History

For nearly a century Bangor Elim has been built upon the foundations of Christian fellowship within the community. In the early years, from 1914, large crowds would gather on the high bank above Ballyholme promenade to watch July baptismal services.

Elim Founder George Jeffreys first held meetings for local people in a tent, which was bought for £20. On one occasion a decade later in 1924, a total of 61 candidates braved the cold seawater to be baptised in the tide. From these humble beginnings the Elim Church in Bangor has grown into a centre of family worship for Christians of all ages.

Bangor Elim is the fourth longest established Elim Church anywhere. The Elim Pentecostal Church is a worldwide fellowship, which incorporates a large and growing number of national Pentecostal groups around the world. There are 60 Elim congregations throughout Ireland, North and South, and over 500 throughout the UK.

The Elim church in Bangor was established in 1919 and the first minister was E.W. Hare, a former president of Cambridge University’s Christian Union. Pastor Robert Tweed opened the purpose built church at Southwell Road on 31st January 1926 at a total cost of £643. The church remained in the same building until an increase in numbers required them to move to larger premises on Bloomfield Road in 1992, (which is now where you will find Lidl).

The Bloomfield Squash Club was bought and renovated for this purpose. The congregation numbers steadily rose at Bloomfield Road until it became necessary for us to look for new premises again. In April 2000 exactly eight years after moving into Bloomfield Road, Bangor Elim moved to it’s current ‘state of the art’ building in Balloo Crescent.

A ‘good’ problem to have

We find ourselves 11 years on in Balloo Crescent with a continually growing congregation and the wonderful problem of needing to update and accommodate the requirements of our expanding church. In 2011 we hope to embark on a refurbishment programme that will see us increase our main auditorium seating to just fewer than 1000 seats.