The church has been around a long time but a lot has changed over the years. We know our building isn't particularly attractive from the outside but if you come inside we trust you'll receive a warm welcome.
At APC we believe that God speaks to us through the Bible. Its message is profound and wonderful. It tells us that life is more than what we can see and touch. It answers those questions which we all have, explains how God can be known and how we can enjoy peace with Him through His son.
Our pastor is Gerard Hemmings who lives in the area and has been at the church since 1992. This part of the website will help you learn a little bit more about who we are.
Amyand Park Chapel goes back a fair way. The church was founded on 18 October 1889. The 42 members managed to get enough money together to buy 3 plots of land in Amyand Park Road and built a pretty basic corrugated iron structure. The church was lacking in any home comforts so those who came to the first service had to bring their own chairs, as well as umbrellas to protect against the rain which leaked through the roof!
There were mixed fortunes for the church over the next few years. Number went up and down and in the early 1890’s one of the members suggested that they consider closing – thankfully that didn’t happen. On the 21st February 1906 the church set out its Doctrinal Basis and that thoroughly evangelical statement of belief has survived virtually unaltered to this day.
Over the years there have been changes. A new building was opened in 1952 and attendance and membership are now higher than ever. One thing has stayed the same: we preach the good news of sins forgiven and new life through Jesus Christ. God willing that will never change.
Jalani Steyn's Testimony
Alcohol abuse and physical abuse were common in our household from as early as I can remember and at the age of six my parents got divorced. I stayed with my mother who instilled a moral compass and good values in me. At home life wasn’t easy for me. I was the eldest of two and sibling rivalry was fierce as single parenthood took its toll on all of us.
However, to the outside world everything had to look perfect. I was quite capable of covering up my sinful deeds and so everything was perfect: I was the perfect daughter, friend, girlfriend and eventually the perfect wife, or so I thought. As the perfect daughter I went out clubbing, but never came home drunk or used drugs. I never slept around and knew the rights and wrongs in life. I was the trophy child my parents could be proud of.
I went to a Dutch Reformed Church and completed my catechism. My friends were few but the few I had I valued and they trusted me. I was the responsible and sensible one, the one they could phone up at 4am for advice or to talk to - the best friend.
Then there was being the perfect girlfriend to the perfect man, and in 2004 after travelling 5,700 miles from South Africa to the UK I found that life could get very lonely and out of control in London on my own. After seven months of enjoying independence, my long distance relationship with my boyfriend Quintin was falling apart and things were happening around me that were never part of my perfect world.
Quintin then followed me to the UK and we decided to move in together for financial reasons. We married on 18 March 2006 and had the perfect wedding to go with the perfect marriage. However, soon things weren’t perfect anymore. We had constant arguments over the most trivial things and working shifts didn’t help either.
Quintin started to yearn to go to church but I wanted to spend my Sundays in the park or in front of the TV relaxing, not spend it cooped up in church. But soon I found myself going to church at APC with my husband, because that’s what a good wife does. Eventually, we started going to listen to the evening sermons when the gospel was preached and suddenly I didn’t mind going to church.
In 2008 I reluctantly agreed to go on the church holiday, and soon realised that these were genuine Christlike people with genuine love for each other and God. During that week, someone gave their testimony, and it had such a profound impact on me that I had to leave the room. Behind one of the buildings, away from everyone else, I broke down and cried. I realised that I was separated from God and admitted that I was wrong about everything. My life wasn’t perfect;I wasn’t the perfect wife. But I poured my heart out and prayed the sinner’s prayer and asked God for forgiveness.
There was no magical moment, and I still had many questions, but I was given a new life and a new relationship to walk with God in Christ. To this date I have no regrets about being saved and I believe the difference in my life is noticeable. My thoughts, attitudes and emotions have changed. Being a Christian has made me realise that I am not perfect at all.
I still sin and falter, but I know that I have been saved by the precious blood of Jesus Christ and that through Him I can ask for forgiveness. My relationship with my family has dramatically improved and my marriage is the best it’s ever been with Christ as the cornerstone of our household.
