History

Believers who are unaffiliated with a church and unable to have fellowship with other brethren are like branches that cannot bear fruit. This was the situation for the first few isolated members and families who came to the United Kingdom (UK). Gradually, these brethren grew in faith and fervency, and eventually established the UK churches and the General Assembly of the United Kingdom (UKGA), but the road to this point of development was long and hard.

True Jesus Church members from Malaysia first migrated to the UK for study and work in 1950. Starting from January 1960, members from Hong Kong Island, the New Territories and Ap Chau followed. Initially, the majority of these migrants were single brothers, who worked extremely hard for a living. They were scattered in different places and did not gather together at first, but through the encouragement of some early workers from overseas, the brethren gradually came together for worship. Gathering places, prayer houses, and eventually churches were established. Today, there are nine churches and over two thousand members spread across the UK.

The early years

While they were working or studying in the UK, members continued to uphold their faith by gathering in their own homes. In London, the brethren were few in number, yet they continued to meet at several different locations for Sabbath services over the years. Venues of worship during the sixties and seventies included Plaistow (1966), Chiswick (1970), Bounds Green (1972), and Holloway (1975).

In the north of the UK, where many Ap Chau members resided, Sabbath services were infrequent in the early 1970s. In 1972, Brother Shi-Hung Hsiao (Deacon Roung-Kuang Hsiao) of Taiwan, then a student in Germany, was invited by the International Assembly (IA) to join Brother Keith Horn (an Englishman baptized in Taiwan) in visiting the UK members before returning to Taiwan. At Newcastle, they discussed the importance of observing the Sabbath, the issues of selecting suitable leaders, worshipping venues and so on. Particular emphasis was placed upon the importance of Sabbath worship. Subsequently, a service, led by Deacon Paul Tang, was held for the first time in a member’s restaurant and was attended by more than fifty believers.

Gatherings were typically held at members’ takeaways and restaurants. For example, in Sunderland, initial gatherings took place in Brother Kai Pou Liu’s restaurant. In London, services were held on the first floor of the “Tin Tin Restaurant” in Chinatown from 1976 onwards. Starting from 1975, regular Sabbath services were also held in Leicester at the takeaway shop of a brother. And near Portsmouth, the first Sabbath service was held at a brother’s restaurant in Bognor Regis in 1977.

The formative years

As membership gradually increased, the constraints and difficulties associated with holding family services began. In Sunderland, holding classes in a takeaway shop caused complaints from the neighbors and prompted investigations by the police. As a result, the venue had to be moved repeatedly. In Sunderland and Leicester, hired halls were used for services and Religious Education (RE) classes, whereas in Newcastle, members had to rent the premises of the Central Methodist Church.

Membership in the various locations grew and prayer churches were set up in the early 1970s. With forty members, the Sunderland prayer house was established in 1972. In the same year, the Cambridge prayer house was formed, followed by the Newcastle prayer house with two hundred members in 1973. Prayer houses were further established in Edinburgh in 1976 and Portsmouth and Leicester in 1978.

Initially, services were rudimentary in form. For example, because of a lack of service leaders in Edinburgh, services simply consisted of hymn-singing, prayer and Bible-reading. As the membership increased and the members became more mature in their faith, the responsibilities of the prayer house extended to members in neighboring towns, such as Dundee, Prestwick, and Elgin. Members visited one another and helped to lead family services.

In August 1975, Deacon Cephas Yau from Hong Kong visited the members in the UK and helped with the pastoral work in Newcastle, Sunderland, and Edinburgh. Although there were as many as seven hundred members living in the UK at the time, they did not own a church building. Following Deacon Yau’s continuous reminders to take action to acquire a church building, the first True Jesus Church in the UK was dedicated to the Lord in Newcastle on July 12, 1976. This was also the first true church established in Europe, and the name of the Lord was greatly exalted. Sunderland and Edinburgh followed suit in July 1979, London in 1983, Leicester in 1984, Elgin in 1985, and Portsmouth in 1989.

As the churches grew and prayer houses turned into churches, members became increasingly zealous in participating in divine work. For example, Leicester Church bought a place of worship in Peterborough, a city in a neighboring region, to ensure regular services could take place in the area. As the number of members increased, many churches either moved or extended their existing buildings. For example, Sunderland Church relocated and expanded its premises in 1982 and 1994, respectively. A constant stream of members from other parts of the world increased the number of members in London to 175 in 1992; therefore, the church moved to a nearby five-storey building at Old Street in 1996. In 1994, Edinburgh Church decided to branch out; the new church, which comprised about 250 members, kept the name of Edinburgh Church, while the former church, which had a membership of 180, was renamed Gifford Park Church. Similarly, London Church decided to establish a church in South London. After eight years, four moves, and three unsuccessful bids for church properties, Forest Hill Church in South London was finally established in 2012. In addition to this, a four-storey building for Leicester Church was dedicated in July 2013.

Thanks to the recent influx of members from mainland China, we now have many gathering places in the UK, including those in Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds. In Cardiff, which also started out as a gathering place, membership grew and a prayer house was thus established in 2011.

Pastoring Work Prior to the Establishment of the UKGA

In July 1977, the IA sent Deacon Simon Hsu to the UK for six months of practical training. At the time, youths who had previously participated in the RE work in Hong Kong’s Kowloon Church also assisted in the divine work. Under the guidance of God, each UK church made plans for further advancement, and a national conference for ministers and church board members was held in Newcastle that same year. A resolution to request that the IA send a preacher to assist in the divine work in the UK was reached. Thank God, as a result, Deacon Hsu was dispatched to pastor the UK churches for one year. In November 1983, in light of the need for a resident preacher for the Newcastle and Sunderland churches, Preacher Aun-Quek Chin was invited by these two churches to help out with the pastoral work.

General Assembly of the United Kingdom

On October 24, 1989, a National Church Delegates Conference was held at Newcastle Church. Its main purpose was to discuss the establishment of a General Assembly (GA). After the delegates had voted in favor of the proposal, thirteen members were elected to serve on the General Assembly board. A committee responsible for drafting the by-laws, rules, and regulations was also elected. Following lengthy discussions by the first GA board, a formal set of rules and regulations was adopted for all the UK churches.

In the beginning, UKGA workers focused on encouraging the middle-aged members to return to the Lord. At the same time, they tried to give care and guidance to the younger generation. The Youth Theological Training Course (YTTC) was set up in July 1991 to train and prepare potential workers for future church development. In addition, the Youth Coordination Centre was established in 1992, and a full-time preacher was assigned to care for the UK youths.