American International Church, Tottenham Court Road, London

American Church, London.

Is it possible to enhance a pursuit’s success by giving it a charity’s demeanour? We ask because of the way we’ve seen staff and volunteers behave at the American Church over a period of about two months.

This church conducts a food handout from its premises on Tottenham Court Rd five mornings a week. The good folk who host this handout didn’t pull any euphemistic punches when giving their charity a name, they called it the Soup Kitchen.

Staff and volunteers in this Soup Kitchen, which is registered as a charity, have proved, to us at least, that aggression and insults seems to be the rule of thumb when dealing with the homeless.

A friend and I visited this soup kitchen over the course of about 2 months and, while impressed that this church opens its doors to down on their luck people, we were disgusted by the behaviour of its staff and volunteers.

They have a lady on the workforce here whose sole prerogative is security. And what a bitterly hostile and insulting person this is. Right from the onset she picked on me; came at me with belligerence and aggression; she resorted to this atrocious behaviour every time I showed my face.

The bible is mentioned a lot
on its website.

It was very obvious that she was annoyed that I had initially refused to kowtow to her aggressive belittlement and, in her efforts to subvert me, became ever more thuggish and vulgar.

It came to a head one day as I passed through a small park that abuts this church. As I walked along minding my own business the thug viciously came at me shouting: “you were pissing in the park”.

The hostile pup ran towards me while practically screaming, for all and sundry to hear, that I had exposed myself and urinated in public. This all occurred in a public park; she and I were not on the American Church’s property.

The American Church’s nincompoop employee, in her hunger for revenge, showed herself capable of anything no matter how base or disgusting. I won’t bother expressing an opinion about this lady’s mind-set or suitability for a job involving security, or comment about the mindsets of those who hired her.

Pissing is the word that’s this friend of Jesus employee used. Uncouth to say the least, and shockingly debased to falsely and publicly claim that I did such a filthy act in public.    

I hope it's a god and not lucre they worship here.

The American Church made no response to an email I sent regarding this employees’ conduct. After three to four weeks I again emailed and informed them that we’d be blogging about our experiences there. They replied to this with a saccharine message wishing me good luck.

Were they telling me they couldn’t care less whether I blogged or not, or was it their PR manager trying to protect profits? When they ignored the original complaint they should have kept on ignoring. To suddenly reply when a blog was mentioned shows them as thick skinned.

Other personnel at this church also made an impression on us. One spoke with a brogue and had the darkest eyes we’ve ever seen. It looked as if she had no pupils, just completely black irises. But it was her behaviour that we’ll remember.  

When she served someone food she’d immediately ask, in sarcastic tone with stressed accent, “did ya loike that”. In the least it was a weird question because she was asking people before they’d had a chance to taste the food.

Their “sense of belonging and community” doesn’t tie in with their abusive attitude.

A colleague of hers, on the same day, also made it quite clear she disliked many of the patrons. She unashamedly acted as if she were repulsed to be in the company of lesser mortals. I suspect these two have deep personal issues and associating with homeless people gives their raison d'etre a boost.   

Another lady – with salt ‘n’ pepper hair tied in a ponytail – who conducts a bible study class here every Thursday, would surely, we assumed, be of civil personality.

On one visit I asked her if she could direct me to the nearest library. Her answer was to patronisingly repeat the word “library” while turning her nose skywards; I suspect she’s into Received Pronunciation and didn’t like my accent. She then, almost imperceptibly, nodded her noggin towards one of the buildings, and muttered “they might know” before arrogantly strutting away.

Thinking I had become zombified I immediately checked my reflection and was relieved to see no rotting flesh dangling from my face or forehead. I then went to the nearby public seating area and sat beside two females to test if I stank.

I was again relieved to see they did nothing other than secure their phones and other paraphernalia. They were only concerned that I might be a thief, and didn’t run away screaming and clutching their noses. After eliminating extreme ugliness and foul odours I can only assume that the biblical purveyors’ displayed signs of shock and distress were due to arrogance.  

£27,792.53 makes a charity worthwhile.

Fiona G, another employee or volunteer, states online that she runs a weekly art group in the American Church, and we congratulate her as it’s good to share one’s talents with others.

We find it interesting that Fiona G has also posted online a picture of the American Church’s Soup Kitchen. However, we find it alarming that patrons of the soup kitchen are clearly visible and identifiable in this picture. Perhaps these homeless people gave permission to have their images publicised.

But the angle the photograph was taken from suggests otherwise; the area from which it was shot seems to say the photographer took it surreptitiously. The inclusion of parts of a bicycle also suggests stealth and slyness. If the photographer had moved to the upper right he or she would have got a much clearer and better centred picture.

We hope this photograph wasn’t unethically taken and published by an employee or volunteer of this Church; as it would be quite disgusting if such liberties were taken.    

The American International Church quotes Jesus a lot on its website, such as, “by this all people will know that you are my disciples—if you love one another,” and, “let the little ones come to me.”

We don't believe the people who run the American Church follow Jesus’ teachings with all their hearts. We think the only example of Jesus’ life they wholeheartedly follow is when he got aggressive in the temple and kicked out the loan sharks.