NTCG Heritage Centre and the Roswith Gerloff Collection

The New Testament Church of God is one of the largest Black Majority Churches in the UK. Dr O. A. Lyseight, its founder, served in the capacity of the first Administrative Bishop for the denomination in England and Wales from 1953 to 1978. On reflection, a senior leader of the church, Dr. Clinton Ryan states that:

“The New Testament Church of God in England and Wales was born at a time when an immigrant people were experiencing disappointment, disillusionment and racism. These three things helped to shape it into an institution of liberation and survival for African-Caribbean people.”

Another senior leader, Bishop Louis McLeod says:

“When the Church started… it had no assets, buildings and personnel… just a few dedicated members and a great leader who had purpose, conviction, vision, passion, inspiration and influence. With these qualities, Dr Lyseight laid the foundation for the spiritual and corporate success we see today enabling us to have 128 local branches and a following of over 30,000.”

As we grow and develop our aim is to reflect the diversity of our communities. We are gathering resources produced by, for and about the black majority church history and ministry in the UK to aid our learning from our history.

The Heritage Centre presents a record of our humble beginnings as pioneers of the denomination in England and Wales and offers opportunities amongst ourselves as well as in dialogue with interested others to:

• critically reflect on and interpret our past
• use the past to shape our present
• learn from our past to create a better future
• deepen our understanding about our Pentecostal beliefs, pilgrimage and practice of ministry
• celebrate our Pentecostal tradition
• create a viable learning resource on the Black Majority Churches in Britain for our members and interested others
• contribute to the conversations, reviews and analysis of NTCG as part of the global Pentecostal movement.

Our Vision

Identifying, preserving and interpreting our Pentecostal heritage and making it accessible to others within and beyond our denomination.

Our Mission

The Heritage Centre gathers, preserves and makes accessible to members and interested others information, learning resources, exhibition and research material on the history of the NTCG in England and Wales from the early 50s. Our story is told with reference to our denomination’s heritage ministries  in collaboration with  the  Dixon Pentecostal  Research Center , the emergence of Black Majority Churches in the UK  as embodied  in the work of Rev Dr Roswith Gerloff and the wider Pentecostal movement.

We are committed to making these resources accessible to our members and the wider community in the interest of inter-generational learning and the value of learning from history.

Roswith Gerloff Collection – Endowed with History…

We are also the custodian of the Roswith Gerloff collection of research material on the Black Majority Churches in England spanning 1972 – 2013. The collection was donated by Dr Gerloff who has written extensively on Black Pentecostalism in Britain and has produced some influential work on the social, cultural and missiological significance of the African Caribbean Diaspora contribution to the Christian faith.

We are committed to making these resources accessible to our leaders and members and the wider community in the interest of inter-generational learning and the value of learning from history.

How to get involved:

• donate personal or family papers (letters, diaries, un/published writings, audible and visible records) about the history of the New Testament Church of God in the UK e.g. mission and migration stories/photos.
• donate Church programmes, significant sermons, newsletters etc.
• offer a copy of relevant thesis/publications.
• give monetary donations.
• volunteer time and skills eg. research, oral history, archiving, fundraising.
• participate in a collaborative Distance learning course at the University of Leicester in alignment with the purposes of the mission and vision of the Heritage Centre. For further information contact: Robin Clarke, Course Director 0116 252 3973 or Phyllis Thompson (Heritage Centre Administrator).
• visit the Centre – we welcome individual and group visits by appointment, between 12:00-6:30pm on Thursdays.

Heritage Ministries in the Church of God

The Church of God is blessed to have various ministries preserving and passing on our Pentecostal heritage.

A substantial collection of the Church of God in its global context including Pentecostal and charismatic documents, records, photographs and literature are located in the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center.

Heritage Centre Reference Group Members Profile

Rev Dr Carver Anderson is a pastor, practical theologian, researcher and a social scientist with a significant record of work within the youth sector. He is an Executive Director and one of the founders of the Bringing Hope Charity in Birmingham, working to support individuals and families, both perpetrators and victims impacted by crime and violence, with particular focus on black young men.

He is interested to work with the Black Majority Churches to develop a practical Pentecostal theology and offer fresh and contextual approaches to individuals/institutions to positively address these challenging concerns.

Rev Dr Anderson sees a link between the aims of the Heritage Centre and his passion to equip the black Pentecostal churches and the wider church community, with resources to minister to the needs of black young men and their families effectively.

Rev Donovan Haslam is one of the youngest Pastors within the New Testament Church of God and has been the Senior Pastor at the Stafford Church since 2013. This is his first pastorate. He also works as a Housing officer within a large social housing provider. He is extremely passionate about the narrative of the pioneers of the Black majority church congregations and keen to ensure that this is captured and preserved for posterity. In addition to his contribution to the NTCG Heritage Centre, he serves as mastermind and joint administrator for a large repository of historical artefacts that are showcased through social media. The Facebook Page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1726602107557368/?ref=share The popular social media page has an international reach and can be described as a most immersive experience, allowing members to dialogue and contribute to the existing gallery. He has been married to Rachel Haslam for 8 years and they have two children Abigail and Josiah.

