Our History

This is the Lord's Doing

In this article David Morris traces for us the steps which led to the establishment of a witness for God at Garston Bridge Chapel.

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Somebody has described the early decades of the twentieth century as "the wilderness years", in the history of Christianity in Great Britain. Whether or not this is an apt title for the period, it does seem in general that there was a decline in systematic, doctrinal preaching from the pulpit, and in the lives of individual believers a lack of heartfelt religion. Without the one it is impossible to develop strong and effective Christian character, in the absence of the other any service for the Lord is unlikely to rise above a mere performance of duty.

Of course there were exceptions, nor was there any lack of Christian activity in some areas. In Liverpool in the 1930's churches were well-filled, and on Sunday evenings along Park Road open-air meetings would be found taking place on a number of street corners. The City was notable at that time for the many 'Mission' churches that were in being, evidence perhaps of the evangelistic movements of a few years earlier which produced many examples, sometimes individualistic, of pioneer church founding.

Perhaps the best known of these movings of the Holy Spirit, the Welsh Revival of 1904, resulted amongst many others in the conversion of three remarkable men Stephen, George and Edward Jeffreys - in the opinion of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones they were the greatest evangelists in Britain in the 20's and 30's. A little later in 1907 there was another unusual outpouring of the Holy Spirit, commencing in All Saints Parish Church in Sunderland and eventually touching every part of the British Isles. The combined results of these two events led to the formation of two groups of Pentecostal churches, 'Assemblies of God in Great Britain and Ireland' which was formed in 1924 and later prospered under Stephen Jeffreys' evangelistic gifts, and 'Elim Pentecostal Movement' founded by his brother George in 1926. Both of these fellowships established assemblies in Liverpool which still exist.

In 1935 my father, who had been brought to Christ in a Baptist church and was now attending Salem Pentecostal church, began to hold meetings in Garston on Sunday evenings, hiring a hall in Seddon Road for the purpose at a weekly cost of 7 1/2p' The rooms had recently been vacated by a group of Brethren believers who moved out to build their own church in Long Lane. In 1942, my father having been 'called up' meanwhile, the pastorate of the small group was taken by my uncle and the fellowship became linked to 'Assemblies of God'. They moved to new premises, an 'upper room' above a greengrocer's shop in Hughes Street 'under the bridge', where a boldly painted sign proclaimed, "Full Gospel Mission", to a no doubt wondering neighbourhood.

And the full Gospel was preached, often with a vivid power and authority which made one wonder how any who heard could remain unconvinced of God's judgement on sin and the reality of eternal things. What the early Pentecostal movement may have lacked in the eyes of others it yielded to nobody in its enthusiastic enjoyment of worship, and its zealous commitment to spreading the Gospel of Christ. To these people the 'dunamis' (Acts 1:8) of the Spirit was not theory but truly explosive power at work in the Church at home and abroad. The names of two pioneering men, William Burton and James Salter, figured frequently in missionary meetings. Together they went to Central Africa (now Zaire) in 1915 and evangelised an area the size of England and Wales, totally pagan and with no other missionaries there; when that door closed in 1960 they left nearly a thousand independent churches in existence. One of their later co-workers who came to the little mission in Hughes Street with tales of God at work in the Congo was Teddy Hodgson, a greatly beloved man who as a teenager had been converted in a bakery in Preston where he worked as a delivery boy. The baker who led him to Christ was Geoff Park's grandfather: Teddy Hodgson spent 40 years of his life for God in Africa, and many people will recall what they were doing on the day they heard the news that he had been Martyred, hacked to death by rebels, even as he prayed for them, in the violence that followed the granting of independence to the Congo in 1960.

In Garston then as now, however, the area around the Mission largely resisted the Gospel. The congregation was of a reasonable size but most of the members came from Speke. The logical decision was therefore taken in 1955 to build a new church nearer to where the majority lived, a step which brought to an end the association between Garston and Assemblies of God. My father and a few others remained to carry on the witness.

But by this time the old upper room was fast coming to the end of its life as the neighbourhood became a target for re-development, so a new building was now a priority. Accordingly a start was made in 1958 by purchasing the site of the present Chapel, which in times past had often been the scene of open-air meetings. In 1960 the work of building the new 'Mission' began.

The project to build the church was large, the apparent resources few; the motivation for building was the glory of God and the extension of Christ's kingdom among needy people, and in retrospect the over-ruling providence of God is seen simply in the fact that the building exists today. During the course of building nevertheless there were sufficient instances of God's clear guiding and provision to encourage the workers to persevere. Even the bricks for the walls were obtained through a remarkable answer to prayer, at a time when every brickmaking firm had long waiting lists and there seemed no prospect of finding a supply. One much appreciated gift at this time was received from Belvidere Road Church - it helped to finish the Chapel roof. Services were commenced in the new hall in 1962 and the building was completed the following year.

The work continued steadily during the next ten years or so, although this seems to have been a decade of slow progress among evangelical churches on Merseyside. A good-sized congregation developed, again most of those who attended did not come from the immediate district. In 1973 however the future of the church was put in doubt when notice was received that the entire site would eventually be required to make way for a new road. Much later this plan was modified, with results that we are familiar with:

The late Seventies unfortunately was a period of decline for the Mission, and it became evident that help was needed to secure the future effective witness of the church. This was made a matter of urgent and specific prayer, and the Lord graciously gave us the assurance, despite some very dark days, that help was on the way.

In about 1978 following a seemingly (to us) casual conversation with an acquaintance we met Stuart 0llyott, then Pastor of Belvidere Road Church whose interest and support from then on became of inestimable value. This relationship developed over the next two years or so as men from Belvidere began to supply regular ministry on Sunday evenings. It may be thought that this liaison between a 'Baptist' and a 'Pentecostal' Church is unlikely in the extreme, but that would be to be misled by the labels. In matters of doctrine we shared more in common with the men from Belvidere than we did with other evangelical churches we knew of, and with regard to fellowship we had already received proof of their large-heartedness in the Gospel. Eventually it became apparent that only one decision could be reached, however difficult in some respects. In January 1981 the leaders of Belvidere Road Church were invited to assume responsibility for the building and the conduct of the work in Garston.

In the providence of God this opportunity was seized, and a team led by Bill Bygroves was dispatched, no doubt in great trepidation but in dependence upon God to do the work. By September 1981 regular Sunday and week-night services, together with evangelism amongst children and young people were in progress. Almost from the first our brother's ministry was blessed to the conversion of men and women, and during the next twelve months the new young fellowship, now known as Garston Bridge Chapel, had much to rejoice over. There were also heartaches and spiritual battles to be fought and, in the grace of God, won.

On December 15, 1982 the first fifteen members covenanted together to form an independent local church, responsible for all its own affairs. A little later the ministry gifts imparted by the Holy Spirit to the Church were recognised in the appointment of elders and deacons to serve the fellowship. Each succeeding year since then has been marked by further displays of the grace of God, and of the power of the Gospel to save and change lives. As we have waited upon God all our needs to carry on the work have been supplied. As we have seen God at work extending the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ one scripture above all has been in our minds,

"This was the Lord's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes." (Matthew 21:42)

By kind permission of David Morris former Elder