The Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, has joined the congregation and community at St Alban’s on Acton Green Common for the rededication of the church.  Over 340 people joined the service followed by birthday cake to celebrate the second anniversary of it being returned to use as a church after standing unused for seven years.

Although celebrations for the second birthday started last week with more than 1,000 local people enjoying the St Alban’s fair, the service was the first major event in the building since finishing the first phase of renovation of the church. This has seen it go from services having to be held in a chilly tent inside the building to a church with a sound roof with the latest solar tiles, fully-functioning heating system and new toilets and kitchen facilities.

Despite the challenges in bringing the building back to life, the welcoming St Alban’s congregation has doubled in size since the launch and it has quickly become part of community life, hosting classical concerts and choral performances, lectures, ceilidhs, hog roasts and a toddler club with a much-loved bouncy castle.

St Alban’s is the largest space of its kind in Chiswick and has huge potential as a place to bring the community together. With the new heating and roof in place, the team at St Alban’s are planning new events and activities – with a vision to become the ‘beating heart of the community’; the watch word at St Alban’s and the slogan on the team’s t-shirts.

Commenting on the rededication and two year milestone in St Alban’s journey, the Reverend Mike Tufnell said:

“It was a privilege to welcome Bishop Richard back to St Alban’s and share with him all that God has achieved though us so far. It has been an incredible journey and there is so much more to do.”

St Alban’s was one of the early new worshipping communities launched under the Diocese of London’s Capital Vision 2020, its strategy to serve London into the the future in ways that are confident, compassionate and creative.

St Alban’s is part of the multisite Christ Church W4 (CCW4) along with Christ Church on Turnham Green and a smaller Mission Hall on nearby Cunnington Street. The entire Christ Church W4 family have been crucial in bringing St Alban’s back to life and have raised over £500,000 to for the first phase of the renovation.

Their ambition for a second phase of work at an appropriate time in the future to fully realise the potential of the building can be found at the ‘beating heart W4′ website:  http://www.beatingheartw4.org or the main website: http://www.christchurchw4.com