A New Interfaith Community Garden Blossoms in the City

On Sunday 23 November, members of the Spanish & Portuguese Sephardi Community and St Katharine Cree gathered on Mitzvah Day with friends and neighbours to celebrate something beautiful taking root in the heart of the City: a new interfaith community garden, regenerated through six weeks of shared volunteering, friendship, and faith in action.

Tucked behind St Katharine Cree — just a few minutes’ walk from Bevis Marks Synagogue — the garden has long been an overlooked corner of green. Over the past month, it has been gradually transformed through a partnership between our church community, the Spanish & Portuguese Sephardi Community (including Lauderdale Road, Wembley, and Bevis Marks synagogues), and a host of local supporters. Volunteers planted bulbs, cleared pathways, built leaf stores, and prepared the space for new life and new community.

Yesterday’s dedication brought together Senior Rabbi Joseph Dweck and the Archdeacon of London, Fr Luke Miller, alongside clergy and congregants from both traditions. Their presence underscored something deeply important: that collaboration between communities is not only possible but joyful, and that shared care for the earth can help build relationships of trust and peace.

One of the memorable moments of the afternoon came when Rabbi Shalom Morris of Bevis Marks presented Rev Josh Harris, Priest-in-Charge of St Katharine Cree, with the keys to the newly donated garden shed, fully stocked with tools provided by local gardening clubs and supporters at Bevis Marks. It was a simple but powerful symbol of shared stewardship.

Speaking after the event, Josh reflected:

“We are delighted to be working with our friends at Bevis Marks Synagogue to bring new life to this forgotten garden, so that the whole community can enjoy God’s creation together. This Mitzvah Day celebration brought our communities closer, and will help us serve our neighbourhood better together in the months and years to come.”

A Growing Partnership

This project follows last month’s Interfaith Community Mitzvah Day lunch, hosted jointly with Shoreditch Trust, St Botolph Aldgate, and Bevis Marks Synagogue. Both events highlight a growing commitment across the Square Mile to collaborative service and interfaith friendship.

The new garden will now serve as:

• A peaceful green space for visitors, workers, and neighbours to enjoy

• A base for a weekly open-to-all gardening club, beginning in early 2026

• A shared interfaith project rooted in care for creation and care for community

  
  

Support for the project has come from the Aldgate Ward Club, City gardening groups, and dozens of volunteers who rolled up their sleeves to bring this vision to life.

Looking Ahead

As bulbs planted yesterday begin to push through the soil in the spring, they will stand as a living reminder of what can flourish when diverse communities come together with generosity and hope.

St Katharine Cree is proud to share this venture with the Spanish & Portuguese Sephardi Community, and we look forward to welcoming many more people—of all faiths and none—into this renewed space of beauty, rest, and companionship.

All photos by Adrian Pope, reproduced with permission and gratitude.

If you’d like to join the weekly gardening group it meets on the last Tuesday of each month. Keep an eye on our website for updates.