Inspired by the gospel commission (Matthew 28:18 – 20), and their firm believe in the great promise given by Jesus Christ (John 14:1 – 3), Pastor (Dr) Ebenezer O. Sackey and Pastor George S. Dadey of South East and South West London Community SDA Churches respectively, had a five-year Evangelism Plan to establish several Ghanaian Adventist Churches in England. Consequently, the two Churches put their shoulders and resources together to embark on an Evangelistic Campaign with the purpose of establishing a Church at Elephant and Castle.

The Theme for the Evangelistic Campaign was “Survival Kit for Life & Health” from 2nd April – 7th May 2005, every Friday, Saturday & Sunday from 7 – 9pm. Pastor Kwabena Twum, the then President of East Ghana Conference, was the speaker, Elder Kwaning the interpreter and the Health lectures were presented by Dr Raymond Arhin and Dr Sam K. Acquah. The steering committee included Pastors Sackey and Dadey, Elders J. K. Manu, J. K. Brew, Kwarteng-Ampofo, Joe Amankwaah, Kwabena Agyemang and Bro Samuel Benko. There were two visitation teams, Elders Kwarteng Ampofo, Sarfo Adu, Elders Kwabena Agyemang and Stephen Gyasi were responsible for the South East London communities and Seth Obeng, J. K. Manu, and Sampson Nsiah also responsible for the South West London communities. Elder Sarfo Adu devoted his car to the visitation team throughout the entire campaign and Pastor Asamoah provided accommodation for the visiting speaker. The venue was Destiny Worship Centre, 44 – 46 Newington Causeway, Elephant and Castle. At each meeting, Music was provided by the South East London Community and South West London Ghana SDA Church Choirs. Every Wednesday during the campaign, from 10am to 12noon, a special Prayer Conference Session was held for people to bring their supplications before the Lord, a practice that is still continued to date. Attendance to the Prayer Conference was very encouraging and members who participated were blessed and strengthened spiritually. We cannot forget to mention Elders Isaac Botwe, Nana Sefa Twum, and Sis Georgina Botwe for their commitment to making the Prayer Meetings desirable. To the glory of God! At the end of the campaign, forty-five (45) souls were baptized, of which three (3) were rebaptisms. During the campaign, there was a fund raising, which realised £3,500.00 for the East Ghana Conference project.

After the Evangelistic Campaign, the Elephant and Castle Community Branch Sabbath School was established on 8th May 2005 with thirty-one (31) adult members and six (6) children. Elders Stephen Gyasi, Sampson Nsiah, and Bro Abraham Marfo Boateng were responsible for the administration of the Branch Sabbath School. Some members from South East and South West London Community SDA churches living within the Elephant and Castle community were also asked to join the new group to lend their support. During the very first Sabbath worship, the Church Choir was formed by Elder Adusei Fosu and Sis Elizabeth Odei (with a membership of sixteen (16)) and so was the Missionaries Singing Group. The two Churches (i.e. South East London Community and South West London Ghana SDA) agreed for the South East London Community Church to be the sole mother Church of the new Branch Sabbath School, with Dr. Ebenezer O. Sackey as the Church Pastor. However, both Churches paid the first three months’ rent, but later, an SOS call was made to the South East London Community SDA Church, to which they responded immediately with £1,000.00 cash donation to resolve the problem confronting the Branch Sabbath School. Also, they released Bro Jonathan Asante to be our Church organist, and when he travelled to the USA, they again released his twin-brother, Bro. Joseph Asante, to replace him.

By the grace of God, and with lots of hard work, the Elephant & Castle Community SDA Group was organised into a Church on 22nd April 2006 by Pastor Humphrey Walters, the then president of the South England Conference (SEC). This ceremony was held at the Baptist Church in Plaistow with delegates from all the Ghanaian Seventh-Day Adventist Churches in England and Europe in attendance. The SEC presented an amount of £1,000.00 to the newly organised Church, and South West London Ghana SDA Church also presented a computer, projector, and screen. The South East London Community SDA Church, the mother Church, presented an amount of £5,000.00, a Communion Service set, a Pulpit, PA System, and also paid six months’ rent for the newly organised Church. There were donations and support in diverse ways from the other Churches present. During the organisation, Elder Stephen Ekooba Gyasi, Bro Isaac Agyei (Freeman) and Bro Abraham Marfo Boateng became the nucleus members of the new Church. The membership at the time of organisation was: fifty-one (51) baptised members, plus twenty-three (23) Sabbath School members, sixteen (16) Children and four (4) Youth. The first pastoral team for the church includes; Pr. (Dr) Ebenezer Sackey, Elders Stephen Gyasi and Kingsley Sarkodie, with Eld Edward Forkuo Dua as the first Secretary, and Sis. Lucy Baidoo and Bro. Joseph Offei as Church Treasurers.

