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Early history of the Elim church, Nuneaton
What is now the Elim FGA church in Nuneaton was first founded in 1933 as the town’s Full Gospel Church after an initial crusade in St. George’s Hall. It was a member of pastor F.H. Squire’s Full Gospel Testimony family of churches which had itself been founded in October 1932 and had its HQ in Leamington Spa. The first church meetings were held regularly in a tin hut on Rose Lane not far from what is now Stewart Street, in the grounds of the laundry.
In 1935, the growing congregation took over the upstairs floor of the Queens Dance Hall for their meetings (now the Queens Hall pub / club) on Queens Road. It was pastor Roland Smith who helped the church to transition into membership with the Elim denomination in 1954, after the winding-up of Squire’s movement; Elim were chosen because of the strengths offered by the concept of central government. In June of the same year, the church also moved into its present premises on Queens Road. A church magazine dating from that time suggests a life full of almost daily activities.
The history of the Elim movement
The roots of the Elim Pentecostal movement can be traced back to the Pentecostal movement that began in America at the beginning of the 20th century. Historians agree that the Pentecostal movement began early in 1901 at Parham’s Bible school in Topeka, Kansas, just as the world entered the 20th century. However, it wasn’t until 1906 that Pentecostalism achieved worldwide attention through the Azusa Street revival of Los Angeles, under pastor William Joseph Seymour who had been a student in Parham’s Bible school. This revival spread rapidly around the world and became a major force in the Christian world as a result of the circulation of The Apostolic Faith newspaper to around fifty thousand readers.
Although the Pentecostal movement in the modern sense of the word started in America, and although it appeared to be the result of a spontaneous outpouring of the Holy Spirit, in fact much of the basic theology which prepared the way for this outpouring was rooted in earlier British holiness and charismatic movements. Three of these movements were the Methodist holiness movement, the Catholic Apostolic movement of Edward Irving, and the British Keswick ‘Higher Life’ movement.
The connecting catalyst between this Pentecostal revival in America and its emergence in the UK was Rev. Alexander Boddy, the vicar of All Souls Anglican Church in Monkwearmouth, Sunderland. Boddy fostered this Pentecostal revival in his church, since after 1907 the Azusa Street revival had awakened the world to the gifts of the Spirit. He held annual Pentecostal conventions in Sunderland for several years with the hope of bringing renewal to mainline churches in Britain. Although these Sunderland conventions became a centre for church renewal in England, Europe and the United States, it soon became clear that Pentecostalism seemed unlikely to change mainline churches in Britain as Boddy and his followers had hoped. So, many of these early Pentecostals (among them Methodists, Baptists, Plymouth Brethren and people from the Salvation Army) decided to form new Pentecostal denominations in Britain, notably the Assemblies of God and the Elim Pentecostal Church.
As the Pentecostal movement spread and developed worldwide throughout the 20th century, it also produced many evangelists who were known for their mass healing crusades. The evangelistic ministries of George and Stephen Jeffreys were marked by the ministry of healing, which proved to be a powerful tool in their evangelism. The Pentecostal and charismatic churches in general are growing worldwide at a faster rate than other denominations.
The founder of the Elim denomination, George Jeffreys (1899-1962), was a Welshman and was converted at the age of fifteen during the Welsh Revival in 1904. He received training under Thomas Myerscough at the college of the Pentecostal Missionary Union in Preston. He was a gifted evangelist and initially fellowshipped with the Welsh Congregationalists. He came into contact with the British Pentecostal movement shortly after its beginnings and became part of it through his acquaintance with Boddy (who invited him to preach at his convention in Sunderland in May 1913).
Between 1915 and 1934, Jeffreys was very active as a revivalist and preached to large crowds throughout the United Kingdom. The first Elim Pentecostal church was founded in 1915 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. This work expanded in England and Wales as the result of the successful campaigns which Jeffreys held from 1921 onwards. Divine healing was a central key in the success of his missions.
The first churches which emerged from this ministry were brought together in 1918 and were initially known as "The Elim Pentecostal Alliance" and then afterwards, when the Deed Poll was registered in April 1934, the name was changed to "The Elim Foursquare Gospel Alliance". The name "Elim" was taken from the account in Exodus 15:27. This name represented a place of refreshing and it was thought to be appropriate for a revival movement at that time. Although Jeffreys did not seem to have any intention or expectation of forming a new denomination, the work in Ireland had resulted in a network of churches, a growing mission team and a missionary arm; the formation of a new denomination was inevitable.