history

A brief history  (Whybridge is a Bible Teaching Church)

rainham marshes

Whybridge Christian Fellowship Church has been serving in this community of Rainham / South Hornchurch with the gospel of Jesus Christ for over 80 years. We are an independent church with a remit to reach out and bring people to faith in Jesus as saviour and Lord. 80 years ago the area was still mostly farm land and no indication it would become the residential area it is today. The church name of Whybridge came from the Whybridge Estate with a Manor House and a farm that used to be in this location. The name Whybridge is now only retained by the local infant and junior school and Whybridge Church. The area is part of Rainham and our location is well placed amongst houses shops (Tesco Express) food outlets and restaurants and next to a car park. This gives us a good position to work into the area and to be known in the community. To find us look for the Tesco Express on the junction of Cherry Tree and Rainham Road..

Many changes have taken place since those early days and no longer are we a rural area; we have become part of the London Borough of Havering. The church is now situated in a residential area amid a small local shops and restaurants a  Tesco Express and a KFC on the corner of Cherry Tree lane and Rainham Road.near by is the local library (South Hornchurch) just two minutes walk away, and a small car park is next door. 
 
Our Postal address is Rainham which is part of a London regeneration scheme to bring Hi-Tech and other business opportunities into the area creating work for local people. 

The church was originally planted when a local farmer (Mr James Vellacottt) going to market in Romford realised, under the power of God, that a church work was going to be needed in the area. He took the responsibility to purchase the land and set up a trust (Rainham Evangelisation Trust Ltd) to oversee the setting up and protection of the ministry at Whybridge Church. 

In those early days we had strong links with another local church at Cowper Road and London City Mission was instrumental in the planting of this church. Whybriudge Curch has always had an evangelical position and in 1984 the Rainham Trust passed on the on trust responsibilities to the F.I.E.C Ltd  (Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches)  The church was already a member of the F.I.E.C

Like many churches towards the end the 1900’s we faced falling membership as England has abandoned Jesus and the Christian faith. The building built for a different period in history needed a lot of modernisation and it was becoming increasingly difficult to impact the area. However the Lord has been faithful and we have been able to spend about £150,000 on modernisation of the building and have began to see an increase of people to join with us in reaching out with the gospel. We look forward to the Lord pouring out His blessing.  

Our communitiy today is made up of people from all over the world and the members of our church community reflect this. Our goal is to empower people to use their spiritual gifts and continue to grow and plant other churches. Our authority remains the word of God and work to represent New Testament teachings for the practice of our faith individually and as a church