Exarcheia Church, Athens, Greece
Update from Alexandros and Tim:
Here in Exarcheia, we are experiencing the growing pains of a neighborhood in transition. You can see this in the posters and graffiti on the street, often decrying signs of tourism and gentrification like AirBnB and a proposed metro station. You can hear it in anxious conversations about increased crime and more police presence. As rents rise, crime swells and residents become worn out, the whispers grow louder: Is this the death of the dream of Exarcheia?
When we first began to plan and pray about planting a church here, the tone in the neighborhood was much different. Even in the wake of the economic crisis, there was a buzz of excitement in the anarchist community, saying that it was proof that the gods of capitalism were dying. Exarcheia became a symbol of hope of a new way to live, a flower that was growing out of the ashes of a city that was burning. As followers of Christ, we were eager to be part of this movement towards a new way to live and to bring a church into the neighborhood as people were looking for something different.
Nearly six years later, we see that this sense of excitement has given way to despair. It’s impossible to ignore how the decay of the neighborhood has affected everyone. In our dual roles as followers of Christ and committed residents of Exarcheia, we ask ourselves the question, “Do we continue to fight to preserve the dream of Exarcheia, or do we accept that the death of this dream is allowing a new path to be seen?” The same threat of a burning city that we saw during the economic crisis has now come directly to our doorstep. What flower will bloom out of these ashes?
In Luke 10:2, Jesus says to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” We believe that the harvest is plentiful here. Instead of despairing about the inability to change the city, we look instead at the faces of the people who make the city. Our neighborhood needs changed people, with changed hearts and homes. The gospel message that we bring is of a Creator who will never die, who speaks directly to every heart that cries out for eternity.
We do not share these things out of fear or discouragement, but rather as an invitation to pray in a new way. Pray that we will listen closely to the direction that God is calling us to take, that we will hear the cries of the city and respond with the grace and peace of Christ.
New Building Update
Since renovations were finally able to begin on our new church building late last year, we have been slowly seeing progress in each of the spaces. The top floor is finished with the offices and a conference room, and we've been working in there since January. Having been without our regular office space since November 2017, this has been a huge blessing to have more space! We were grateful to have a friend from the US come for two weeks to help with renovations, and in March, a team of four men with professional construction skills completed the complicated task of replacing the 100 old subfloor in the worship space. In July, our first partner church, Presbyterian Church of Kennett Square, brought a team and "adopted" our Sunday school room, completing it in the week!
We moved out of our current building at the end of September, and we are prayerfully anticipating that the renovations in the worship space will be ready in time for our first worship service in early November. Will you join us in praying for this?