Life of Prayer

The Community of the Word of God (CWG) was founded by John Pearce, a Church of England clergyman of strong Evangelical faith. In about 1960, John whose Hackney parish served many needs, came back from a retreat with an Anglican sisterhood asking himself, “Why should there not be Evangelical sisters?”.

Confident that this was of the Lord and could bring not only great support to the parish, but also a loving fellowship for single Christian women, John placed a simple advertisement in the Church press.

A mixed group of women responded, ex-missionaries, deaconesses, parish workers, the Bishop of Zaire’s wife, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s sister… Nor was it limited to women; men and families also showed interest.

On November 2nd, 1972, a group of men and women, some single, some in families, made a commitment before the Lord to live a shared life.

While the families remained in their own homes, the single people, taking their inspiration from the early Church in Acts 2 and 4, shared a home together. Among these first members were a surveyor, a lecturer in Biblical studies, a youth leader, teachers, homemakers and five children.