It is 100 years since a group of Golders Green Jews decided to upgrade their occasional garage-based minyan into a formal congregation.

They immediately called it Golders Green Synagogue, despite having to wait seven years until their shul was built. Now the centenary of organised Jewish life in the area is being marked with a Shabbat service tomorrow attended by the Chief Rabbi and local dignitaries.

The first Jewish arrivals wanted a better, more suburban life, particularly as the East End was heavily bombed in the First World War. It was additionally an indicator of greater integration within the wider community.

People also came to Golders Green from other north-London areas such as Cricklewood, Kilburn and Neasden, and the congregation flourished under Rabbi Isaac Livingstone, who went door to door in the search for new members.

While without a synagogue building, the rabbi - who led the community for 38 years - struck up an agreement with the local Anglican church, Golders Green Parish, to hold services there for £1 a week, paying a little extra for High Holy Day use.

At a time when religious tolerance was not commonplace, the relationship with the church was one of co-operation and warmth.

"This was one of the biggest surprises in my research," said Anglo-Jewish historian Helen Fry, whose book, Golders Green Synagogue: The First Hundred Years, will be published in November.

"The Jewish community rented the church hall and had to cover up or move out all the Christian symbols for their services. There were loads of crosses, banners and candles, but that didn't seem to bother them.

"There was a very close working relationship, which was quite amazing for that time, before all the improvements in Christian-Jewish relations."

In its first few decades, the community grew from 20 members to 1,300. Ms Fry said the "vibrant" original synagogue was unrivalled in size until the 1930s, when refugees from Nazi Germany formed their own local shuls, such as Munk's Synagogue.

Today, the shul has 600 adult members and 200 children, with a wide variety of other congregations - from Reform to the strictly Orthodox - operating locally.

The area is undergoing something of a Jewish revival, which Ms Fry attributed to the proliferation of modern Orthodox communities catering for a younger market, coupled with the opening of the Rimon primary school.

Golders Green Synagogue's Rabbi Harvey Belovski went further, talking of "an incredible renaissance" at the shul. "Over the past few years, the revitalised community has seen a huge increase in the number of new members, particularly young families. We are confident that with God's help, GGS will continue the strong partnership between the religious and lay leaders within our community, striving to better cater for the spiritual needs of all our diverse members."