Since I have been saved I have a desire to be used by Him to fulfil His purpose for my life and I am striving to follow Him with my whole mind, body and soul. At Amyand Park Chapel I have also found an extended family in Christ and true friendship.
James Comboni's Testimony
I grew up in a Christian family that attended church every Sunday morning and evening. In the way that most children will do if you tell them anything enough times; I happily accepted the things I was told as fact.
Towards the end of primary school it was becoming more and more obvious that being from a Christian family and living the way we did was not ‘normal’. I had problems at school, was pretty unhappy and very much wanted to fit in. It was at this point that I started to resent Christianity.
At the age of 12 I started sitting in the main church service and was instantly bored stiff. I found the sermons old, dry, irrelevant, sombre, and found nothing enjoyable or vaguely interesting.
My priorities in life at this point were definitely not in any way related to church or religion but trying to start afresh at a new school. My resentment against church and Christianity grew hugely at this point as I began to blame me being weird on my upbringing.
My attitude developed into one of cynicism and resentment. “Christians”, I believed, were all hypocrites! I came to view most Christians as clinging to a very tenuous set of ideas that essentially were from mouldy old bits of paper written in Latin and Greek and dug up from the Middle East. This was not enough for me to go along with and I felt entitled to go and have some proper fun for once in my life. I saw Christians as being too weak to face the admittedly sometimes harsh ride that was “real life” and I despised this apparent cowardice.
I stopped coming to church aged around 16 and resolved that it was my absolute right from that point forward to get as wasted as I possibly could and to pursue as many women as I could possibly find.
Eventually I ended up going to University College London and started getting drunk and having fun on a more fulltime basis. I was never ‘led astray’ during this time, I did exactly what I wanted to do and no more or no less.
I met a group of astonishingly good people and I am still proud to call some of them my close friends. Meeting this amazing lot further confirmed that Christianity was a load of rubbish – look how nice my friends were and they certainly didn’t follow a set of ancient rules. I only thought about the Christian God in my darkest moments. I didn’t feel empty, I felt more than ever like I was doing the right thing by leaving my religious upbringing behind and getting on with my life. There is not much to be said about the 3 years that passed between me going to UCL and my final year at Bristol University other than obviously
1) I changed universities, and
2) I got astonishingly wasted by all accounts and worldly standards had a smashing time.
It was when I entered my final year of university that the Lord started to call me to him. I had cleaned up my act for the final year of a degree considered tricky when clearheaded – it was clear to me from a pragmatic point of view that it was time for me to get my head down and do as well as I could for my own sake.
With my typical ‘let’s sort it out’ mentality I started going to counselling at Uni to rid myself of this religious hangover from my upbringing. The sessions ran for 10 weeks and I believe that by the end of the 10 weeks I had been saved. I began by speaking about what I had been taught as a child, I invariably focused on the negative truths – the fact that if one did not sign up to being a Christian then one was doomed to an eternity in hell which involved extreme torment and a knowledge that one had made the worst choice ever whilst in full possession of the facts. As I said before, this possibility of hell being real had haunted me in my earlier years and I shared it with my counsellor. Speaking openly about these long repressed issues caused them to get even worse and I became far lower than before.
I resolved to fairly review the evidence for Christianity in order that I could discount it and lay the matter to rest! Things obviously didn’t go quite to plan. I consulted many pieces of evidence, drawing from the EXCELLENT book, The Case for Christ. I cannot recommend this book enough. I challenge anyone to read it and still be a total sceptic.
It became obvious to me that despite the gross perversions it has endured since its birth, Christianity was actually a record of the most important and fantastic event that the world has ever seen – the atoning death of Jesus Christ. I saw that the suffering in the world was a direct consequence of the world hating, rejecting and denying God, and that I had been scornful of the truth for my entire life. The truth was that I was a creation of God and thus subject to his laws. I had broken these laws hundreds of thousands of times, and this simply was not going to be good enough when my time came to be judged.
