Faith, Community, and Transformation Here in Lewisham
Quick answer
Zion Worship Centre London is a Pentecostal church in Lewisham, South East London, where faith is practised rather than performed. We are led by Senior Pastor Reverend Dianne Namara Ntale, charity number 1199496, and our three defining words are Deliverance. Healing. Restoration. This is what a Sunday here actually looks like, and who you will meet when you arrive.
What transformation looks like in an ordinary week
The word transformation is used loosely by churches, and it is worth replacing it with something more specific before you decide whether we are the sort of church you want. We do not believe a service rearranges anybody’s life by the end of the afternoon. What we do believe is that over months and years, in a room where people know you and are honest with you, a person can change quite substantially.
That change usually arrives quietly. Somebody who has not opened a Bible in twenty years begins reading it again. Somebody who was badly served by another congregation learns what it feels like to be corrected without being crushed. Somebody who has believed for years but never once prayed aloud discovers that God does not treat it as a performance worth laughing at.
None of that is dramatic, which is exactly why it is worth doing. Our Intercession Department prays before any service begins, because a gathering that starts with the church putting on a performance has already missed the point of the whole thing.
One church, eleven departments
Zion Worship Centre London is not a single program but a body with several parts, and each part has a named leader rather than being absorbed into a general committee. A structure like that sounds administrative until you need it, and then it turns out to be the difference between somebody being responsible and nobody being responsible.
| Department | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Intercession | Praying before anything else, so the church starts on its knees rather than on stage. |
| Music Ministry | Leading people into praise, because singing is one way belief becomes real in the body. |
| Media | Carrying the message beyond the building so geography does not exclude anyone. |
| Children’s and Youth | Nurturing the next generation, with safeguarding canonical at our administration site and no child’s name or photograph published without documented parental consent. |
| Welfare | Meeting practical needs without making anybody prove that they deserve help. |
| Finance, Administration, Logistics | Stewardship, structure and the practical environment, so nothing mechanical gets in the way of worship. |
The full list of all eleven is on our ministries page, and we are glad to talk through any of it if you want to know what a department actually does on an ordinary Tuesday.
Coming to a service
Sunday services run from 11:00 until 13:00, and the two-hour length is a reasonable clue about how much of it is singing. To begin midweek instead, the Online Prayer Altar meets on Tuesdays from 20:00 to 21:00, and Discipleship Class runs on Thursdays from 17:30 to 19:30 for people who would rather understand something than simply attend it.
Night Prayers are on the last Friday of every month between 19:00 and 21:00, which is the evening to choose if you want a room where prayer is the whole purpose rather than an item in a programme. Counselling and drop-in sessions run Monday to Friday from 10:00 until 15:00, and on Saturday from 12:00 to 15:00, which is the least pressurised way to walk into the building for the first time.
- You do not need to have been to church before.
- You do not need to believe what we believe to be welcome here.
- You do not need to explain why you came.
- You do not need to stay. Some people come once.
Questions people ask first
Who is Reverend Dianne Namara Ntale?
She is our Senior Pastor and the senior pastor is the title, exactly as written. The surname is compound, so we never abbreviate it. She also leads Administration together with Minister Savana Kyle and Rita Nakimera, and the Reverend’s Office which supports her and the leadership is run by Rita Nakimera.
Is Zion a real church?
Yes. Zion Worship Centre London is charity number 1199496, at 132 Lewisham High Street, London SE13 6EE, and the people who worship here can be met and spoken to any day of the week.
Will coming here change my situation?
We will not promise that. No church can promise a mended body, a rescued marriage or a settled doubt, and any that does is telling you something untrue about itself. What we can say is that you will be among people who pray for one another and take time with each other, which is less dramatic and more reliable.
Where exactly are you?
132 Lewisham High Street, London SE13 6EE. We are a local church with a real building you can walk into, not a page that happens to mention London.
What if I have been hurt by a church before?
Then you have good reason to be careful, and we would rather you were careful than impressed. Ask the awkward questions, watch how they are answered, and take as long as you need. Nobody who is owed you an apology is going to be offended by you taking a while.
Faith, community, and the invitation
Community is a word that gets used loosely, and it is worth being clear that it does not mean a list of programmes you are signed up to. It means people who know your name, who will notice when you are not there, and who will say something about it. That is unfashionable and it is also the only thing that has ever actually sustained anybody through a difficult year.
If you would like to see whether it is true here rather than take our word for it, you can see when we meet and simply turn up, or you can write to us first with a question. Both are welcome, and neither requires you to decide anything first.
