 The service on 3rd February 1990 marked the 15th anniversary of the Liverpool congregation. Its first service was held on the morning of 1st February 1975, in the Liverpool Polytechnic College. This new congregation at Liverpool was one of a number established following the closure of the Bricket Wood Campus of Ambassador College in May 1974. By the end of February 1974, it was one of about 35 new congregations in the United Kingdom, and represented the fruit of God’s work in North-Western England, a work which had started 21 years earlier in 1954.
Origins As recorded in his autobiography, Mr Herbert W. Armstrong himself had been to Manchester in 1954 to speak to an invited audience of Plain Truth readers. Later, in 1960, while Raymond F. McNair was directing the work for the U.K (1958-1972), another series of lectures produced about two dozen people who began to attend regular Services in Manchester. This was the first congregation of the Worldwide Church of God to be established on the North of England in that era. From that small beginning, numbers grew, so that in 1964 services in Manchester ended and two centres were established for the north: one in Leeds and one in Warrington. They were pastored and served by ministers who travelled regularly from the College Campus at Bricket Wood for the weekly Services, and for local Festival Days. The Local Elder, David Bedford, living in Sale (Manchester), well knew the hazards of crossing the Pennines by the Snake Pass long before the days of the M62. Congregations from both sides of the Pennines continued to meet together in Manchester for the two Services on each of the local Festival Days. This continued until 1967, when attendances had grown to over 300. Because of this, separate local Festival Day Services began in 1968. By 1974 the average weekly attendance at Warrington had risen to over 200; and the time was ripe for further expansion. A Door Opens The closure of Ambassador College at Bricket Wood had released manpower for numerous series of lectures to PT magazine readers throughout the country and enabled the establishment of new congregations. In October and November 1974 a series of these lectures again provided the means for growth of the Church in North-West England. Meetings were held in Manchester and in Liverpool. Following addresses given by Richard Plaché at the Centre Hotel, Liverpool on 10th and 11th November 1974, a series of eight weekly lectures was scheduled (on Sunday afternoons), The speakers were Mr Plaché, Roderick Meredith and Richard Frankel. At the close of the final meeting on 5th January 1975, an invitation was extended to those present to attend Services (at Warrington). For a while, fortnightly Bible Studies continued, conducted by Robert Morton, then Pastor of the Warrington Church. New Congregations The final service at Warrington was held on 25th January 1975, with an attendance of approximately 205. As in 1965, the Church again multiplied, this time into three new congregations. On 1st February 1975, services were held at Lancaster (40 attendance), Salford (112) and at Liverpool (78). At Liverpool, the first service was conducted by Robert Morton (Pastor) with Peter McLean (Ministerial Assistant). Mr McLean was later ordained as Local Elder on 6th June 1975. Subsequently he was appointed as Pastor of both the Liverpool and Stoke Churches, when Mr Morton was transferred to Pasadena (Church HQ). Liverpool Church The Liverpool Church area was bounded by the M6 in the east, across to the coast at Southport, stretching down into North Cheshire, and including Chester, The Wirral Peninsula and a small part of North Wales. It also included the Isle of Man. On 22nd February 1975, monthly meetings began in Conway (moving to Llandudno 1983). These became fortnightly, sometimes in Bible Study format and sometimes as a Church Service. Llandudno became formally designated as a Church in June 1988. The other sister Church at Stoke began its regular Services on 7th June 1975. Bill Adlington I took over as pastor of that congregation from Jeremy Rapson (the successor to Jonathan Buck) in August 1996. (My wife and I lived in Chester). I spoke first at a combined northwest church area service at Lymm on Aug 31, 96. Since I still had to disengage from Southern Ireland over the next two months, I was not truly installed in the NW area until after FOT that year. I did however serve in Liverpool as its pastor for almost the next two years – along with pastoring Llandudno, Manchester and Stoke congregations. My first sermon in Liverpool (Friends Meeting House) was on Nov 2, 1996. And my 21st and last sermon at Liverpool was on August 8, 1998. Then I was invited to move into retirement – and opted to settle down in Essex. Edward Smith | 