Far from being some obscure moral social relic, the very teaching I had consistently rejected was all about how I and everyone here absolutely deserved an eternity in hell, and that God had given us a way out.
I started praying that God would change me, and give me forgiveness. Through reading the word of God online and praying for forgiveness I was saved. On several occasions whilst pouring out my heart to the Lord I felt what can only be described as a divine sense of peace, I had never felt this before when praying and I clung to it. I think it is more than possible that I was saved the very first time I prayed, but it took me months to find assurance, especially because I was not yet living a Christian life.
These things are far more real than many of you would like to believe. They are, however, the most important, logical, absolutely certain facts in everyone’s life, whether they believe them or not.
I am his and he is mine and this is my testimony.
Alcohol abuse and physical abuse were common in our household from as early as I can remember and at the age of six my parents got divorced. I stayed with my mother who instilled a moral compass and good values in me. At home life wasn’t easy for me. I was the eldest of two and sibling rivalry was fierce as single parenthood took its toll on all of us.
However, to the outside world everything had to look perfect. I was quite capable of covering up my sinful deeds and so everything was perfect: I was the perfect daughter, friend, girlfriend and eventually the perfect wife, or so I thought. As the perfect daughter I went out clubbing, but never came home drunk or used drugs. I never slept around and knew the rights and wrongs in life. I was the trophy child my parents could be proud of.
I went to a Dutch Reformed Church and completed my catechism. My friends were few but the few I had I valued and they trusted me. I was the responsible and sensible one, the one they could phone up at 4am for advice or to talk to - the best friend.
Then there was being the perfect girlfriend to the perfect man, and in 2004 after travelling 5,700 miles from South Africa to the UK I found that life could get very lonely and out of control in London on my own. After seven months of enjoying independence, my long distance relationship with my boyfriend Quintin was falling apart and things were happening around me that were never part of my perfect world.
Quintin then followed me to the UK and we decided to move in together for financial reasons. We married on 18 March 2006 and had the perfect wedding to go with the perfect marriage. However, soon things weren’t perfect anymore. We had constant arguments over the most trivial things and working shifts didn’t help either.
Quintin started to yearn to go to church but I wanted to spend my Sundays in the park or in front of the TV relaxing, not spend it cooped up in church. But soon I found myself going to church at APC with my husband, because that’s what a good wife does. Eventually, we started going to listen to the evening sermons when the gospel was preached and suddenly I didn’t mind going to church.
In 2008 I reluctantly agreed to go on the church holiday, and soon realised that these were genuine Christlike people with genuine love for each other and God. During that week, someone gave their testimony, and it had such a profound impact on me that I had to leave the room. Behind one of the buildings, away from everyone else, I broke down and cried. I realised that I was separated from God and admitted that I was wrong about everything. My life wasn’t perfect;I wasn’t the perfect wife. But I poured my heart out and prayed the sinner’s prayer and asked God for forgiveness.
There was no magical moment, and I still had many questions, but I was given a new life and a new relationship to walk with God in Christ. To this date I have no regrets about being saved and I believe the difference in my life is noticeable. My thoughts, attitudes and emotions have changed. Being a Christian has made me realise that I am not perfect at all.
I still sin and falter, but I know that I have been saved by the precious blood of Jesus Christ and that through Him I can ask for forgiveness. My relationship with my family has dramatically improved and my marriage is the best it’s ever been with Christ as the cornerstone of our household.
Since I have been saved I have a desire to be used by Him to fulfil His purpose for my life and I am striving to follow Him with my whole mind, body and soul. At Amyand Park Chapel I have also found an extended family in Christ and true friendship.
James Comboni's Testimony
I grew up in a Christian family that attended church every Sunday morning and evening. In the way that most children will do if you tell them anything enough times; I happily accepted the things I was told as fact.
Towards the end of primary school it was becoming more and more obvious that being from a Christian family and living the way we did was not ‘normal’. I had problems at school, was pretty unhappy and very much wanted to fit in. It was at this point that I started to resent Christianity.
