Borras Park
On Saturday 14 May, members and friends past and present filled Borras Park Evangelical Church, for a service of thanksgiving for 40 years of evangelical witness in the town.
The cause was founded by Rev. Glyndwr Jenkins, a former missionary to India and pastor of churches at Rossett, some six miles from Wrexham, and Garden Village, on the edge of the town. Both churches were part of the Presbyterian Church of Wales.
During the 1960s Mr Jenkins felt uneasy about the ecumenical trends of his denomination. After much prayer, and supported by a number of like-minded believers, he resigned from it from the end of December 1970.
By that time, he had gathered around him local evangelical Christians and it was agreed that an evangelical church would be established. A location for the church was already on his heart. He felt drawn to the housing estates being built in the Borras area of Wrexham.
The new fellowship of Borras Park Evangelical Church held its first service on the morning of 3 January 1971, at the Little Acton Community Centre, Francis Avenue. It remained there for some years.
By March 1976, the church had built its own hall on Jeffreys Road and the main church building was opened on 21 March 1987.
Rev. Glyndwr Jenkins retired in 1980 and was followed by Revs Hywel Jones (1980-85), Keith R. Walker (1985-90), Basil A. Howlett (1993-2000) and Mark Thomas (2003- present).
At the thanksgiving service, Rev. Philip Jenkins, Cardiff, younger son of the founding pastor, read Hebrews 13:5-18 and gave a moving prayer for the past witness of the church and its future growth.
Rev. Gwilym Roberts, Caergwrle, outlined the broader context to the founding of the church — one of five in north-east Wales that had emerged from the Presbyterian Church of Wales in the early 1970s — and a retired elder, Mr Idwal Trevor, spoke about the way the church had grown subsequently.
The sermon on ‘Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today and for ever’ (Hebrews 13:8) was brought by Rev. Dr Hywel Jones.
Refreshments were provided in the hall and there was an opportunity to look at displays and photographs of people and activities over the past 40 years.
David Jones
