““If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.””
In 2018, Anna and Sam Pollard moved to Barking Riverside with a clear brief: plant a church on a new housing development. They started walking the streets, praying for the community, expecting God to give them a vision for what that church would look like.
He gave them something different:
"I'm not giving you a vision for a church, but to see this community thriving with Jesus at the heart and I'm raising up local people to do it."
That moment changed everything. Instead of arriving with a plan, they arrived with a question: who do we need to be, and who does God need to raise up, to see this community genuinely flourish?
Six years of joining in
Church at Barking Riverside (CBR) grew out of that question. Not through importing a model from somewhere else, but by joining in with what God was already doing. By 2024, around 85 adults and children were gathering across three discipleship communities: one for young people, one for families, and one in Joe's Fight Gym.
Names like Joe, Hayley, Zahra, Urbain, Jeorgina, Ivanete, Dattain, Jermaine and many more - each a story in themselves. Local people, raised up exactly as God had promised.
But something was shifting.
Practically, the doors on continuing as an Anglican church were closing. Spiritually, the core community was weaving in and out of other local churches and a growing number of people were crossing CBR's path who loved Jesus and had big dreams for their communities, but nowhere to really ‘belong’. Leaders from different churches, different sectors, different backgrounds - each with something in their hearts that felt unfinished, not started yet and/or not sure how to make it work.
God kept bringing the CBR family back to those first prayer walks. Something new was emerging…
Two pictures
Sam first reflected on the name Solomon’s House over 10 years ago when asking the question of what happened to David’s mighty men in Solomon’s time (see 1 Chronicles in the Bible). The story of David's mighty men is of a motley gathering of warriors from different nations and tribes. Some held formal positions; others were more like rogue adventurers, wandering around doing extraordinary things for their King. What united them wasn't their role or their organisation. It was a shared passion: their King and His kingdom.
Over a thousand years later, Jesus talked all the time about the “Kingdom of God”….and radically changed what it means. It’s not about nationalism or one people exerting power over another. It’s a declaration that God has humbled Himself to come live amongst humanity, pouring out His life into the most broken places, and calling every single person home to Him. Jesus came as a King who chose “to serve and not be served,” even to the point of dying on the cross….and whose love was so powerful that death could not hold Him. So, those of us who follow this King are called to live the same way: humbly giving everything we’ve got to love Jesus and make a difference to those around us.
Solomon’s House is an exploration of how we organise ourselves to help each other do this. Back to David, in Jerusalem, the House of the Mighty Men was a real place, a building with three purposes: a lodging place for the warriors, a post for the watchmen of the city and a place to train people in the skills of battle.
That's the shape of what Solomon's House wants to be. A place of belonging, where people find family across the usual boundaries of church or organisation. A place of prayer; watchmen interceding for the city and for one another. Lastly, a place of equipping; sharing what we're learning, growing in how to make disciples and coming together as leaders from different spheres, to tackle things none of us could tackle alone.
The second picture is a trellis. Jesus said He is the vine and we are the branches (see John 15 in the Bible - the whole point is the vine, not the trellis. Solomon's House is trellis. Any structure, rhythm or event that gets set up exists only to support what God wants to grow. The organisation is not the point. Jesus is. Creating space for Jesus to pour His life into us so that it can overflow everywhere we go.
What we believe and how we work
Three values shape everything Solomon's House does.
Dependence on God - before strategy, before programmes, before fundraising. The story of CBR and the story of Solomon’s House began with prayer and fasting and that is always the starting place.
Passionate about People - not projects or organisations, but the people God has placed in Barking and Dagenham. Every person carries gifts, passions and ideas placed in them by God. Our role is to create the space for those gifts to flourish.
Dreamers who Dare - like those mighty men jumping into holes on snowy days, Solomon’s House is for people willing to take risks in faith and see what God does. Big dreams, held lightly, offered to the King.
Practically, those values express themselves through three things:
· Habits: personal and corporate rhythms of prayer and discipleship
· Hands: getting involved, serving, and being present in the community
· Hubs: creating spaces where people can belong, connect and grow
What Solomon's House is today
Solomon's House is both a registered charity and a wider spiritual family.
As a charity, we create spaces for communities to thrive, with the Rivergate Centre in Barking Riverside as a prime example and through projects focused on young people, families, employment and health.
As a spiritual family, we are a growing community of individuals, churches and organisations - dreamers committed to praying together, growing together, and making a difference for Jesus together. Not a network with membership criteria. Not another organisation to belong to. A family, gathered around a shared King.
The vision hasn't changed since those first prayer walks in 2018. Whole communities thriving with Jesus at the heart. Local people empowered to make it happen. And a growing band of people willing to put Jesus first and see what He does through them.
What's coming next
Solomon's House began with 21 days of prayer and fasting in 2019 and this September, we're doing it again. From 21st September, the Solomon’s House family is entering 21 days of prayer and fasting together, seeking God for this next chapter before we do anything else.
Then in October, we'll be moving. Our team is taking on Cover the Borough: walking, running, cycling and swimming 1 metre for every person who lives in Barking and Dagenham. That's 238,925 people and 239 km in 7 days. Fundraising as prayer. Every metre a person. Every gift a declaration that this community is worth believing in.
If you'd like to follow the journey, find us on Instagram and Facebook. If you'd like to give, our fundraising page is live! Click below.
“Our story is just beginning...”