The Elim Pentecostal Church is a UK-based

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...

. It was founded in Ireland in 1915 by George Jeffreys and is the second-largest Pentecostal denomination in the UK.

History

George Jeffreys (1889–1962), a Welshman, with a Welsh

Congregational church Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...

background. He was converted at the age of 15 in the Welsh Revival of 1904, after which he and his brother, Stephen, became involved in preaching and evangelism, and were considered revivalists. Alexander A. Boddy, Vicar of All Saints, Monkwearmouth,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

invited him to preach at his annual Whitsuntide International Pentecostal Convention in Sunderland in May 1913. His preaching came to the notice of William Gillespie who had been involved in the formative work of pentecostalism in Ireland. He invited Jeffreys to join him in Ireland just after Christmas that year and they made the decision that Jeffreys should hold an evangelistic campaign in

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It also provides the name of its Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish and Monaghan (barony), Monaghan barony. The population of the town as of the 2022 cen ...

. However the Monaghan mission was not to open until the summer of 1915, as permission to use the Methodist hall for a Pentecostal assembly was denied. Jeffreys returned to Wales, and also campaigned in England, before returning to Ireland, where he ran a successful campaign for a Pentecostal congregation at Dover Street in Belfast at Christmas in 1914. It was thus in January 1915, when Jeffreys met with seven others, that they came to a resolution that Jeffreys should begin a permanent evangelistic work in Ireland, preaching the full gospel on Pentecostal lines. This work began from a marquee in Monaghan that summer. Jeffreys continued to campaign in England and across Ireland, but the first premises were leased for a church congregation in an old laundry in Hunter Street, Belfast, and this was opened in August 1915. Jeffreys became pastor Jeffreys, and the principal of the movement. The new church was called Elim Christ Church, the first Elim church. The church was brought together, first as the Elim Evangelistic Band, but this was changed to Elim Foursquare Gospel Alliance when the Deed Poll was registered in April 1934. The name 'Elim' was taken from the account in the

Book of Exodus The Book of Exodus (from ; ''Šəmōṯ'', 'Names'; ) is the second book of the Bible. It is the first part of the narrative of the Exodus, the origin myth of the Israelites, in which they leave slavery in Biblical Egypt through the strength of ...

, chapter 15, verse 27, where the

Israelites Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...

, leaving the bondage of Egypt under the leadership of

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

, found an oasis called Elim: "Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees; so they camped there by the waters." This represented a place of refreshing, and it was thought appropriate for a revival movement at that time. In 1934, Jeffreys attempted to introduce the teaching of

British Israelism British Israelism (also called Anglo-Israelism) is a pseudo-historical belief that the people of Great Britain are "genetically, racially, and linguistically the direct descendants" of the Ten Lost Tribes of ancient Israel. With roots in the ...

into the Elim churches. The matter was debated at the annual ministerial conference between John Leech for the identity and E.J. Phillips against it. This was then followed by a ministerial questions, and a vote, and the resolution was decisively defeated. Following this Jeffreys made attempts to reform church governance. There was suspicion that he wanted congregations to be able to individually decide matters of doctrine as a means of introducing the British Israelism identity, and progress was slow. He resigned from his position as principal of the church in 1939, but was persuaded to return. In May 1940 the conference agreed many changes in governance at his request. After the agreement was reached, in August 1940, Jeffreys made some additional demands, raising concerns over the size of the conference, which he believed could be manipulated. He resigned again in 1940 and formed the Bible-Pattern Church Fellowship, starting in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

, and taking some other Elim congregations with him. Jeffreys and others who left with him held the trusteeship of some of these churches, and refused to sign them over to Elim, as he was legally obliged to do. He then founded other churches throughout England until the 1960s, but in 1986, 24 years after Jeffreys' death, the Nottingham church inducted an Elim pastor and reaffiliated with Elim, and other Bible-pattern churches were reconciled with Elim, although some chose to join the Assemblies of God, and one remained independent. After Jeffreys left, the presidency of Elim initially passed to George Kingston, a wealthy businessman who had founded many of the Elim affiliated congregations in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. Kingston held the position from 1940-45, after which the presidency became an annual appointment. On the night of 23 June 1978, eight British

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...

and four young children (including a three-week-old baby) connected with the Elim mission in

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

(now Zimbabwe) were bayoneted to death by

guerrilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...

fighters in the Vumba massacre. Most of the women were

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

d. This brutal massacre in the Vumba and the ministry of Elim in Zimbabwe was commemorated in the 2017 book ''The Axe and the Tree'' by Stephen Griffiths.

