Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales

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]

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. The denomination recently planted a church in the Salford/Manchester area[5] and is working to establish church plants in Oxford,[6] Lincoln,[7] and Sunderland[8]. They are actively looking to plant churches throughout England and Wales.[9]

Denominational growth has been steady:

As of 2018, the denomination has twenty congregations at:[15]

England

Congregation	Town or City	Minister	Image
All Saints Presbyterian Church	Newcastle Upon Tyne [16]	Rev Dr William Schweitzer[17]
Blackburn Evangelical Presbyterian Church	Blackburn[18]	Rev Norman Green[19]
Bury St Edmunds Presbyterian Church	Bury St Edmunds [20]	Matthew Jolley[21]
Cambridge Presbyterian Church	Cambridge [22]	Rev Douglas McCallum[23]
Chelmsford Presbyterian Church	Chelmsford [24]	Rev Darren Moore[25]
Durham Presbyterian Church	Durham [26]	Rev Phil Baiden[27]
East Hull Presbyterian church	Hull [28]
Hexham Presbyterian Church	Hexham [29]	Rev Joshua Rieger[30]
Naunton Lane Evangelical Presbyterian Church	Leckhampton, Cheltenham[31]
Oxford Evangelical Presbyterian Church	Oxford[32]	Rev Andy Young
Salford Evangelical Presbyterian Church	Salford [33]	Rev Chris Statter[34]
Sheffield Presbyterian Church	Sheffield[35]	Dr Kevin Bidwell[36]
Solihull Presbyterian Church	Solihull [37]	Rev Dr Stephen Dancer[38]
Sunderland Evangelical Presbyterian Church	Sunderland [39]	Rev Nathan Hilton[40]
Whaddon Road Evangelical Presbyterian Church	Cheltenham[41]	Rev David Pfeiffer[42]

Several EPCEW ministers were instrumental in the recent founding of Westminster Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Gateshead, UK. 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 (MDiv).

The denomination publishes The Presbyterian Network in Spring and Autumn with theological and pastoral articles and news from its congregations.[48]

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,[49] and one of seven European Christian denominations who founded the European Conference of Reformed Churches.[50] The denomination has a co-operative agreement with the Presbyterian Church in America.[51]