History of Network

Church plant …. a pioneer Cell Church …. welcoming Hong Kongers .... the story continues!

Network began as St Albans Chapel Fellowship, which was a church planted out of Ashley Church, a charismatic evangelical church in St Albans.
 
The plant began in 1992 with about 35 adults plus children, with a clear vision to disciple and reach people through the cell church model. Their Sunday venue was the old chapel building at St Albans Hospital (now redeveloped), which gave the church its original name.  St Albans Chapel Fellowship took its place amongst the first churches to begin to work out the cell model in UK culture.

We then met at various Sunday venues, and changed the name of the church to Network to reflect the high priority placed on the cell groups, and the community and outreach that these enable.
 
In October 2011 Batford Community Church joined with Network, and representatives from both churches were included on the leadership team and trustees.

During the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020-2021 we quickly transitioned successfully to Zoom Sunday meetings, in such a way as to keep the participation and relational aspects of our time together, including using breakout rooms. Our small groups also continued to meet weekly on Zoom. Later in the pandemic and weather permitting both Sundays and small groups met outside when possible.

During this time we started receiving and welcoming many people into our fellowship who had relocated from Hong Kong. This has continued and our HK families are an integral part of our church community. We have embraced songs in Cantonese, translation into Cantonese as much as possible, and Chinese biscuits with our coffee!
 
Our story continues, as we continue to seek God, and seek to bring his Kingdom in our relationships and areas of influence. Why not try us out one Sunday, we'd love to welcome you.