Holy Trinity Brompton facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Holy Trinity, Brompton
Holy Trinity Brompton, Brompton Road
51°29′52″N 0°10′12″W / 51.4978°N 0.1700°W / 51.4978; -0.1700
Location	Knightsbridge
Country	England
Denomination	Church of England
Churchmanship	Charismatic evangelical Anglican
History
Dedicated	1829
Architecture
Architect(s)	Thomas Leverton Donaldson
Style	Gothic Revival
Years built	1826–1829
Administration
Deanery	Chelsea
Archdeaconry	Middlesex
Episcopal area	Kensington
Diocese	London

Holy Trinity Brompton, often called HTB, is a well-known Anglican church in London, England. It's part of the Church of England.

HTB is actually made up of six different church locations. These include HTB Brompton Road, HTB Onslow Square, and HTB Queen's Gate. It's also home to the St Paul's Theological Centre. HTB is famous for being the place where the Alpha course was first created.

The church buildings are used for many things, like courses, conferences, and meetings. They also hold ten church services every Sunday. HTB's main goals are to help spread the Christian message, make the church stronger, and improve society.

Nicky Gumbel was the vicar (main priest) of HTB from 2005 to 2022. Now, Archie Coates is the vicar, starting in September 2022. Katherine Chow is the associate vicar.

History of HTB

Entrance driveway to Holy Trinity Brompton

Building the Church

Before Holy Trinity Brompton was built, the area was part of a much larger church district called Parish of Kensington. Only one church, St Mary Abbots, served this big area. In the 1820s, many more people started moving into the area. Because of this, a decision was made to buy land and build a new church.

The church was a "Commissioners' church." This means it received money from a special fund to help build new churches. The architect who designed it was Thomas Leverton Donaldson. Holy Trinity is now a Grade II listed building, which means it's an important historical building.

After three years of building, the church was officially opened on June 6, 1829. The same building is still used today, though it has been changed quite a bit over time. In 1852, some of HTB's land was sold to the Roman Catholic Church. They used it to build the London Oratory nearby. This created a long driveway to HTB, which helps keep the church peaceful.

The biggest changes to the building happened in the 1980s. The basement area, called the crypt, was rebuilt to create meeting rooms and a bookshop. Also, the fixed wooden benches (pews) were taken out. They were replaced with chairs, which makes it easier to arrange the seating for different events.

Past Vicars of HTB

St Paul's Onslow Square

St Paul's Church in Onslow Square first opened in 1860. In the late 1970s, the church district of Holy Trinity Brompton joined with the nearby St Paul's. St Paul's was then declared "redundant," meaning it was no longer needed for regular church services.

The church leaders tried to sell the building for private homes. But in the early 1980s, local people and churchgoers worked together to save the church. In the late 1980s, the church council asked for the "redundant" status to be removed. This allowed a new group of people, led by Nicky Lee and his wife Sila, to start a new church community there. They also did some important repairs to the building.

In 1997, the community at St Paul's split into three groups. Some went to start a new church in Fulham. Others returned to Holy Trinity with Nicky and Sila Lee. A third group stayed at St Paul's, but they later moved to St Mary's, Bryanston Square in 2002 to start another church there.

In 2007, HTB decided to renovate St Paul's and start holding services there again. They began with evening services in September 2007, and later added morning services. By 2009, they were using the upstairs balcony for worship again, after it had been used for offices.

St Augustine's Church

Services at St Augustine's, Queen's Gate began to be managed by Holy Trinity Brompton in 2010. This happened after the Bishop of Kensington invited Nicky Gumbel to lead the church there. In March 2011, St Augustine's officially became part of the HTB church district.

Church Planting: Growing the Network

Since the 1980s, HTB has been very involved in "church planting." This means they help start new churches or help struggling churches grow. Many churches today are connected to HTB, either because HTB directly helped start them (called "daughter churches") or because they were started by churches that HTB helped (called "granddaughter churches"). All these churches together form the HTB network.