At the age of 12 I started sitting in the main church service and was instantly bored stiff. I found the sermons old, dry, irrelevant, sombre, and found nothing enjoyable or vaguely interesting.
My priorities in life at this point were definitely not in any way related to church or religion but trying to start afresh at a new school. My resentment against church and Christianity grew hugely at this point as I began to blame me being weird on my upbringing.
My attitude developed into one of cynicism and resentment. “Christians”, I believed, were all hypocrites! I came to view most Christians as clinging to a very tenuous set of ideas that essentially were from mouldy old bits of paper written in Latin and Greek and dug up from the Middle East. This was not enough for me to go along with and I felt entitled to go and have some proper fun for once in my life. I saw Christians as being too weak to face the admittedly sometimes harsh ride that was “real life” and I despised this apparent cowardice.
I stopped coming to church aged around 16 and resolved that it was my absolute right from that point forward to get as wasted as I possibly could and to pursue as many women as I could possibly find.
Eventually I ended up going to University College London and started getting drunk and having fun on a more fulltime basis. I was never ‘led astray’ during this time, I did exactly what I wanted to do and no more or no less.
I met a group of astonishingly good people and I am still proud to call some of them my close friends. Meeting this amazing lot further confirmed that Christianity was a load of rubbish – look how nice my friends were and they certainly didn’t follow a set of ancient rules. I only thought about the Christian God in my darkest moments. I didn’t feel empty, I felt more than ever like I was doing the right thing by leaving my religious upbringing behind and getting on with my life. There is not much to be said about the 3 years that passed between me going to UCL and my final year at Bristol University other than obviously
1) I changed universities, and
2) I got astonishingly wasted by all accounts and worldly standards had a smashing time.
It was when I entered my final year of university that the Lord started to call me to him. I had cleaned up my act for the final year of a degree considered tricky when clearheaded – it was clear to me from a pragmatic point of view that it was time for me to get my head down and do as well as I could for my own sake.
With my typical ‘let’s sort it out’ mentality I started going to counselling at Uni to rid myself of this religious hangover from my upbringing. The sessions ran for 10 weeks and I believe that by the end of the 10 weeks I had been saved. I began by speaking about what I had been taught as a child, I invariably focused on the negative truths – the fact that if one did not sign up to being a Christian then one was doomed to an eternity in hell which involved extreme torment and a knowledge that one had made the worst choice ever whilst in full possession of the facts. As I said before, this possibility of hell being real had haunted me in my earlier years and I shared it with my counsellor. Speaking openly about these long repressed issues caused them to get even worse and I became far lower than before.
I resolved to fairly review the evidence for Christianity in order that I could discount it and lay the matter to rest! Things obviously didn’t go quite to plan. I consulted many pieces of evidence, drawing from the EXCELLENT book, The Case for Christ. I cannot recommend this book enough. I challenge anyone to read it and still be a total sceptic.
It became obvious to me that despite the gross perversions it has endured since its birth, Christianity was actually a record of the most important and fantastic event that the world has ever seen – the atoning death of Jesus Christ. I saw that the suffering in the world was a direct consequence of the world hating, rejecting and denying God, and that I had been scornful of the truth for my entire life. The truth was that I was a creation of God and thus subject to his laws. I had broken these laws hundreds of thousands of times, and this simply was not going to be good enough when my time came to be judged.
Far from being some obscure moral social relic, the very teaching I had consistently rejected was all about how I and everyone here absolutely deserved an eternity in hell, and that God had given us a way out.
I started praying that God would change me, and give me forgiveness. Through reading the word of God online and praying for forgiveness I was saved. On several occasions whilst pouring out my heart to the Lord I felt what can only be described as a divine sense of peace, I had never felt this before when praying and I clung to it. I think it is more than possible that I was saved the very first time I prayed, but it took me months to find assurance, especially because I was not yet living a Christian life.
These things are far more real than many of you would like to believe. They are, however, the most important, logical, absolutely certain facts in everyone’s life, whether they believe them or not.
I am his and he is mine and this is my testimony.