Rev Delroy Henry has been the National Director of Education at the Leadership Training Centre (LTC) for the New Testament Church of God (NTCG) since 2018 . He engages with and leads in strategic conversations concerning the discovery, development, and meaningful involvement of emerging church leaders.

Rev Henry’s leadership and theological education include extensive study and practice in operational and strategic management, curriculum development, teaching, and marketing. His experience spans over 30 years in various teaching and leadership roles within education, which includes positions where he was Tutor-In-Charge at an adult education institute, Deputy Chair of School Governors and Principal of Immanuel Theological College, in partnership with the University of Wales Lampeter. His ministry engagement has also been consistent, including lead positions as Sunday School Superintendent, District and Local Youth Christian Education Director and one of three Assistant Pastors at Lee NTCG.

Reverend Henry continues to enhance and develop his knowledge by working within a range of ecumenical settings, in addition to building partnerships with the voluntary, faith, and statutory sectors, where he draws and applies insights. With this variety of involvement, Reverend Henry’s experience supports and assists in taking the Heritage Centre’s agenda forward for the interest of its global impact, success, and sustainability.

Newton Lyseight attends the Wolverhampton NTCG. He is currently retired after being in Property and Estates Management in the Health Service and Local Authority for forty years of his employment. He was a member of an Academy School Senior Management Team during the latter fifteen years at work. As a volunteer at the Heritage Centre, Newton utilizes his management skills and experience to further the development of the Centre and maximise the planned benefits of the Centre as a learning resource to the members of the NTCG and the wider community.

Bishop Winston Taylor is currently Senior Pastor of the New Testament Church of God in Sheffield and the District Overseer for the Sheffield District of churches. He also co-ordinates the Calling and Ministry Studies [CAMS] programme. CAMS  is the formative education and training component of the licensure programme for candidates at the first rank of the NTCG credentialed ministry. It  includes the CIMS course ‘Knowing Your Church’ which he facilitates and which has specific links to the Heritage Centre. He is  therefore particularly interested in the development of this project as a learning resource for this group of the NTCG constituency.

Rev Phyllis Thompson is a Pentecostal educator. She has a background in development education and  Pastoral ministry in the UK. She served as the National Education Director for the New Testament Church of God in England and Wales from 2007-2018. She is the pioneer and co-ordinator of the New Testament Church of God Heritage Centre and the Oliver Lyseight Lectures.

Phyllis is currently a member of the leadership team of her local Church in Northampton, England, and a member of the European Pentecostal Theological Association [EPTA]Executive Committee. She sits on the Church of a God International Education Board and is a member of  the Church of God International Historical Commission.

She has written on topics to do with Black Majority Churches, and women in Christian leadership. Recent publications include her contribution to Faith of our Fathers (Pathway Press 2009),Challenges of Black Pentecostal Leadership in the 21st Century (SPCK 2013) and Challenges of Pentecostal Theology in the 21st Century (SPCK 2020) the latter two for which she is the editor.

The New Testament Church of God (NTCG) in England held its first public service at the YMCA Centre, Stafford Street, Wolverhampton, the morning of Sunday 20th September 1953 under the direction of Bishop Oliver A. Lyseight and Bishop Herman D. Brown. It is reported that on the evening of the same day, Bishop G. A. Johnson, Revd Enos Gordon and other believers began a fellowship in Handsworth, Birmingham. Contact was made between the two groups and the Handsworth fellowship was visited by Bishop Lyseight.

Almost two years on, after joining over 30,000 attendees from 34 countries at the Pentecostal World Conference in Stockholm, Sweden (13th – 20th June 1955), the then Executive Secretary of World Missions, Revd Paul H. Walker visited England and established the Wolverhampton (25 members) and Handsworth (40 members) churches as the first two NTCG congregations in the UK on Saturday 18th June 1955.

Saturday 18th June 1955 – Revd Paul H. Walker with some of the founding members of the New Testament Church of God UK. (Left to right: Deacon Beresford Bucknor, Deacon Lambert George Garwood, Bishop Jeremiah McIntyre, Bishop John Bryan, Bishop Herman Darius Brown, Revd Paul H. Walker, Revd Leonard Wesley Monfries, Bishop Oliver Augustus Lyseight, Revd Gilbert S. Peddie, Brother Cyprian Dundas)

Overstone Hall and grounds in Overstone Park, Northamptonshire, was purchased in 1979 under the leadership of Dr Jeremiah McIntyre. This was purchased for a Bible College and convalescent home for members of the Church of God. It became the home of the Administrative Office of NTCG England & Wales, Overstone Theological College and part-leased to Abbeyfield Dorcas Residential Care Homes for the elderly.

On 16 April 2001, there was an arson attack on the building resulting in two-thirds of the building being destroyed. Despite this setback NTCG continued to use the remainder of the building for national operations until 2008. In 2006, the church purchased Cheyne Walk, our present site, and then spent two years renovating it to the building it is today. The NTCG Heritage Centre and Roswith Gerloff Library were relocated to Cheyne Walk in 2014.