Cross Denominational Mission
Founded
in 1908, the Apostolic Church was the first Pentecostal church in Great
Britain. Founded By Rev William Oliver Hutchinson, the Emmanuel Hall
was built in a suburb of Bournemouth on 5th Nov 1909. The church grew
rapidly, and spread all over the UK and then through missionary work,
the entire world. The church has split
several times into several branches, seemingly growing each time.
The majority of members suceeded after schism to Penygroes, in
Wales and were called simply the Apostolic Church. Rev Daniel P
Williams and his brother being the prime force in this move in 1916.
Once
removed from what they saw as the limitations of the ministry from
Bournemouth, the welsh grew and grew, founding congregations and
schools. The Penygroes International Bible College being world famous
for its devout and thorough teaching. The remaining members who looked
to the 'original' work in Bournemouth continued to call themselves the
Apostolic Faith Church
after the division. The publication created by W. O. Hutchinson,
'Showers of Blessing' enjoyed a large circulation and continued after
his death. Further divisions occured over whether to continue to
support the founders trinitarian views or not resulting in a rapid
decline at the original church and its connexion of congregations.
Further church plantings and indeed divisions resulted and now there
are 
Apostolic churches all
over the world, of varying names (Christ Apostolic Church, First
Apostolic Church, United Apostolic Faith Church, etc). The original
name of Apostolic Faith Church is still much used on the African
Continent. The original Root church (formerly Emmanuel Hall) where it
started still stands (although on a greatly reduced site) but is now
not used.
The Logo of the Apostolic Faith Church, the origin of the Apostolic Churches movement is shown on the left.The photograph on the right shows the interior of the
Emmanuel Hall, where the entire Apostolic worldwide church started.
Links
Apostolic Church Headquarters
Apostolic Faith Church
Apostolic Church Ireland
Apostolic Christian Church