Doctrine

Elim Pentecostal beliefs include: the Bible as

divinely inspired Divine inspiration is the concept of a supernatural force, typically a deity, causing a person or people to experience a creative desire. It has been a commonly reported aspect of many religions, for thousands of years. Divine inspiration is ofte ...

; the three in one as the Godhead; the virgin birth of

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

Christ and his complete humanity and sinless life,

substitutionary atonement Substitutionary atonement, also called vicarious atonement, is a central concept within Western Christian theology which asserts that Jesus died for humanity, as claimed by the Western classic and paradigms of atonement in Christianity, which r ...

, bodily resurrection, heavenly intercession, the second coming of Jesus; the universal sinfulness of mankind; the work of the

Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is a concept within the Abrahamic religions. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in the world, particularly in acts of prophecy, creati ...

in conviction, repentance, regeneration and sanctification according to Acts 2:38; the

baptism of the Holy Spirit In Christian theology, baptism with the Holy Spirit, also called baptism in the Holy Spirit or baptism in the Holy Ghost, has been interpreted by different Christian denominations and traditions in a variety of ways due to differences in the doctr ...

"with signs following"; that salvation is received by faith alone and evidenced by the

fruit of the Spirit The Fruit of the Holy Spirit (sometimes referred to as the Fruits of the Holy Spirit) is a biblical term that sums up nine attributes of a person or community living in accord with the Holy Spirit, according to chapter 5 of the Epistle to the Ga ...

. The baptism of believers by

immersion Immersion may refer to: The arts * "Immersion", a 2012 story by Aliette de Bodard * ''Immersion'', a French comic book series by Léo Quievreux * ''Immersion'' (album), the third album by Australian group Pendulum * ''Immersion'' (film), a 2021 ...

and Communion are held to be ordinances. A distinctive feature of Elim's Pentecostal theology has been the belief that Baptism with the Spirit is followed by signs, but not necessarily the sign of

speaking in tongues Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is an activity or practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid voc ...

Organization

Elim represents a global network of about 650 churches in the UK and Ireland, and over 4000 Elim or Elim affiliated churches overseas, with a weekly attendance of about 50,000 in the UK and more than 300,000 overseas, operating in some 50 countries worldwide. Kensington Temple in London is the largest church in the denomination. Elim missions exist in 35 countries with hospitals, orphanages, and schools. The church operates Regents Theological College in

Malvern, Worcestershire Malvern (, locally also: ) is a spa town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The centre of Malvern, Great Malvern, is ...

, where the movement's headquarters are also based. The authority of governance of the church is rested in the annual conference. Guidance of the denomination is placed in the National Leadership Team and the General Superintendent between sessions. Mark Pugh, Pastor of Rediscover Church in Exeter, is the current General Superintendent of the movement. He took up the role at the 2024 conference from Chris Cartwright his predecessor, who had been in the role since 2016, superseding John Glass. Elim headquarters is in Malvern, alongside its Bible College. Elim became a founding member of the Pentecostal Churches of the United Kingdom in 1998. It has been a member of the Evangelical Alliance for many years. Though the local congregations are commonly and popularly known as ''Elim Pentecostal Churches'', the legal name of the denomination is still ''Elim Foursquare Gospel Alliance'', which is based on the church's stand for four fundamental claims – "Jesus Christ as the Saviour, Healer, Baptizer in the Holy Spirit, and Coming King."

Hymnal

The standard hymnal of the Elim Church was the '' Redemption Hymnal''. Today however, the music and worship is mainly modern and contemporary worship songs with some traditional hymns alongside. Now Elim has its own Worship Department writing songs and training worship teams called "Elim Sound".

Churches

Many Elim Pentecostal Churches carry the Elim name alongside their location, however a number of Churches are exceptions to this rule. Notable Elim churches include: * Kensington Temple in London * Myrtle House, in Wales

References

Bibliography

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