God Is Here - History

History

Abundant Life Church has its roots in the Charismatic Restoration movement of Arthur Wallis. It was founded in 1976 by Bryn Jones, one of the early Restoration/British New Church leaders, by an amalgamation of three small Bradford churches - a charismatic Brethren Assembly based at the Bolton Woods Gospel Hall, an independent charismatic church made up mostly of former Baptists who had been unable to continue in their church because of their charismatic beliefs, and the New Covenant Church, a fellowship originally under the apostolic leadership of G. W. North. In its early days it met in the Anglican Church House and so has often been known locally as Church House. In 1988, the church spent almost £1 million to buy a former textile mill on Wapping Road and build a main building with a car park at the rear. In 2000, the church extended the campus, constructing an auditorium capable of seating 2,000. In 2008, the auditorium itself was extended, creating space for a day care centre, a coffee shop, and additional offices and meeting rooms.