HTB has also helped start churches in other countries:

• Holy Trinity Bukit Bintang, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• Holy Trinity Kuching, in Kuching, Malaysia

The Alpha Course and HTB

The Alpha course was created by leaders at HTB. Over twenty years, they kept changing the program based on feedback. In the early 1990s, the Alpha course started to become popular all over the world. As Alpha grew, it became a main focus for HTB. The church wanted to help Alpha spread and grow even more.

Today, HTB helps create materials for Alpha, like videos, books, and training guides. Alpha is now run as a separate organization with its own fundraising. However, it is still very closely linked to HTB. Most of Alpha's staff work in HTB's offices. The leaders of HTB also help with Alpha events, like conferences and training sessions in the UK and other countries.

Since the mid-1990s, the Alpha course program has mostly stayed the same. This has allowed the church to create other helpful courses. These include courses on preparing for marriage, parenting teenagers, dealing with grief, and recovering from divorce. They have also published new books.

HTB itself runs Alpha courses three times a year. Each course attracts 300 to 400 people. This means they need to use all the available space in the church buildings.

Pastoral Care: Looking After People

HTB uses a "Pastorate" model to care for its large church community. This model also helps new people feel welcome and become part of the church.

Pastorates are small groups of 20 to 50 people. They meet at least every two weeks. These groups help people form strong friendships and support each other. They also help people discover and use their unique talents and gifts within the church.

HTB has many people who come and go. This is partly because London is a city where many people move around. Many students, for example, only live in London while they study. HTB attracts many of these students. Also, the Alpha course brings many people to HTB. Some are visiting the "home" of Alpha, while others finish the course and then move on to other churches or Christian groups.

Church Services

HTB holds ten church services every Sunday across its four main locations. The family services include activities and messages designed for children. The more formal services use traditional Church of England prayers and songs. They also feature a professional choir.

The informal services focus on a longer time of modern worship music. They also have a longer talk or sermon. These services often end with a quiet time of prayer and reflection.

At the 4:30 PM and 6:30 PM services at HTB Onslow Square, the informal style is even more relaxed. Most people sit on carpet, and there are even couches, cushions, and bean bags available. Sometimes, these services are held "in the round," meaning the speakers are in the middle with people sitting all around them.

Some services will use the same talk and song list that was used in an earlier service that day.

Other Activities and Outreach

One big event for HTB is its yearly church camp, called "Focus." This camp lasts for a week at the Somerley Estate. Usually, about 7,000 people attend. They take part in many seminars, workshops, and fun activities. The large size of the camp also attracts important speakers to talk about issues affecting the church and society.

Since 1985, HTB has been very active in "church planting." This is where they help struggling churches in London. Scores, sometimes hundreds, of people from HTB commit to move to a new church for at least a year. This also involves one or more HTB leaders moving to the new church. They help lead worship, form small groups, and run Alpha courses there. Over the years, nine churches have been planted this way, including St Gabriel's, Cricklewood. Some of these churches have even gone on to plant their own churches.

HTB also has active ministries for children, teenagers, and students. Other activities include two large choir services each year, at Easter and Christmas. They also host several free classical concerts. These concerts use the church's pipe organ, which was updated in 2004. They also feature talented musicians from nearby music colleges.

In September 2005, HTB started offering the talks from its Sunday services as free downloads. You can find them on their website, iTunes, YouTube, and SoundCloud. These "HTB Podcasts" have become very popular. More recently, they have also offered talks specifically for the podcast community, including answers to questions sent in by listeners. Each month, these talks are downloaded over 40,000 times. Some talks have even been in the top ten for "Religion and Spirituality" on iTunes.

In 2011, HTB created the William Wilberforce Trust. This trust brings together different social action projects connected to HTB. These projects include working in areas that need help, assisting people experiencing homelessness, and providing support for people with addictions.

HTB is also home to:

• St Paul's Theological Centre
• The Alpha Course

See also

• List of Commissioners' churches in London