.

I’ve never been to church before, what is it all about?

People belong to the church because they believe Jesus is the most important person in the world. But people come to church for many reasons – to look for friendships or spiritual roots, or because they’re not sure but want to find out more.

We believe Jesus was born and brought up in Palestine, about 2,000 years ago. He accepted people, he healed their hurts, he forgave their wrongs. He taught and practised love for enemies as well as friends.

Jesus challenged people to a radical trust in God, and he inspired love and devotion in his followers.

2,000 years later, we dare to believe in the same Jesus. We worship him, we learn from his teaching and try to live out his values – in particular, we try to accept all people however different, we aim to forgive those who wrong us (as God forgives us), and we help each other to trust God more fully.

We believe God loves our local community of Earlsfield, so we get involved in its activities and events, its joy and its pain. We hope, with God’s help, to make our world a better place.

At St John’s we’re not experts at putting over the message, nor are we perfect Christians. But we are real – and the best way to see what we’re like is to come and meet us.

Some questions we have often been asked:

I haven’t been to church since I was a child and starting up again is a daunting prospect – I’m nervous that I won’t do the right thing and keep putting it off. Is it just me?

No, it is not just you. Many of our congregation have experienced this apprehension about coming back into the church after a long absence only to find they were not alone in this and soon settled into church life. It is only human to have doubts and uncertainty, and people often report back that our friendly reception put them at ease. We have service booklets to follow for the service and there are always people around to help you find your place. Do come, relax and enjoy our service!

If I came to church, would I be expected to come every Sunday? I have so many other commitments.

Worship in church has its own special meaning for each one of us and we discover this as our personal church attendance grows. We all have other commitments and the Church understands this. It is up to each one of us to decide what our priorities are and the regularity of your coming to church will never be questioned at St John’s

I have not had a church upbringing and never been baptised or confirmed so how would I be received if I came to St John’s?

We are all equal in the sight of God and you would be welcomed at St John’s as you are. Baptism and confirmation are important decisions and the people here on Sunday morning usually includes those who are in the process of exploring how they respond to God. In fact, all of us, even long after receiving baptism and confirmation, are still on that path of exploration.

I don’t know if I believe in God so how could I possibly come to church and say that I do?

The fact that you have asked this question shows that you have given the matter some considerable thought. Church is full of people who would give very different answers to the question of what they believe. In worship we join each other and the faith of the strong encourages the faith of the uncertain, just as the questions of the doubters challenge the confident. No one has all the answers, but if we come with open minds, then from our different perspectives we can be a gift to each other.

I’ve done some bad things in my life and feel I’m just not good enough to come to church. I would feel a fraud in deceiving everyone.

The truth is that none of us is good enough! Jesus reserved harsh criticism for those who thought they were and high praise for those who recognised how much they need God. One of the beautiful things about Christianity is God’s free gift of forgiveness when we turn to him with genuine sorrow. This is a gift which is all about making a fresh start.

Earlsfield (formerly Garratt Green) – is an inner south-London suburb in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is dissected by the River Wandle, a tributary of the River Thames. In past times the area was open farmland with no settlements other than the hamlet of Garratt Green, home to a large water mill. Garratt Lane, running parallel with the Wandle for some distance, is the main thoroughfare of Earlsfield; its name keeps alive a memory of former times.

With the coming of the railways in the 1880s the construction of a railway station required the purchase and demolition of a large house called Earlsfield. One of the conditions of its sale was that the station should be named after the house, and so the area has been known ever since.

From the mid eighteenth century until the 1820s Garratt Green was widely known for the rumbustious carnival atmosphere that accompanied the election of a ‘mayor’ to oversee the management of the common land. These elections were timed to coincide with national elections, but outgrew their original purpose to become something of rallying point for the un-enfranchised classes to have a day out and mock the political system that denied them a vote. Reports talk of tens of thousands attending.

The scene of the election was the Leather Bottle pub, which still stands on Garratt Lane. The elections were immortalised in a popular drama called  ‘The Mayor of Garratt’ (1763), written by the actor-dramatist and impresario Samuel Foote (1720-77) who had witnessed the 1761 election.

The church of St John the Divine on Garratt Lane was established in 1903 as the Bendon Valley Mission Church, a mission church of St Andrew’s, Garratt Lane.

In the 1920s plans were drawn up to replace the mission building with something altogether more grand, designed by F H. Greenaway and J.E. Newberry, and dedicated to St John the Divine, ‘on a corner site at the junction of Garratt Lane and Bendon Valley’ (The Building News, 29 October 1920), but these plans were never carried out.

Instead we have the modest but attractive building that dates from 1925 by the architect Arthur Young (1853-1924), supervised after his death by his business partner Allan Douglas Reid, (1898-1977).

The distinctive baptismal font in the church came from St George Battersea according to the Southwark Diocesan Records.

Find us

St John the Divine Church
Garratt Lane
Earlsfield
Wandsworth
SW18 4EH

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