Sophienkirche Link
Christ Church, Isle of Dogs continues its exchange link with Sophienkirche Berlin.
30 April – 3 May, 2026
This exchange with a parish in inner city Berlin has now been running for 26 years.
An account of’How it All Began’ can be found at the end of this description of our recent visit
20 Berliners arrived for three nights over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend. Fr Tom Pyke led our side, and pastor Dr Christine Schlund headed the Berlin contingent. They all arrived at different airports at various times, and this year we did not try and collect them. We have done this in the past with varying success. Friday May 1st is a German Bank Holiday, but a working day for us.
There have been stumbles along the way, but we have maintained the pattern of one visit each way every other year.
There were no such hiccups this year, and our guests were uniformly robust and delightful.
The run up had been sprinkled with charming, pleading emails. “Could you just take another two guests? They would be happy to sleep on the floor …of course if it’s any trouble……”
Each time I bravely replied “Of course, no problem.” Then I went into a flat panic about how we were going to accommodate them. The idea is that they stay with ‘host families’ but spare rooms and hosts who do not baulk at sharing a bathroom, proved to be few and far between. We even reserved a provisional room in the Holiday Inn, which in the end was not needed. Our ever-tactful guests must have picked up the accommodation vibes, because, unprompted, two families firmly announced that they were staying in Air B and Bs, for ‘more flexibility.’
90% of our guests are multilingual with some incredibly talented musicians in the mix. They sang and played the flute to professional level. They were also extremely fit. Germans are keen on cycling. The majority are West Berliners with 4 East Germans in the mix. Yes, there is still a difference, and everybody in Germany still knows who is who. The exchange parish of Sophien is situated by the Wall, just inside the old East Berlin border and has the bullet marks to prove it.
What did we do?
We aim to show our guests a side of London that is different from the itinerary available on an Awayday Weekend.
Day One: Friday
We hopped on the DLR. The first stop was the view from the tower at 120 Fenchurch St. I recommend it. It is not the highest viewing point in London, but it is free, and extremely pleasant with wisteria, seats, and coffee on tap. For us, it’s location was ideal
We only had to nip across the road to Saint Olaves Church, once the haunt of Samuel Pepys. The charismatic, enthusiastic rector, the Rev Philip Dawson, entertained and educated us, with tales of the challenges faced by this historic city church. ‘My boundaries extend for six streets.’ We then retired to the graveyard to eat sandwiches and pork pies under a tree in the sunshine, while Philip amused us with more compelling anecdotes.
Then it was off to the Guildhall to St Lawrence Jewry where another talk had been scheduled. We missed it. We had lingered too long over that delightful lunch.
My admiration for tour guides went up. We soon abandoned trying to keep the party together enroute to the Guildhall. People kept popping off all the time, expressing an urgent desire to visit, and then shop at, Spitalfields Market. We therefore abandoned trying to walk together. It was a holiday after all. Everyone had Google Maps and for the energetic, the Roman amphitheatre and Guildhall art gallery were to hand.
We meandered back to Christ Church.
Debbie Forum -Jensen heroically provided all the meals in the church on both Friday and Sat nights and again on Sunday lunchtime. It was a case of feeding about 60 ,on each consecutive night. Two former directors of music, Dennis Tjiok and Julien Lee returned to entertain us, complete with films and flashing fairy lights. We don’t often have party time and dancing in Christ Church. The teenagers in the group perked up.
Day Two: Saturday
We experienced a taste of life at a humbler church. The Rev Unesu Chindabata was a much-loved curate here at Christ Church,7 years ago.
She is now vicar of two huge ‘challenging’ parishes in the Barking/ Dagenham region.
The Thames Clipper route extends down beyond the Thames barrier to Barking Riverside. This jetty has only recently opened, and so the journey was as much a novelty for the suddenly increased, enthusiastic home team, as it was for our guests. Boat trips on sunny days are always a hit.
Unesu was enormously welcoming and cheerful about her socially deprived congregation. She spoke of the challenges presented when the government decides to build 30 000 new houses on the adjacent flood plain, without much accompanying infrastructure.
Once again, we sat outside in the sunshine, chatting over a generous barbecue. Unesu must have wondered whether we were ever going to leave. Most took the boat home, but some remained on the Clipper to venture up to explore the delights of the City. The balance between Time Off and Exciting Organised Happenings, is always a fine one.
Day Three: Sunday
We celebrated here at Christ Church. Fr Tom chose German related hymns. The pastor, Dr Christine Schlund preached in her fluent English. Yes, we speak English when they come here, and we speak English when we go there. Hmm.
More food. More chat, and by tradition the Berliners go home on Sunday afternoon, although a few extended their stays, and were still around, talking excitedly about dinner and trips to the pub, on Wednesday.
This trip was one of our most successful ones. We have had a few hiccups during previous trips. On two occasions, individual Berliners have phoned me, mid stay, to explain how they could not endure another night with their English hosts! The reasons given were perceived alcoholism and ‘music on all night’…… I hope we have shown more backbone on our return visits(!)
There were no such problems this year, and our guests were uniformly robust and delightful.
Enormous thanks to everyone involved, and of course, to our wonderful, cheerful friends from Berlin. I should also add a big clap of appreciation to the weather God for providing the two hottest days so far this year.
Tamsin Vaughan Williams