Over the last decade, the membership of the Church has grown progressively to 231. This comprises of 151 baptised Adults, 12 Sabbath School Members, 28 Youth and 40 Children. The membership growth is as a result of a Strategic Plan to organise Evangelistic Campaigns every two years; but from 2012, we have been having Evangelistic Campaigns every year. In this regard, Pastors Lewis Quaye (2008), Opoku Gyamfi (2010), Steve Thomas (2013), Paul Sampah (2014), Michael Salmon (2015), and Elder Stephen Ekooba Gyasi (2016) have been the main speakers. Eld Adusei Fosu has been the interpreter for all except that of 2016 campaign, which was done by Bro Nicholas Okyere. Bro Charles Brobbey, Dr Thuli Khohza and Eld David Anti have presented the Health Lectures during our Evangelistic Campaign. The current membership consists of eleven nationalities, making it a culturally diverse and a true community Church. Members are from the following countries: Ghana, Ethiopia, Guyana, Malawi, South Africa, Jamaica, India, Myanmar, Trinidad & Tobago, England, and Zimbabwe.

The amazing growth in membership, precipitated the organisation of a strong Women and Adventist Men Ministries to cater for the spiritual and social needs of the members. In 2015, as part of the Healthy Living Promotion, a Keep-Fit Club, which meets every Sunday, was formed. On Wednesdays, the Church organises a Prayer Conference in the morning and Prayer Meeting in the evening. Since 2012, Eld S. F. Boateng has offered to ensure the Prayer Conference is held every Wednesday. Today, we are blessed with four additional singing groups namely: Faith for Today, Women in Christ, Soul Healers and Sons of Zion (Acapella Group).

Over the years the Church saw an exponential growth in the Children and Youth numbers from six to sixty-eight (68). To support these Children and Youth with their spiritual, physical, mental and social developments, the Adventurer and Pathfinder Clubs were inaugurated on 23rd July 2013 with Henry Quarshie as their leader and assisted by Priscilla Hansen, Marcelene Campbell, Candice Springer and Thandie Nkosi. The memberships of the Clubs at the time of inauguration were twenty-one (21) and ten (10) for Pathfinders and Adventurers, respectively. Both Clubs have since organised Induction Services, Curriculum Camps, and Investiture Services. The Pathfinder Club since 2013 has been participating in the Pathfinder Bible Experience (PBE) and twice qualified to compete in the Divisional (PBE) in the USA. On both occasions they came in the 1st place category of the competition. The pathfinder club through its activities won a soul who was baptised to the glory of God in 2015. We are grateful to Marcia John, Enoch Frimpong, Kennedy Kundan, Percy Fraser, and David Aboagye for supporting our Pathfinder activities. Our Children’s Ministries Department has adopted Tower Bridge Care Home, an Elderly Care Home to sing, pray and socialise with the housemates once every quarter.

In keeping with Jesus’ saying “… just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise, Luke 6:31, NKJV”, we adopted Birmingham Bearwood Church Plant in 2012, nurtured and mentored them until they were organised as a Church on 21st May 2016. We paid their first year’s rent, and over the years assigned Pastor Sampson Osei Aboagye (2012 -2013), Elders Edward Forkuo Dua (2014 – 2015) and Adusei Fosu (2016) as representatives to liaise between the two churches by visiting them once a month. Furthermore, we mentored All Nations SDA Church until they were organised on 6th November 2010. Besides, we offered financial assistance to the South East London Community SDA Church during the purchasing of their Church Building and also supported them with £1,000 at the Opening Ceremony.

As a Church, we believe in the training of more people for Ministerial work, and in this regard have contributed to the training of Pastors Sampson Osei Aboagye, and Terry Ampem, who were members of our congregation. Terry Ampem’s decision to become a Minister of the Gospel stems from his passionate desire to proclaim the gospel whiles he was a church member.

We celebrate God’s goodness, leadership, protection guidance and blessings in a plethora of circumstances for the Church and its members as well. However, our nomadic experience in terms of Place of Worship remains a huge challenge. Our first place of worship was Destiny Worship Centre, 44 – 46 Newington Causeway, Elephant and Castle, Mr Joseph Offei’s Tianshie Office, Borough SDA Church, and currently Crossway United Reform church which was discovered by Sis. Comfort Konadu Boateng and Opanyin Nyantekyi. It is our prayer that God will bless Mr Joseph Offei and wife, Serwah Dwaben, for allowing us to use their business office for worship for a period of time without paying any rent.

Acknowledgement