Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales

Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales
Polity	Presbyterian
Clerk of Presbytery	Falko Drijfhout
Associations	International Conference of Reformed Churches
Region	England, Wales, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany
Origin	1996
Congregations	23
Publications	The Presbyterian Network
www.epcew.org.uk

Religion in England
Church of England Church of England (Continuing) Free Church of England Evangelical Lutheran Church of England Lutheran Church in Great Britain Roman Catholic Church Methodist Church of Great Britain Wesleyan Reform Union United Reformed Church Baptist Union of Great Britain Free Presbyterian Church Church of Scotland Salvation Army Elim Pentecostal Church Old Baptist Union Assemblies of God in Great Britain Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion International Presbyterian Church Russian Orthodox Church Greek Orthodox Church Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales Latter-day Saints Churches Together in England English Reformation Bahá'í Faith Buddhism Hinduism Islam Judaism Sikhism
v t

The Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales (EPCEW) (Welsh: Eglwys Bresbyteraidd Efengylaidd yng Nghymru a Lloegr) is a reformed and conservative evangelical Presbyterian denomination in England and Wales with churches in Germany, Switzerland, and Sweden. Founded in 1996, the denomination is small but growing.

History[]

In 1986, a Presbyterian conference was held in a Free Church of Scotland chapel in London, where a vision of a new Presbyterian denomination in England was proposed, which was to be faithful to Scripture and adhere to the Westminster Confession. As a consequence, the Presbyterian Association in England was formed in 1987^[1] from several small Christian groups and existing congregations with efforts at church planting following. In 1991, an interim Presbytery was formed with congregations in Blackburn, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Durham and Hull to work towards the establishment of the new denomination. This came to fruition in 1996,^[1] taking the name, Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales.^[2]

Church planting[]

In 2000, two congregations in Cardiff, Immanuel and Bethel, were accepted into communion.^[3][4] The EPCEW has grown significantly since its founding with a number of congregations joining the EPCEW and others being planted by existing churches. In 2016 the denomination planted a church in the Salford/Manchester area^[5] and is working to establish church plants in Oxford,^[6] Lincoln,^[7] Gloucester,^[8] and Sunderland.^[9] They are actively looking to plant churches throughout England and Wales.^[10]

Denominational growth has been steady:

Congregations[]

As of 2020, the denomination has twenty-three congregations and church plants at:^[16]

England[]

Congregation	Town or City	Minister	Website	Image
All Saints Presbyterian Church	Newcastle Upon Tyne	Rev Dr William Schweitzer[17]	[1]
Blackburn Evangelical Presbyterian Church	Blackburn[18]	Rev Norman Green[19]
Bury St Edmunds Presbyterian Church	Bury St Edmunds	Matthew Jolley[20]	[2]
Cambridge Presbyterian Church	Cambridge	Rev Douglas McCallum[21]	[3]
Chelmsford Presbyterian Church	Chelmsford	Rev Darren Moore[22]	[4]
Durham Presbyterian Church	Durham	Rev Phil Baiden[23]	[5]
East Hull Presbyterian church	Hull		[6]
Hexham Presbyterian Church	Hexham	Rev Joshua Rieger[24]	[7]
Naunton Lane Evangelical Presbyterian Church	Leckhampton, Cheltenham	Rev Matt Faux[25]	[8]
Oxford Evangelical Presbyterian Church	Oxford	Rev Andy Young[26]	[9]
Salford Evangelical Presbyterian Church	Salford	Rev Chris Statter[27]	[10]
Sheffield Presbyterian Church	Sheffield	Rev Dr Kevin Bidwell[28]	[11]
Solihull Presbyterian Church	Solihull	Rev Dr Stephen Dancer[29]	[12]
Sunderland Evangelical Presbyterian Church	Sunderland	Rev Nathan Hilton[30]	[13]
Whaddon Road Evangelical Presbyterian Church	Cheltenham	Rev David Pfeiffer,[31] Rev Larry Wilkes	[14]
Lincoln Presbyterian Church	Lincoln	Rev Ben Thomas[32]	[15]
Gloucester Evangelical Presbyterian Church	Gloucester	Rev Michael Cochran[33]	[16]

Wales[]

• Barry^[34]
• Cardiff "Bethel" ^[35]
• Cardiff "Immanuel" ^[36]

Sweden[]

• Tranås, Sweden^[37]

Germany[]

• Berlin, Germany^[38]

Switzerland[]

• Zurich, Switzerland^[39]

Westminster Presbyterian Theological Seminary[]

Several EPCEW ministers^[40] were instrumental in the 2020 founding of in Gateshead, England.^[41] WPTS aims to equip men to hold fast to God's faithful Word, with a particular focus on preparation for planting churches in the UK and continental Europe. The school is committed to the Westminster Standards, experiential Calvinism, Presbyterian Church government, ordinary means of grace ministry, and the regulative principle of worship. The seminary offers a range of courses accredited through Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, including the Master of Divinity (M.Div.).

Publications[]

The denomination publishes The Presbyterian Network in Spring and Autumn with theological and pastoral articles and news from its congregations.^[42]

International organisations[]

Along with the Free Church of Scotland and the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), the denomination is one of the three members of the International Conference of Reformed Churches from Great Britain,^[43] and one of seven European Christian denominations who founded the European Conference of Reformed Churches.^[44] The denomination has a co-operative agreement with the Presbyterian Church in America.^[45]

References[]

External links[]

• Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales - Official Website