About Us

Hasbury Community Church is an independent evangelical church.   The church was founded in 1934, subsequently the building in Albert Road was opened in 1938.  It was later extended in 1988 and extended again in 2011.

What’s in a Name?

The building was originally called The Gospel Hall but the name was changed in 1978 to Hasbury Christian Fellowship. This was done to  describe what we aim to be.  A fellowship of people who’ve received Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord and seek to share His life with others.

By 2023 we found that the name had become confusing, therefore we changed to Hasbury Community Church.  The change helps reflect our aim to be a church serving our local community.  We are a local church with most of our members living close by.  The church enjoys worshiping, learning, sharing fellowship and community together.

Sundays

Our services have a simple pattern of worship which we belive is based on the practices of the early church.  The Sunday Morning Service is a time for the whole church family to be together. Some fun items are combined with worship and Bible teaching.

The weekly Sunday evening Communion is an open service with opportunity for anyone to share from the Bible, pray and suggest songs as the Holy Spirit leads them.

And More!

There is an open Prayer Time and sharing of experiences and needs on Tuesday evenings. Also, there and many other opportunities to share together in The Lord’s work, outreach and spending time together.

As part of our outreach, we have lead the Summer Beach Mission in Skegness for the last 20+ years.

We support several missionaries in other countries.

The Church is  part of Churches Together in Halesowen and we enjoy close links with other churches in the town.

A Brief History of the Church: How it all began.

Part of our '90 years' celebration.

Workers at The Austin Car Company, Longbridge

Longbridge 1930s

This brief history of the church begins in the early 1930’s.  There were three men who were active members of the Church of England in Halesowen and also worked for the Austin Car Company at Longbridge.  They began to meet with some others who belonged to the Assembly of Open Brethren in Cotteridge.  The Halesowen men included Mr Jim Basterfield, Mr Prichard and Mr Good.  As a result of these lunch time discussions, they became convinced of the need to be baptised by immersion as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Church starts in Halesowen Town Centre

Building in Peckingham Street

Another important step in their walk of faith was the call to preach the Gospel to the people of Halesowen by means of open air witness, tract distribution and holding Bible readings in their homes.  This led them to establish an Assembly of Open Brethren in the town centre.  This new Assembly was commended by the Assemblies at Bearwood and Cotteridge.  This new church began on 24th June 1934 with just 7 members.  They were helped a lot at this time by the Bearwood and Cotteridge Assemblies.  The church began meeting in an upper room over the Co-operative Society (now shops) in Peckingham Street.  The room was over the shops with the blue and yellow signs shown in the photograph above.

The Church Moves to Albert Road.

A short time later the new church was given a plot of land in Albert Road, Hasbury.  Here in 1938 they started to build a Gospel Hall. In spite of a state of national emergency and with building restrictions imposed, the building was completed. The Gospel Hall was officially opened on 13 May 1939. All this represented a great step of faith as they overcame many difficulties.

There were still only about seven actual members and a few others who attended the meetings. As war was declared on September 3rd 1939 they lost some of the younger men to the army. For a time they were joined by a few civil servants who had been evacuated from London, and were members of brethren assemblies there. These new arrivals were undoubtedly a great help to the struggling assembly.

Although only a small church there was a fruitful Sunday School with children coming to Christ, some of whom are still going on with the Lord today.

The end of the war meant that some, though not all, of the young men returned and the civil servants went home. Among those who had served in the forces was Fred Basterfield, now married to Philippa. They threw themselves into the work of the small church. Fred learnt to play the piano and organ so that not all the singing was unaccompanied.

A picture of the church in 1962

The early 1950’s saw a housing boom in Hasbury and Hayley Green which made a big difference to the church, leading to significant growth.  The church has continued to thrive since and this brief history continues.

This piece will soon be added to, including the more the more recent history.

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