• Welcome to KT
• Leadership
• Vision
• Beliefs
• History

THE BEGINNING

One hundred and fifty years ago a group of men and women, members of Kensington’s Congregational church in Hornton Street, began to pray for the “poor and neglected people of Notting Hill Vale”, according to the church secretary’s minute-book. In those early days Notting Hill was a small village on the western end of London which, even in those days, “had its hovels and iniquitous dens of evil”. Charles Dickens described it as “a plague spot, scarcely equalled for its insalubrity by any other in London”. And I wonder what was in G.K. Chesterton’s mind when he wrote, “There has never been anything in the world absolutely like Notting Hill. There will never be anything quite like it to the crack of doom.”

Dr Kenneth Taylor, of Living Bible fame, on a visit to London was asked, “What part of London would you expect Jesus to visit first if he were to return to Britain today?” “Notting Hill Gate,” he replied. “Why?” asked the interviewer. “ Well, that’s where all the world seems to meet. I’ve never seen so many different classes or nationalities in one area in all my world travels”.

But Notting Hill was not forgotten by the “members of Kensington’s Hornton Street Congregational church” who, according to one newspaper report of that time, “had been deeply moved at a recent prayer meeting and many had wept as they commissioned thirty-seven people who were to pioneer the new work in Notting Hill”. In the notes made by these pioneering Christian men of Hornton Street we read that they, with typical English reserve, wrote that “additional religious accommodation was desirable” in Notting Hill. But they not only prayed, they put their hands in their pockets. One individual gave £1,000. That was followed by £700 from the congregation. With this money they proceeded to buy a plot of ground on the corner site of the two roads we now call Ladbroke Grove and Kensington park Road. It cost £630 (probably worth millions of pounds today). On 30 august 1848 a foundation stone was laid, and a year later the completed building named Horbury Chapel was opened. It was so named after the village of Horbury in Yorkshire, birthplace of the Congregational Church’s first church treasurer.

LEADERS THEN AND NOW

Eldin Corsie, Senior Minister 1965 – 1980

In 1999 Eldin Corsie celebrated fifty years in full-time ministry. It was in 1965 that Eldin led a group of 60 pioneer people back to the Kensington Temple building. Eldin came with a heart to see God do again the great things that happened in KT’s past – healing, deliverance, explosive growth and effective prayer. In those next fifteen years the key foundations of the church were laid – prayer, fellowship groups, evangelism and an international focus. During these rich years the church grew to 600 people and was prepared for it’s next explosive phase.

Wynne Lewis, Senior Minister 1980 – 1991

In 1980 Wynne Lewis hit Kensington Temple like a whirlwind. Wynne came as a man of vision, passion and zeal and within a few short years led KT to incredible growth. During a ministry that lasted ten years the church grew to over 5000 people and saw many new areas of London reached through the planting of many new churches.

Colin Dye, Senior Minister 1991 – 2021

During the ministry of both Eldin Corsie and Wynne Lewis a man was coming to the fore in God’s purposes for Kensington Temple – Colin Dye. Colin was saved in 1971 and was baptised under Eldin’s ministry. Immediately, he started to serve the Lord through KT. Colin began by picking up hymnbooks, helping drug addicts and gradually grew into more senior leadership positions. When Wynne Lewis left in 1991 Colin had already been effectively prepared to be the next Senior Pastor of Kensington Temple.
Under Colin’s ministry the London City Church has been formed and by the year 2000 we had over 130 churches networking in London as one body. The LCC network now ministers through a cell church vision.

Mark Ryan, Senior Minister 2021 – 2024

Mark Ryan was the Senior Leader at KT from October 2021 – June 2024. He and his wife, Kathy, brought over four decade of ministry experience with them to KT, including pastoring Elim churches in Rugby, Letchworth Garden City and Birmingham. Additionally, Mark held Bachelor of Education and Master of Divinity degrees when he arrived at KT. Mark is passionate about seeing people reach their potential in Christ and now carries a role across the Elim Movement helping churches think about growth and development. He and Kathy, a retired educator, are now based in Warwickshire, and are proud grandparents to five grandchildren.

