Kensington Temple

Kensington Temple
Kensington Temple
Map
LocationNotting Hill, London, England
CountryUnited Kingdom
DenominationElim Pentecostal Church, Evangelical Pentecostal
Website[1]
History
Founded1930
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.

History

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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 became part of the Bible-Pattern Church Fellowship, when Jeffreys left Elim.

The use of the building reverted to the Elim Church in the early 1960s, and 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.[5] Today, the wider Kensington Temple London City Church Network includes 26 Network Churches located across Greater London.[6] 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.[5] 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.

Theology and ministry

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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.[7]

References

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  1. ^ Denny, Barbara; Starren, Carolyn (1998). Kensington Past. London, U.K.: Historical Publications. p. 127. ISBN 9780948667503. OCLC 42308455.
  2. ^ William K. Kay, Apostolic Networks in Britain: New Ways of Being Church, Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2007, p. 143
  3. ^ "The Ladbroke estate: The 1860s onwards". British History Online. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  4. ^ {{cite web|urlhttps://www.kt.org/history/|title=Apostolic Foundation
  5. ^ a b "Kensington Temple London City Church". Kensington Temple. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  6. ^ "FINANCIALUPDATE 2019/20" (PDF). Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  7. ^ "Vision".
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