History of our Church
The New Testament Church of God in the military town Aldershot (called the Home of the British Army by Queen Victoria) was founded because of a group of dedicated Christians who were determined to experience Pentecostal worship similar to the worship they engaged in back in their native countries. Having gathered initially under the covering of the Church of God in Christ, this group of hardworking believers elected to join themselves with the New Testament Church of God and in 1968 NTCG Aldershot was formed. Under the initial leadership of Bishop D A Miller, Bishop U L Simpson took over the reins in 1970 and the church grew from strength to strength.
Not only did the church establish itself as the only Pentecostal church in Aldershot, but it also became a truly centred community church. Both saved and unsaved people (mainly from the Afro-Caribbean community) began to flock to the church and enjoy its vibrant preaching and inspirational worship, together with its community events such as church trips, concerts and building rallies.
In the 1970’s, following a period of worshiping in a hall on Sandford Road (fondly known as the tin shed), the church was made aware of a derelict former Presbyterian building situated on one of the main roads in the centre of Aldershot, currently only occupied by a growing family of pigeons! The church voted to purchase this building and with divine favour and blessing combined with great church and community dedication and sacrifice, the church purchased its first building! After an extremely successful period of pastoral leadership at Aldershot Bishop U L Simpson left to pastor the NTCG Lee Church in London and was succeeded at NTCG Aldershot by Bishop Barrington Burrell.
Under Bishop Burrell’s leadership the church continued to grow particularly as people from different cultures joined the church. Bishop Burrell, who had previously served the New Testament Church of God as a national Evangelist, introduced a ministry of healing and deliverance which proved to be very successful. After 16 years of dedicated service Bishop Burrell left NTCG Aldershot to succeed Bishop Eric Brown as the pastor of NTCG Wood Green in London.
In 2003 NTCG welcomed the ministry of Bishop Donald Bolt and his wife Joycelyne. Bishop Bolt brought great pastoral experience to Aldershot and the church welcomed its new season. He recognised the need to redevelop what was then an ageing church building and sought to carry out a major building project. This included successfully redeveloping the church toilets, and extending the facilities to encompass 5 new meeting rooms. In 2009 Bishop Bolt was appointed the New Testament Church of God’s new National Secretary/Treasurer and later was elected by the national body of Ministers to be the NTCG’s National Administrative Bishop.
In 2009 Bishop Malcolm Cummins and his wife Maureen succeeded Bishop Donald & Joycelyne Bolt at the Aldershot Church. Bishop Cummins previously served as an Assistant Pastor and Administrator at NTCG Lee, one of NTCG’s largest churches, for 6 years. He brought with him a vision to build people and has since sought to endeavour to empower the body of Christ at NTCG Aldershot to be what God has called them to be. Very much a people person, Bishop Cummins has also overseen the beginning of the church sanctuary redevelopment, a mini bus purchase and redevelopment of the church hall, toilet facilities and a renewed Community Ministry focus.
The church continues its progress and its members and visitors continue to work towards the goal of “Serving God, Serving Our Community”, which is it’s present focus. The current membership stands at just under 100 people and the church remains a multi-cultural Pentecostal Church.
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