The Early Years

In 1888 the streets south of Finsbury Park were newly built. They quickly filled with the tide of the prospering lower-middle classes, who were leaving overcrowded central London as the railway and omnibus lines opened up the new suburbs. The Church of England had been here for some time already. A Mission Church had been meeting first in a small brick building, then in a large temporary iron church.

As the population shifted out of the old City, churches there were becoming redundant. Some were demolished, including St Matthew, Friday Street. The site and fabric of this ancient City church were sold. The proceeds were used to fund a new permanent red-brick church at the corner of Monsell Road and St Thomas's Road.

This new church was to be a focus for the new community. Its experiences and troubles over the coming years reflected the quickly changing face of a new neighbourhood.

The congregation started out bravely: St Thomas's was founded to worship in the newly resurgent Anglo-Catholic tradition, a rarity then in Islington; there were to be no pew rents; Guilds, sporting clubs, Sunday schools and socials flourished; there were Sisters attached to the church and volunteer District Visitors, ministering to the sick and the unfortunate.

In the course of just 25 years the tide of surburbanisation had left Finsbury Park behind. Many of the prosperous stalwarts of the church in its earliest incarnation had also moved on. The area changed quickly, becoming poorer and more needy. St Thomas's continued to meet the spiritual and temporal needs of its congregation, but the challenges grew.

Open Pews, Open Church

"All the seats are free and unappropriated". This was the slogan emblazoned on early parish magazines. What this meant was that there were no pew rents at St Thomas's. Instead the church's expenses were to be funded entirely from the free offerings of the congregation.

In Victorian Britain, pew rents were the standard way to ensure a regular church income to meet the bills. Members of a congregation would "rent" a pew, with the "best" seats costing the most. The resulting seating pattern was a visible symbol of social hierarchy -with visitors having to take the leavings.

With no pew rents, St Thomas's was an inclusive church from the outset. This tradition continues. Our mission statement now includes "We welcome into full membership and participation in the body of Christ persons of every race and cultural tradition, language, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, physical or mental ability, and economic status." A visit to any service will show this mission in action.

This reliance back in the early years on the "plate" offerings caused the church wardens some anxiety as the parish grew poorer. Many of the parish magazines include reminders to the congregation that, with no pew rents, salaries and expenses could only be paid if they dug deep.

A Campaigning Church

St Thomas's congregation showed an interest in social issues from the start. There were lectures on topics such as the opium trade with China. A letter was sent to the Prime Minister protesting against "the Government of a professedly Christian Empire continuing to carry on the manufacture and sale of opium for the sake of revenue, and in the face of all moral considerations".

The Church Guild petitioned the Minister of Education against the 1906 Education Bill, which attacked state funding for Anglican and Catholic schools. This Bill was eventually thrown out by the House of Lords.

Closer to home, the congregation led protests in 1905 against the proposal to erect a variety hall at the far end of St Thomas's Road. These protests were initially successful, but the Empire Finsbury Park was eventually built in 1910, on the corner of Prah Road and St Thomas's Road. The theatre closed in 1960, and was demolished in 1965. Vaudeville Court now stands on its site, and houses some of our current congregation.

Social issues remain at the heart of our Christian response to the world around us. We had an Environment Month in September/October 2007, a programme of events designed to help us become an ecologically-aware and active congregation. Other issues we have been involved with recently include asylum seekers, Make Poverty History and the difficulties faced by Palestinian civilians.