Holy Trinity Brompton Church
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Holy Trinity, Brompton ("HTB") is an Evangelical Anglican church between South Kensington and Knightsbridge, London. It is where the Alpha course was first developed and is one of the most influential churches in the Church of England.
Its early 19th century building accommodates Alpha and other courses, conferences and meetings during the week and five services each Sunday. With total Sunday service attendance averaging 3,100 people and the Alpha course attracting several hundred during the week, HTB oversees a diverse range of activities. HTB's aim is for an Alpha course to be accessible to anyone who would like to attend the course, and in this way HTB seeks to spread the teachings of Christianity.
Nicky Gumbel, the pioneer of Alpha course, took over as Minister in charge from Sandy Millar in July 2005.
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[edit] History
Prior to the construction of Holy Trinity Brompton, the present site was a part of the large parish of Kensington which was served only by the nearby St Mary Abbots church. In the early 1820's the area was in the midst of a substantial population increase so a decision was taken to purchase land and construct a new church.
After three years of construction the church was consecrated on 6 June 1829 as Holy Trinity Brompton. The same building stands today, although having been considerably modified. At some point a portion of HTB's land was sold to the Roman Catholic Church in order for them to build the London Oratory. This created a long driveway from Brompton road that at the end of which HTB manages to gain relative tranquillity.
The most recent major modification was during the 1980s when the crypt was rebuilt to provide meeting rooms and the space for the bookshop. Also during this time the pews were removed and replaced with chairs to allow greater flexibility in seating arrangements, which became imperative as Alpha grew.
The substantial growth of the Alpha course in the last ten years has seen this course become the main focus of HTB, with its recent history reflecting this.
[edit] Alpha and HTB
The Alpha course was founded by clergy at HTB who over a period of twenty years kept adapting the programme in accordance with feedback until in the early 1990s the Alpha course started gaining worldwide attention. As Alpha grew it became the main focus for HTB as it sought to support Alpha's spread and growth. Today this involves the production of advertising material and course material such as videos, books and tapes for each Alpha session and leader training material. Alpha is now run as a separate enterprise with separate fundraising and accounting but it remains closely tied to HTB, with most of Alpha's staff being accommodated in HTB's offices. The clergy of HTB also share Alpha duties such as overseeing Alpha conferences and training events in the UK and overseas.
Since the mid-1990's the Alpha course programme has remained largely unchanged allowing the energy of the church to develop other initiatives which fit with the Alpha course such as creating courses on marriage preparation, parenting teenagers and recovering from divorce as well as publishing new books.
HTB itself runs Alpha courses three times a year and these are typically on a large scale requiring all of the available space in the church buildings to accommodate the attendees.
[edit] Pastoral Care
In order to address the problem of how to give pastoral care to such a large congregation as well as provide a means for new people to become a part of the church, HTB uses the Pastorate model. Pastorates consist of 20-50 people who, through meeting at least once a fortnight, can form strong friendships and support each other in care as well as developing individual gifts and ministries.
HTB has quite a transient congregation caused in part by its location in London, a city which itself has quite a transient population, that HTB attracts a large student population often only resident in London during their studies, and that the Alpha course brings in a number of people who are either visiting the home of Alpha or have completed the course and then quickly move onto other churches or ministries. In order to reach out to this substantial number of visitors, HTB is somewhat extroverted in welcoming newcomers and providing various means for them to get involved.
[edit] Services
HTB conducts five services on a Sunday: two as Communion family services; two being informal in nature centring on a long period of corporate praise, and a long talk; and one following a more traditional Church of England Liturgy. On average, attendance at the five Sunday services totals 3,100. HTB does not run any regular services on any other days, instead running various prayer meetings, conferences and its courses such as Alpha.
[edit] Other Activities
Another important activity of HTB is its yearly church camp, named Home Focus. This takes place over a week at a seaside campsite where typically 1,500 people attend and involve themselves in the many seminars, workshops and recreational activities. The size also attracts some prominent speakers to speak on issues affecting the church and society.
HTB is actively involved in a process called Church planting whereby struggling churches in London are boosted by dozens of people committing to move from HTB to the identified church for at least a year. This also involves at least one member of HTB's clergy similarly moving to the new church to help lead worship, form Pastorates and run local Alpha courses. Over the years more than seven churches have been planted in this way, with some of these churches going on to make Church Plants of their own.
HTB also has thriving childrens and youth ministries. Other notable activities HTB undertakes are services twice a year involving the large HTB choir - at Easter and Christmas - and several free classical concerts that utilise the church's pipe organ that was refurbished in 2004 as well as drawing on the talent of the nearby music colleges.
