The Bear Church

JESUS – COMMUNITY - CREATIVITY THE BEAR CHURCH IS AN INDEPENDENT CHRISTIAN CHURCH BASED IN DEPTFORD, SE LONDON. WE ARE A HYBRID OF TWO CHURCHES: THE SHAFTESBURY CHRISTIAN CENTRE AND THE BEAR CHURCH WHICH MERGED IN 2007. The Shaftesbury Christian Centre began in 1844 in a loft space above a cowshed off Deptford High Street. It was started by eight Christian men and women as one of London’s first ragged schools, so called because the children were ‘dressed in rags’ with bare feet in all weathers. In 1862, the Earl of Shaftesbury wrote “there is no institution in England more worthy of support than the Deptford Ragged School”. The Deptford Ragged School was renamed ‘The Princess Louise Institute’ in 1914 while The Ragged School Union was renamed The Shaftesbury Society in 1944 and Livability in 2007. The Bear Church began as The Brown Bear in an old public house on Deptford High Street in 1990. It was started by a group of visionary leaders and young people from Ichthus Christian Fellowship as an outreach post and church for young people. Today - The Bear Church is part of The Deptford Ragged Trust. We are a diverse, creative and growing group of people committed to loving God and others. From our base at The Shaftesbury Christian Centre in Deptford we aim to offer a place of refuge, learning, family, innovation, worship, hospitality and entertainment for the people of Deptford and South East London. Our building is home to The Bear Church, Bear Cubs parent and toddler group, parenting courses, ESOL classes, BearLive music events, pantomimes, Deptford Breastfeeding Group, The Evening Service and soup kitchen, The Deptford Ragged School Archive, Psalms and Stretches and Inside Out. We support NXD Free Film Festival, Bench Outreach, The Big Lunch, AA, XLP, Cherish Uganda and more.