Brief History of the Cambridge Seventh-day Adventist Church
Pastor Percival Prescott started house to house visits in Cambridge on August 19, 1919 travelling weekly from Luton.
In late 1920, he held a series of meetings at the Playhouse in Mill Road (on the corner with Covent Garden). Undergraduates attempted to take him, his wife and the soloist, Miss Maud Farrant, to dip them in the river. The plan was averted by a special constable and 700 people who wanted to hear Pastor Prescott.
A number of baptisms were held with 10 baptised in July 1922 and a further 5 in November 1922. Pastor Prescott was assisted by Bible workers from Luton, Sisters Butler and Easterbrook, during these early years.
There were 30 present at the first communion service held in March 1923.
The church was organised on July 19, 1924 with 40 members. At that time, the church met at the Advent Church Hall in Eden Street.
Over the years meetings were held at various locations around the city including the Assembly Room, Albert Hall, Chesterton Road (1928), St Andrews Street Baptist Church Lecture Room (1946), Liberal Hall, 42 Regent Street (1949), YMCA Building (1959), British Legion Hall, 10 Mill Road (1961), The Advent Hall, 148 Gwydir Street (1961).
An action was taken in July 1956 that a collection would be taken each first Sabbath toward a church building fund. The property at 13 Hobart Road was purchased in 1961 for £2600.
In March 1962 with a membership of 28 and an average attendance of 20, the church voted to start work on the first permanent church building in Hobart Road. The foundations were laid in May 1962 and on June 21, 1962, Mrs Adah Tapping (born 1871) and baptised by Pastor Prescott in September, 1920 laid the foundation stone.
The first worship service at Hobart Road was held on November 24, 1962. On September 15, 1979 the church hall was opened having been built as an extension to the church. The hall was the venue for a Five Day Anti-Smoking Clinic in October-November 1979.
Meetings were held at the church hall on Wednesday evenings during this period. Activities and presentations for January – February 1980 included beekeeping, parenting, cooking demonstration, music appreciation and film screening. Church members extended invitations for those attending to join them in their homes for prayers meetings during the week.
The church owned and managed two flats in the adjoining property of number 13 Hobart Road until these were sold in the 1980s.
The congregation has changed over the years reflecting the changes in the city. American service personnel and their families arrived in the 1940s and have continued to worship at Hobart Road. Generations of students and academics have found spiritual nurture, friendship and often the best meal of week here at Hobart Road. Health care professionals coming to work at Addenbrooke’s Hospital and other institutions in Cambridge have found a second home.
In the early years of the millennium we faced the challenge of ensuring that our church would remain a house of prayer for all people. We needed to upgrade the facilities to enable us to better serve the city and the other communities represented by our ever changing congregation.
We re-dedicated our church and hall on 20 June 2009, after completing major renovations to improve the range of services we can offer to the community
Our Pastors Over the Years
Pastor | Tenure | Notes |
---|---|---|
W. P Prescott | 1919-1924 | with Luton, Ely & East Dereham in 1919 (as evangelist 1919-1923) |
John HEIDE | 1920-1923 | assisting W PRESCOTT |
J. B. WEST | 1925-1926 | |
R. WHITESIDE | 1928 | |
G. W. BAILEY | 1929-1931 | |
T. M. TIMPANY | 1932 | |
C. R. BONNEY | 1932 | |
R. T. COLTHURST | 1933-1935 | |
S. JOYCE | 1936-1938 | |
E. COX | 1939-1941 | |
A. K. ARMSTRONG | 1942-1945 | |
E. BELL | 1946 | |
W. G. NICHOLSON | 1947 | |
R. W. DOUGHERTY | 1948-1952 | |
A. G. TAPPING | 1953-1955 | |
H. HUMPHRIES | 1956-1958 | |
D. C. UFFINDELL | 1959-1960 | |
P. CUMINGS | 1961-1964 | |
John BAKER | 12 Feb 1968 - 19 Aug 1969 | |
E. W. H. VICK | 20 Aug 1969 - Aug 1970 | |
John B. ODDIE | Sep 1970 - 1971 | |
Erich METZING | 1971-1978 | |
Islwyn REES | 1979-1981 | |
Jonathan GALLAGHER | Oct 1982-Jul/Aug 1985 | |
Paul R. SMITH | Aug/Sep 1985 - 1989 | |
Jonathan BARRETT | 1990-1995 | |
Drene SOMASUNDRAM | 1996-1999 | |
Robert HINES | 2000- Aug 2003 | |
Eglan BROOKS | Sep 2003-2006 | Cambridge district (Cambridge, Bury St Edmunds) and Harlow |
Claude LOMBART | 2007-Sep 2011 | |
Colin STEWART | Oct 2011-2015 | |
Miroslav PUJIĆ | 2016-Jan 2017 | |
Jonathan BARRETT | Mar 2017-Feb 2021 | |
Mary BARRETT | Mar 2017-Feb 2021 | associate Pastor |
Michael HAMILTON | Mar 2021 - 20 Apr 2024 | |
Anthony OPOKU-MENSAH | Jul 2024 - present |