A brief history of the church

Origins

The exact date in which the church was founded is unknown; we believe that it was started in the home of Tom Burberry (well known today as one of the family founders of the Burberry group). When the meeting outgrew his house which was on the corner of the old Reading Road, the "hut" was erected in his grounds adjacent to today’s Elms Road (c. 1910).

"The Hut" as it was then known, later became "The Mission Hall", and at this time a very active Sunday School took shape. In 1957 the original hut was dismantled and the present building erected; also in this year the church became affiliated to the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC) and changed from "The Mission Hall" to "Hook Evangelical Free Church."

Recent history

Following a time of decline in the early 1990’s, help was asked for and received from Winchester Family Church under the leadership of Greg Haslam. The church enjoyed a season of renewal and slowly started to grow numerically. In April 1996 Dave Colebrooke was appointed as full-time elder, and the name of the church was again changed, this time to Hook New Covenant Church. The church became a part of Newfrontiers in 1997 and started to meet on Sunday mornings in The Elizabeth Hall having outgrown its own premises.

In recent years the church has continued to grow, expanding its leadership team, increasing its weekday activities significantly, launching a debt advice centre and working towards the redevelopment of its site at Elms Road.

Hook New Covenant today

Today we look back with thanks to those who laboured faithfully in the past to help the church to become established in the community, and we also look forward with great expectation and enthusiasm, believing that God has far more yet for us to achieve both locally and further afield.

Back to home page