ABOUT US

Our Story

The Elim church is a Pentecostal church, which opened in Cheltenham in 1948 and moved to our site at 117 St George’s Road in 1968. The building was extensively enlarged and renovated in 2016. We also acquired the old Elim HQ offices at 115 St George’s Road which now serve Cheltenham via our Foodbank and our recently renovated Community Space.

We have a firm idea that everyone in our church is, or has the potential to become, a follower of Jesus. It is also our belief that we all have the potential to connect with God individually and collectively, we all have some talent or experience that will help someone else, and together, we are all part of reflecting who God is to the town and community around us.

We are a part of the global Elim family of churches and you can find out more about that along with our core beliefs using the links below.

Our VISION

Connect with His Presence: We have a deep longing to know more of God. We have the freedom to experience Him in the variety of the quiet and the loud, and the closer we get to him, the more we understand the creator and his creations. We understand that no person or ‘thing’ could ever fill us in the way God can.

Become Carriers of light: We are on a mission to be His light in the dark places & see change take place wherever we are. We believe we can encounter His Spirit and reflect his light and invitation, with grace, mercy, and peace, to all we meet. We hope this would influence culture and society positively by seeing fear replaced with hope and unity.

To see transformation: We aim to be a catalyst; an epicentre of individuals, continuously developing into a true Jesus-inspired life that sees positive change in and around our town. That we would see healing, and people’s lives being changed by the words we speak to them, or through the actions of individuals or groups. This would be God’s light shining in the dark places and broken lives would be restored.

In summary: We are a community of communities who are characterised by hopefulness and courage to run into any environment with the light, life and love of Christ. Cheltenham’s town motto is ‘health and education’. Elim is a place of rest and healing. The crossover is in restoration and the transformation of all people into the renewal that God invites us to discover, in purposeful partnership with anyone else who shares this heart for our town and beyond.

OUR MISSION

Our mission is to be a community of communities, inspired by Jesus’ invitations to love God and to love
people; to be so affected by the love of God, that we cannot help but positively affect the worlds around
us.

We are a vibrant, lively and diverse church who welcome all to join with us as a united family, to
adventure together and discover God’s heart for us. We encourage all individuals to be inspired, developed, and released in unique callings and giftings, so together, we can make a positive impact in Cheltenham and the surrounding areas.

OUR TEAM.

The team are here to help and guide you as you journey with us. We are indebted to our key leaders and volunteers, without whom, none of what we do would be possible.

ROGER WYATT

Lead Minister

Roger has served in Elim Churches for nearly 30 years and was ordained in 2006. Roger pastored the Riverside Church in Hertfordshire, after which he planted a church in Falmouth in 2010. Roger took up the position of Lead Minister at Cheltenham Elim in June 2022, he has four children, Lois, Eli, Abiah and Esmée and is married to Mandy. Roger has a Masters in Theology and enjoys writing, teaching and spending time in the countryside.

REV. DAVE WELLINGTON

Minister

Dave was raised in the Elim Church in Plymouth. After graduating in Chemistry and heading on to teacher training, he then stepped in to become a youth leader which ended in him heading off with Liz and their young family to Bible College. Ordained in 1992, Dave went on to serve as Music Pastor in Kensington Temple, finally leaving London to take on the Leadership Track at Regents Theological College. Whilst there he took on a Masters in Theology and he and Liz became involved in Cheltenham Elim. You’ll see him speaking or supporting the sung worship.

BEAN BAKER

Creative Director

Bean is a worship leader, songwriter and musician. He is passionate about creativity and how it can be used to draw people into God’s presence. Alongside leading the worship and tech team, Bean also heads up our media and creative department.

Bean is married to Sarah and they have 3 children.

Liz WALKER

Centre Manager

Liz joined Cheltenham Elim Church in 1997. She went on missions to Honduras in 1999 for 4 years and then later to Swaziland in 2007. On both occasions she worked with orphans and vulnerable children. She returned to the UK in 2018 with her husband and 3 daughters.

Liz looks after the logistics of admin and buildings, as well as hiring or using the spaces we have available.

CHURCH OFFICERS & TEAM

TUNDE LANSEBE

Finance Director

CHRIS BOND

Church Secretary

CHURCH ELDERS

SANDRA KEMP, MARTIN MORLEY, SIMON PADLEY & Charlene OLAleye

We have adopted our most updated local constitution in accordance with Elim’s national constitution in 2018, which saw us appoint the Elders we have today. These are appointed by membership vote and serve a 4 year term.

Their role, along with the church officers, is to safeguard our church through major decision making, grievances, financial prudence, spiritual oversight and the appointment of ministers, who will also be ordained by the Elim movement. Year-end financial accounts are available on request.

SERVING THE COMMUNITY

CHELTENHAM FOODBANK

Our foodbank is part of The Trussell Trust’s network of 428 foodbanks, working to tackle food poverty and hunger in our local communities, as well as across the UK.

About

Cheltenham Elim Church is part of a group of churches & one charity: Elim Foursquare Gospel Alliance. Tens of thousands attend Elim churches every week. While the congregations range from small groups to some of the largest in the UK and Ireland, all our members share a set of beliefs known as our Foundational Truths.

The Foundational Truths explain our theology and are a statement of faith – they are powerful, non-negotiable and guide all we say and do.