| Kensington Temple | |
|---|---|
 Kensington Temple | |
 | |
| Location | Notting Hill, London, England |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Denomination | Elim Pentecostal Church, Evangelical Pentecostal |
| Website | |
| History | |
| Founded | 1930 |
| Founder(s) | George Jeffreys |
| Clergy | |
| Senior pastor(s) | Malcolm Duncan |
Kensington Temple is a Pentecostal Church in the Notting Hill area of London, England. It is the largest church in its denomination, the Elim Pentecostal Church.
The present church building was founded as Horbury Chapel, and used by the Hornton Street Congregational church, Notting Hill, in 1849. [1] The building was purchased in 1930 by George Jeffreys. [2] who, in 1935, renamed it as Kensington Temple, Church of the Foursquare Gospel, [3] [4] becoming Elim's flagship church. It was held in trust for Elim by Robert Darragh and James McWhirter, but when Jeffreys resigned from Elim the trustees refused to return the building to the Elim Executive Council, who were reluctant to go to law, and it, along with some other Elim churches, became part of the Bible-Pattern Church Fellowship that Jeffreys established. [5] : 379, 426 This situation persisted until Robert Darragh and George Jeffreys had died, after which the sole trustee agreed to sell the building back to Elim, despite objections from Bible-Pattern ministers. [6] : 85
The church as it is known today was founded in 1965 by the Elim minister Rev. Eldin Corsie. Under his ministry in the late 1960s–1970s the congregation grew to 600, and then to several thousand under Rev. Wynne Lewis (later to become the Elim Church's General Superintendent) during the 1980s.
Since the 1980s, nicknamed by members of the church as 'KT', Kensington Temple has planted 150 churches across London. [7] Today, the wider Kensington Temple London City Church Network includes 26 Network Churches located across Greater London. [8] Over the years, many churches KT has planted have opted to become independent churches or to have an official status as a self-standing Elim church.
In 2000, Kensington Temple began to transition into a cell church, and today it has hundreds of cell groups meeting weekly across London. The same year, KT moved its offices from Tabernacle, an ex-BBC warehouse in North Acton, to Monarch House in North Acton. [7] In 2005, the church moved its offices to Summit House, Hanger Lane, London. Over the years, Kensington Temple has held some of their annual events in large premier venues and conference centres in London including; Royal Albert Hall, Westminster Central Hall, Wembley Conference Centre and Wembley Arena.
Each week, thousands of people attend services in Kensington Temple. The church continues to hold services in Notting Hill, as well as running a Bible School, online learning, rooms to let, a bookshop and a publishing company; Dovewell Communications.
Kensington Temple's theology is Pentecostal, emphasizing the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church and individuals.
The emphasis of ministry at KT is to equip all Christians to follow Jesus Christ and to grow both individually and collectively to be like him. Much of this equipping happens through cells, small groups that gather throughout the city. During the week, cell groups provide pastoral care, support and training for church members.
The overarching mission is London and the World for Christ. [9]
The Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith (COOLJC)is a Oneness Pentecostal denomination with headquarters in Manhattan. It was founded in 1919 by Robert C. Lawson. According to the Association of Religion Data Archives in 2020, the denomination had 85,938 members in 527 churches.
Elim Fellowship is a Finished Work Pentecostal denomination of Christianity. It was founded in 1933 in Lima, New York, United States. It is named for a biblical location named in Exodus 15:27, wherein Elim is described as an oasis in the wilderness.
The Elim Pentecostal Church is a UK-based Pentecostal Christian denomination. It was founded in Ireland in 1915 by George Jeffreys and is the second-largest Pentecostal denomination in the UK.
The Latter Rain, also known as the New Order or the New Order of the Latter Rain, was a post-World War II movement within Pentecostal Christianity which remains controversial. The movement saw itself as a continuation of the restorationism of early Pentecostalism. The movement began with major revivals between 1948 and 1952 and became established as a large semi-organized movement by 1952. It continued into the 1960s. The movement had a profound impact on subsequent movements as its participants dispersed throughout the broader Charismatic and Pentecostal movements beginning in the 1960s.
The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC) is a Finished Work Pentecostal denomination of Christianity and the largest evangelical church in Canada. Its headquarters is located in Mississauga, Ontario. The PAOC is theologically evangelical and Pentecostal, emphasizing the baptism with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. It historically has had strong connections with the Assemblies of God in the United States. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and the World Assemblies of God Fellowship.
The Apostolic Church is an international Christian denomination and Pentecostal movement that emerged from the Welsh Revival of 1904–1905. Although the movement began in the United Kingdom, the largest national Apostolic Church became the Apostolic Church Nigeria. The term "Apostolic" refers to the role of apostles in the denomination's church government, as well as a desire to emulate 1st century Christianity in its faith, practices, and government.
Terry Virgo is a prominent leader in the British New Church Movement, formerly known as the House Church Movement. He is the founder of the Newfrontiers family of neocharismatic evangelical churches, which has grown into an international apostolic network of over 1500 churches in more than 70 nations. He is a leading Calvinist Charismatic. He has five grown up children and twelve grandchildren.
George Jeffreys was a Welsh evangelist who founded the Elim Pentecostal Church, a Pentecostal organisation.
Regents Theological College is a theological college in Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is the training centre of the Elim Pentecostal Church.
Donald Henry Frere Gee was an English Pentecostal Bible Teacher. He wrote the book Wind and Flame, which is the story of Pentecostalism in Europe in the 20th century. He was called "The Apostle of Balance."
The Australian Christian Churches (ACC), formerly Assemblies of God in Australia, is a network of Finished Work Pentecostal churches in Australia affiliated with the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, which is the largest Pentecostal denomination in the world.
The Pentecostal Church of New Zealand (PCNZ) was a Finished Work Pentecostal denomination established in 1924 that was the first attempt at organizing the Pentecostal movement in New Zealand. After a series of splits, the church disbanded in 1952.
Pentecostal viewpoints concerning homosexuality are varied worldwide, since there is no one organization that represents all Pentecostals. However, most Pentecostal denominations condemn homosexuality as going against scriptural teachings, though there are some affirming Pentecostal denominations.
John Tarring FRIBA (1806–1875) was an English Victorian ecclesiastical architect active in the mid-nineteenth century. Based in London, he designed many Gothic Revival churches for Nonconformist clients.
The Apostolic Church of Pentecost (ACOP) is a Finished Work Pentecostalism Christian denomination with origins in the Pentecostal revival of the early 20th century. Although multi-national, ACOP has its strongest membership in Canada. In 2002 ACOP reported "approximately 24,000 members in Canada, with 450 ministers and 153 churches." In 2024, ACOP had 90 churches in Canada with a large percentage of these being in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. ACOP's headquarters is in Calgary, Alberta.