One of the oldest non-conformist churches in the country has just celebrated its 400th anniversary.

A special service was held at Epping United Reformed Church (URC) which is the second oldest in the denomination.

The service included a concert, a talk on the church’s history, special video messages from its twinned church of Mbare UPCSA in Harare, Zimbabwe, and a presentation by the junior church.

Rev Karen Knight, Minister of Epping URC, said: “What a wonderful start to our anniversary celebrations. Our anniversary service gave us an opportunity to celebrate our past and to look forward to our future with renewed hope and confidence, ready and willing to listen to God and be guided by the Holy Spirit.”

In honour of the milestone, the church has also produced a special book written and researched by church elder Jeremy Flack which explores its long history. Many exhibits from the archives were also displayed, including the early radical and dissenting ministers Jeremiah Dyke and Nathaniel Ball establishing the church, a student David Livingstone preaching in the church in 1839, a visit by Dame Margaret Lloyd George to celebrate its 300th anniversary in 1925, the well-known hymn writer Rev Bryn Rees who was minister of the church in the 1970s and the rebuilding of the church into a modern worship centre in 1997.