Malcolm J. Duncan, Senior Minister 2024 – Present

At heart, Malcolm is a pastor, a preacher and leader. He loves to see people, churches and movements flourish as God intended them to. He has been an ordained minister in the Elim Pentecostal Church since 1997, but engaged in pastoral ministry since 1987.Whilst he has served Christ in Northern Ireland between 2018 and 2024, he served in England between 1994 and 2018, and in Scotland between 1987 and 1994. He studied theology at Edinburgh University, Regents Theological College (Manchester University) and Chester University. He is a Pentecostal Public, Practical and Pastoral Theologian, with specific research interests in the role of the Pastor in the Public Square and the importance and impact of the Bible and the Gospel in the Public Square and in Civil Society. He is passionate about the Bible and committed to preaching the whole counsel of God to the best of His ability, under the anointing power of the Holy Spirit. He loves the church and longs to see it make the impact on the world that Christ has called it to. He believes that Christians are called to live for their Saviour in every sphere of their lives and that churches are communities of people, called to blaze the light of Christ into the world around us. He is engaged in public theology in a number of way: he is the Chair/ Convenor of Agora – Elim’s (and a wider Pentecostal) Public Theology, Justice and Pastoral Ethics Taskforce; the chair/convenor of Elim’s Pastoral Working Groups on Human Flourishing and Sexuality; and Human Flourishing and Gender. He also advises churches, movements, agencies and governments around the world on the contribution of Christian faith to the public square. He is a strong advocate for the global importance and impact of Judaeo-Christian values, and an apologist for the centrality of these values in shaping historic Western European and North American culture, jurisprudence and self-understanding. He is the Theologian-in-Residence for Spring Harvest and the Essential Christian Group. Malcolm is also a global ambassador for the Persecuted Church, and on a number of national steering groups and councils of reference including Kyria (a network that advocates for women in leadership), Torch Trust for the Blind; Redeeming our Communities and Churches for All (a group that advocates for inclusion of people with disabilities in all areas of church life and leadership). He a member of the Evangelical Alliance Council. He is an author, lecturer, broadcaster and international speaker and Bible teacher. He is committed to supporting and celebrating mission and regularly preaches and teaches around the world. Malcolm is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, a Fellow of the Institute of Pentecostal Theology, a member of the European Pentecostal Theology Association and the British and Irish Association of Practical Theology.

He is the author of 16 books including Building a Better World: faith at work for change in society (2006); Kingdom Come: local churches as a catalyst for social change (2007); Risktakers: the life God intends for you (2013); Unbelievable: confident faith in a sceptical world (2014); Fleeting Shadows: how Christ transforms the darkness (2015); I want to be a God-gazer: yearning for intimacy with the Saviour (2015); One for All: the foundations (2017); One for All: the implications (2017); Good Grief: living with sorrow and loss (2020); Flipped: Life in the Upside Down Kingdom (2023); and A Higher Call: Life radically re-imagined through the Sermon on the Mount (due to be published in 2025). His daily #niteblessings reach tens of thousands of people on social media and have been published in three volumes with a fourth being released shortly.

Malcolm is married to Debbie, who is an academic with specialisations in primary nursing, respiratory nursing, prescribing, strategic nurse leadership, diabetic care and strengthening the understanding and centrality of the nursing model of care in the NHS. Debbie has been part of the NHS since 1986 and has held lecturing posts in Southbank University, Bucks University, the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing (Kings College) and Queens University, Belfast. She is the author of seventeen books across the disciplines of nursing and theology. Debbie describes herself as Scottish, having been raised in a military family. She has lived in Germany, Malaysia, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Debbie is a Queens Nurse, and a member of the Association of Respiratory Nurse Specialists

Debbie and Malcolm have been married since 1993. They have four adult children by birth and one by informal fostering – three sons and two daughters. All are married and serving Christ. They have four grandchildren – three grandsons and a granddaughter.