Kingsway International Christian Centre facts for kids

The Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC) is a large church located in London, England. It started in 1992 with about 200 adults and 100 children. Today, around 12,000 people attend the main church every Sunday. The church is led by its senior pastor, Matthew Ashimolowo.

Moving to New Locations

Most people who attend KICC are under 50 years old. Many come from West Africa, but the church says its members are from 46 different countries. For nine years, KICC was located on a large piece of land in Hackney, London. This area was close to where the 2012 London Olympics Village was planned.

KICC had to leave its Hackney site by late 2007 to make way for the Olympic developments. After leaving Hackney, the church moved to Hoe Street in Walthamstow. They also planned to build a very big new site in Rainham. However, getting permission for this new site was difficult. Eventually, KICC bought and moved into an even larger place called Prayer City in Chatham, Kent. They still use the Walthamstow site too.

Looking into Church Finances

The charity that runs Kingsway International Christian Centre, called The King's Ministries Trust, has been looked into by the Charity Commission a couple of times. The Charity Commission checks how charities manage their money.

The first check started in 2002. A report in 2005 said there were problems with how the charity's money was handled. To make sure the charity's funds were safe, an independent company took over managing its affairs for a while. The Charity Commission noted that Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo was both a leader and an employee of the charity. This meant he was involved in approving payments for himself and his wife. He later paid back some money to the charity.

A second check began in 2011. This was about £5 million that the charity had invested. The Charity Commission looked into this investment to make sure the money was being used properly. The Trust was told that it must get written permission from the Charity Commission before making any more investments in the future.

Crystal Palace Building

KICC bought a building in Crystal Palace that used to be a bingo hall. They wanted to use it as a church, but they have not yet received official permission for this. In August 2012, they held a business event there. The church hopes to use this building for its South West branch, which is currently based in Wimbledon, London.

KICC first asked for permission to change how the building could be used in 2009. This request was turned down. The reasons were that using it as a church would mean losing an important local entertainment spot. Also, many cars coming from far away could cause traffic and safety issues. Even though permission was refused, KICC did some renovation work inside the building. It opened in August 2012.

In 2013, many people complained to Bromley Council about a New Year's Eve event planned at the venue. Council officials visited the event. The council decided that the building had also been used for religious events at other times. The council continues to monitor how the building is used. They have asked KICC to submit a new application for how they plan to use the building in the future.