The Early Days

Pastor H Johnson was the founder of the church and led the church from the 1950s through to the 1970s. It was recorded in Redemption Tidings, and confirmed by relatives of Pastor Johnson, that the church was in existence from 10^th March 1952. Redemption Tidings records “1,000 decisions for Christ were made in a 4-week campaign at King’s Lynn, the events at Blackfriars’ Hall, Lynn.  Every meeting the room is packed.”  The Lynn News and Advertiser interviewed some of the people who had received healing and reported that “nightly meetings became the talk of the town.” The earliest recorded premises for the church are in 1957 at 11 North Street, King’s Lynn, which is near to where True’s Yard is today,

For a while the church met in the Oddfellows Hall, Railway Road. Special anniversaries were held in the old Red Cross Hall in New Conduit Street when many great speakers were invited.

The “Tin Tabernacle”

With the church growing, a more permanent home was needed so in 1958 the church moved into what had been the old Adult School in Rosebery Avenue, Gaywood. Pastor Johnson continued to lead the church here into the early 1970s.  It was at about this time that many American servicemen from Sculthorpe and Lakenheath RAF bases attended the church. The church grew in numbers and it was this building that became fondly nicknamed the “Tin Tabernacle”.

After Pastor Johnson’s time came to an end, Pastor Roy Clarke led the church for a short time with his wife Maureen. They married in 1977 and Roy Clarke was Pastor until 1979.

By 1978 Jamie Tonge was appointed Pastor, and under his leadership the church continued to thrive.  The church’s emphasis was to reach out into the community as well as being a place for local Christians to worship. With the newly built hospital on Gayton Road, King’s Lynn was attracting many student nurses to the town.  One of these was Judy Boxall who began attending the church in 1978.  She had been looking for a church and someone suggested “Try the Penty” (Pentecostal Church).  Judy soon settled into her spiritual home and remains a committed member along with her husband Tim who had been attending since 1975. They have fond memories of those early days when the church flourished under the wise and caring influence of Pastor Tonge and his wife, Christine.

New Life Christian Fellowship

By 1982 it was time, once again, for the church to find a new home as it was fast outgrowing the “Tin Tabernacle”.  There was an old Methodist Church just around the corner in Gayton Road which was to be its new home. (It is now King’s Lynn Evangelical Church). The building was in need of some renovation, so the church hired the Red Cross Hall in Austin Fields while this was done. Once back in the building, the church continued to thrive, running children’s holiday clubs and summer camps, as well as the regular Sunday services and midweek gatherings. In 1984 the church changed its name from King’s Lynn Pentecostal Church to New Life Christian Fellowship.

The church grew significantly in this time and by 1985 it was time to move again. It was at this time that Pastor Tonge felt God was leading the church to a town centre location and so the church moved to the old Stepney Baptist Church building in Blackfriars Street. The building had stood empty for some years, so initially the old Sunday School rooms at the rear of the church building were refurbished with a view to eventually refurbishing the entire site. King’s Lynn was expanding as a town and the church began to attract people not only from the town but the surrounding area.

By the late 1980s, having faithfully served the church in King’s Lynn, Jamie & Christine Tonge felt God’s call to the Shetlands. As the church was linked to the Ground Level network of churches, the church received pastoral support from Ground Level after Jamie and Christine left. Bob Lenton from Horncastle stepped in to help the church for approximately six months while a more permanent pastor was sought. The church at King’s Lynn had always had a relationship with the Assemblies of God Church in Swaffham, so in 1989 Paul Randerson, who was Pastor there, became Pastor at King’s Lynn while continuing his role at Swaffham.

The church continued to serve the community and as well as the regular church meetings, the church ran youth events, a parent and toddler group and many evangelistic events, including the Alpha course.  Through these events people were added to the church and soon the old Sunday School rooms were too small to accommodate the church for Sunday meetings and for the future vision of the church. The old Stepney Baptist Church building was in need of extensive repair and it would have taken a considerable amount of money to carry out the necessary work, so the church building was sold, and the old Sunday School rooms on Market Street were retained by King’s Lynn Christian Fellowship for Sunday services, midweek meetings and youth meetings.

King’s Lynn Christian Fellowship

During this time there was another change of name. Paul felt that the church’s name should reflect the name of the town so in 1992 it became King’s Lynn Christian Fellowship. In 1993 it was decided to leave Assemblies of God and become an independent church. but still affiliated to Ground Level based in Lincoln.

The church continued to grow to the extent that it wasn’t possible to accommodate everyone for Sunday meetings so for quite some time the church hired St Edmunds Primary School Hall for Sunday meetings, whilst continuing to use the Market Street building for midweek meetings.

The King’s Centre

Paul had felt for a long time that the church would eventually be able to purchase the Regis Rooms in Wellesley Street, a council-owned venue which was hired out for community events.  So, in 2002 when the council made the decision to sell the Regis Rooms by sealed bid, the church made a bid and outbid the nearest rival by £1,056, (£56.00 coming from the children and young people of the church) and taking ownership of the building in December 2002. The Lynn News reported, “Since moving in on 22 December 2002, the church been used by a number of community groups as well as for a huge range of church activities.” 

The Regis Rooms was renamed as The King’s Centre and became the new home of King’s Lynn Christian Fellowship. The building in Market Street became known as “The Community Rooms” and continued to be used for a variety of church and community events prior to it being sold several years later.

Under Paul & Mary Randerson’s leadership, the church continued to grow and to go from strength to strength in its new home. The King’s Centre is to the present day the church’s home for preaching and teaching, fellowship, prayer and worship, and events for reaching out into the community. Over the years the church has also held healing meetings, youth and children’s events, concerts and a range of other events as well as the regular Sunday services. A number of organisations continue to use the building.

Paul had forged close relationships with various missionaries and mission organisations around the world in places such as Brazil, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and India. He visited many of these places, often taking teams with him. Many of the missionaries also visited the King’s Centre over the years and the church has been able to give them financial support.

Paul’s apostolic calling meant that he was always keen to plant new churches and to support established churches. He developed a network in the region and was also invited to support other churches, not just in Norfolk but in other parts of the country.

Paul had provided well for the future of the church as he had ably trained up Darryl Mallet, who was first appointed as Youth Pastor in 2000, and subsequently Assistant Pastor under Paul’s leadership. In 2017, Darryl took on role of Pastor, focusing on the day-to-day pastoring of the church, with Paul overseeing the church as Senior Pastor.

In 2020 Paul felt that his time at King’s Lynn was coming to an end and that he needed to focus his attention on God’s call to wider ministry in the county and further afield. After serving the church faithfully for 32 years, and having seen it grow significantly, Paul resigned from his position of Senior Pastor.

From January 2021, following Paul’s resignation, Darryl took on overall responsibility as Pastor at The King’s Centre.

The future

God has been faithful through the years and will continue to be for the years ahead.