About Us

The Gospel Tabernacle Assembly started out from a regular prayer meeting held in a house belonging to Brother Morgan in Holmewood Gardens, South London, in the early sixties, where Brother Solomon and his wife Sister Florence Richards rented a room, along with the Cummings and the James.

 

The room became too small for the numbers of people who attended. Even brethren from Birmingham came to the meetings. So they moved to what was then known as the “Boy’s Club” on Ostade Road, (This is now a Hindu temple). Every Sunday morning the sisters would have to give the place a clean before they could have church.

 

From there they rented from Trinity Church on St. Matthews Road in Brixton for several years. Things came to a head and a decision to buy our place when we were told we couldn’t have a meeting and asked to go have our service in the park! And during another meeting a Trinity church member turned off the lights.

Sister Daisy Thompson was one of the elderly members who encouraged the believers to start saving 50 pence a week towards buying a place.

 

In 1980 the Gospel Tabernacle Assembly moved into its own church building back on Ostade road a previously Church of England owned building known as St Matthias Church. Many could not believe this small handful of people, mostly students at the time could take this on. But our Pastor Solomon Richards had told us already from the outset the place is ours!

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The church building was in a state when we moved in, with many of the windows broken we often shared service birds flying overhead, the carpet that we thought was black when cleaned was a rich red, that is still down today.

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But the members moved as one, we had cleaning and painting days and evenings, Sister Reid baked and sold buns, the young people did sponsored runs and we had building fund meetings so that in 1983 we had finished paying for the church.

Sadly Pastor Richards became ill with a stroke soon after we moved into the church and Pastor Warren Reid took over as Pastor who has since retired and relocated to Jamaica. The ministry is now under the stewardship of Pastor Palmer.

 

Many of those who started the work and had such commitment to the work have retired back to West Indies and/or have gone home to glory, including Pastor Richards many years ago, and his wife Florence Richards .

 

At present our membership is small with 22 members and approximately 30 to 50 attendees.

 

We have always been associated with and overseen by the Associated Gospel Assemblies in Jamaica. The address is 15-17 Dunrobin Avenue, Kingston 10, Jamiaca, West Indies.