The Church of God In Christ (Calvary) also known as COGIC UK began in the late 40’s when the first wave of immigrants from the Caribbean arrived in England. As it proved difficult for them to become members of the established Church the Black majority church was born. Soon all over the country, small groups of Christians from the Caribbean and Africa were gathering to pray and worship together.
Such were the humble beginnings of COGIC UK, started in the home of the McLachlan family with a few friends in the late 40’s. They established themselves as a Church and rented a hall for formal worship, situated in Sussex Road, Brixton. The growth of the Church was phenomenal.
In 1952 Bishop Charles Harrison Mason, founder of the Church of God In Christ International in the USA, visited the World Pentecostal Conference in London. It was here that an open channel was extended to the saints in the UK leading to our affiliation to the Church of God In Christ International in 1957. Later that year Revd. Oswald McLachlan was appointed the first Jurisdictional Bishop of the Church of God In Christ (Calvary) in the United Kingdom.
In 1963, Bishop McLachlan returned to reside in the Caribbean and the leadership was passed to Bishop Robert Clifford Bell. Bishop Bell was subsequently appointed the UK Jurisdictional Prelate and he served in this capacity from 1963 until his death in 1998. In 1998, the Revd. Alvin Blake succeeded Bishop Bell as Jurisdictional Prelate and continues to serve to the present time.