In 1915 a young Welshman named George Jeffreys moved to the town of Monaghan, in Ireland, where he began preaching the gospel. Jeffreys and his early followers quickly earned renown for their impassioned sermons, as well as a moniker – ‘the Elim Evangelistic Band’ – and their efforts were rewarded by the foundation of the first Elim church in Belfast the following year.
Jeffreys chose to call himself and his followers ‘Elim’ because of the term’s symbolic connotations of comfort and renewal in the minds of Christians. The name refers to an oasis in the Book of Exodus that provided relief to the Israelites who left Egypt and crossed the Red Sea.
While the movement Jeffreys founded began as a small, radical congregation in the eyes of the traditional church leaders of his day, today Elim is the UK’s second (after the Redeemed Christian Church of God) largest Pentecostal denomination, one of the fastest growing church movements in the UK and Ireland (according to The Spectator, Elim membership has swelled from 50,000 to 75,000 over the past 25 years), and it has a presence in over 40 other countries around the world.
The striking growth of the Elim Church since it was founded is in no small part the result of Elim’s emphasis on evangelism and international missions. Indeed, members of Elim look to the example set by Jeffreys himself, who after establishing the Elim Church in Ireland moved first to London before travelling around Europe to preach and share his teachings.
Elim’s popularity owes just as much to the numerous and widely publicised accounts of miracles taking place during Elim services. While every encounter with the Holy Spirit is unique, reports of dramatic healings and speaking in tongues are taken by Elim’s members as examples of the personal relationship it is possible for individuals to have with God.
Such accounts of divine experience exemplify the Elim Pentecostal belief in the possibility of baptism in the Holy Spirit. This phenomena is a key aspect of spiritual experience for Pentecostal denominations such as Elim, precisely because it shows the possibility for people to encounter God. Simply put, Elim Pentecostals believe that miracles didn’t stop happening after the Bible was written, and should be as much a part of a practising Christian’s life today as they would have been in Jesus’ time.
Elim Pentecostals also practice baptism by immersion like other denominations, such as Baptists, although they do not baptise babies. The Elim Church teaches that following Jesus is a personal decision that ought to be made by people who fully understand the nature of the faith commitment they are making.
Today, Elim is one of the UK’s most vibrant and dynamic faith groups. Its continued growth illustrates the resonance of the Pentecostal emphasis on the experiential dimension of faith and reflects a denomination which has endeavoured to create lively, welcoming congregations that uplift churchgoers as well as their wider communities.