Kensington Temple

Kensington Temple stands in Notting Hill, a district of west London. The building began life in 1848 as Horbury Chapel, founded by a nearby Congregational church to serve the poor of Notting Hill Vale. After falling congregations closed it in the 1920s, George Jeffreys bought the chapel in 1930 and reopened it the following year as Kensington Temple. Newspapers then called it “the Church of the Great Physician” because of reports of healings. The Elim Pentecostal Church regards it as its flagship church. The church’s history includes a long period when it was held in trust by Robert Darragh and James McWhirter after Jeffreys left Elim in 1940. Eldin Corsie led the return of an Elim congregation in 1965, and Wynne Lewis grew the Sunday attendance to several thousand during the 1980s. Since the 1980s the church has planted 150 new congregations across London and now supports 26 network churches. It also runs hundreds of weekly cell groups and large annual events at venues such as the Royal Albert Hall. Inside, Kensington Temple hosts weekly services attended by thousands of people. The building contains a bookshop and a publishing company called Dovewell Communications. Rooms are let for community use, and the church runs a Bible School with online learning. The surrounding Notting Hill streets offer cafes, markets and the famous Portobello Road.