How did it all begin? Who were the men who had the vision of a place of worship in the neighbourhood?

On 8th January 1888 a small corrugated iron building, which had been erected in Boundary Road was opened for public worship. It was known as 'The Gospel Mission Hall' and had a seating capacity of 100. The land was loaned by one of the founding members of the church, a Mr W. Fulcher, who agreed to lend the land for 10 years. By the third year of the church the building had been paid for.

In 1891 Mr Marriott became president of the mission. The work continued to prosper and in 1893 the building was extended and again in 1895. In 1897 the land on which our church stands today was purchased. Building work commenced on 15 August 1901. At the final members meeting held at Boundary Road, the name of the church was changed to 'Evangelical Free Church'. The new church building here in Brentwood Road was opened for public worship on 20 February 1902.

The early days in Brentwood Road involved much decision making such as acceptance of church rules and declaration of faith, times of Sunday Services, choice of hymn books, the appointment of Mr Marriott as Pastor and also deacons. Midway through 1905 the membership had grown to 136. Mr Marriott's ministry continued until 1922.

The arrival of the Rev. Richard King to the pastorate at Evan was marked by a steady increase in church membership. He was followed by the Rev. B. Charles Harris. Evan joined the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches, the F.I.E.C. in July of 1927. In 1929 the Rev. William Goodchild was inducted into the pastorate and during his ministry he introduced the ordinance of Believers Baptism.

The Rev. John Fidge was the next pastor of Evan who came to Romford in 1932. 1938 was the 50th anniversary of the church. Mr Fidge left in 1943 and shortly afterwards the Rev. Alfred S. Bell was invited to be the new pastor. During his ministry the Boys Brigade reformed and a Girls Guildry Company was started. In February of 1946 a new group was set up which was known as the Youth Fellowship and met on Saturday evenings. In November 1946 Mr Bell accepted a call to another pastorate.

In April 1949 the Rev. C. St. Clair Robinson became pastor. It was during this period of time that the building of the Harold Hill estate by the London County Council took place and the church in 1951 applied for a site to build a daughter church which the council agreed to in 1953. On 17th September 1955 the new church building in Harold Hill was formally opened.

The Rev. T. MacBeth Paterson was inducted as pastor at Evan on 24th October 1959 and he was at Evan for almost 6 years. In 1960 it was decided that new halls to the rear of the church were needed as the existing hall was inadequate. A new building fund was set up and the new halls were built which were opened on 23 November 1963

In July 1966, the Rev. William H. Parsons accepted the call to the pastorate. The total cost of the new church hall had been met by this time. In 1968 he launched 'Operation Outreach' which was a mission directed to those who lived within a half mile radius of the church. Mr Parsons retired from the ministry in April 1975.

During the following four years of interregnum the church was still active. It was involved in a joint evangelistic crusade, the setting up of a pre-school playgroup and boy Campaigners.

The Rev. Godfrey Fielder was inducted into the pastorate on 13th October 1979. During his pastorate there were many changes introduced with the re-writing of the church constitution, the introduction of eldership, the Sunday School was moved from the afternoons to run along side the morning service, the N.I.V. was adopted as the Bible used in the services, homegroups were introduced, and a music group was formed to assist in the worship. In January 1981, the first 'Pastors Assistant', Andrew Docherty, came to Evan. In 1985 Godfrey Fielder accepted a call to another pastorate.

On the 26th March 1988 the Rev. Peter Baker was inducted into the pastorate. A month later the church celebrated it's 100th church anniversary with a special service at Frances Bardsley School on 16th April with former pastors taking part in the service. In 1989 Rev. Colin Frampton became Assistant Pastor. There was also the building of a welcome area and the redecoration of the interior of the church which was completed in October of 1990. In the October of 1992 Rob Johnston was inducted as the Youth Minister. It was on the 22nd October 1994 that Peter Baker said farewell to Evan as he had accepted a call to another pastorate.

The Rev. Andrew Bryant was inducted as pastor on 31st August 1996. There was a need for an assistant minister as both Colin Frampton and Rob Johnston had been called elsewhere in the summer of 1996 and the church decided to call Phill Brown, a church member who was training for the ministry, to be the new assistant minister. He accepted and was ordained and inducted on 6th September 1997.

And so what of the future? Joshua 13:1 says, 'there are still very large areas of land to be taken over.' There is still much to do and so we look forward to the future as we anticipate all that the Lord is going to do.