A Brief History of Our Church

Formerly Goldthorpe Elim Pentecostal Church (which became independent of Elim in 2008), we are now called Goldthorpe Pentecostal Community Church and have been in our current location on Market Street since 2010. You can read about our journey from Beever Street to Market Street in our Blog – it’s a story of vision and God’s miraculous provision! We were greatly blessed through the generosity of members and local churches and received a grant of £161,175 from Coalfields’ Regeneration Trust. CRT trustee Peter McNestry said at the time: “It’s important that communities have an accessible building where they can take part in a wide range of activities. St Mark’s is an ideal venue and we are delighted to support the group’s ambitions to revitalise the community centre and introduce new sessions for residents here.”

IN THE BEGINNING!

The church has been in existence since the 1950s and moved to Beever Street from rented accommodation in the summer of 1964. Pastor Saul Peterson worked in the church in the early days, along with elders Mr W. J. Burgin, Mr R. Burgin and Mr G. Burgin, who shared the ministry of the Word and roles of Secretary and Treasurer between them. Help was occasionally given from Pastor Pink, Pastor A. Caple, Pastor C. Jarvis and Pastor G. Harpin from the Elim church at Barnsley and from Pastor Geoff Feasy from Rotherham.

PERIOD OF GROWTH

Dave Wood took over the pastorate of the church in November 1990 and led the church faithfully until June 2005; he and Joan continue to serve on the leadership of the church and are very involved in many of the church outreaches and administration. The building on Beever Street was enlarged in 1997 with the addition of a kitchen and community hall, but when we needed more space, we had to move buildings to Market Street!

PRAYER WALKS AND OTHER MOVES

Mark Burgin took over the pastorate in June 2005 and was pastor until the end of 2013, overseeing the move into and refurbishment of new premises in 2010. He too continues to serve on the leadership of the church. During 2005, the church was involved in a number of prayer walks along the Dearne Valley trail, starting at Crow Edge and ending at Sprotborough (where the River Don and Dearne meet.) During these prayer walks, salt and anointing oil were sprinkled on the river and people prayed for God’s Spirit to move in the area. Prayer walks have been a feature of the church for a number of years and during 2013 we have walked through all the streets in Goldthorpe, praying for God’s blessing on the town, businesses, churches, schools, people and whole community.

We continue to hold on to the many prophecies received over the years about God’s Spirit being poured out in the Dearne Valley, in particular verses from Isaiah 43:5-7 which talk about people coming from north and south and east and west to join us. Our vision is to be God’s people in our local community and to reflect His love and light to all we meet.