Thomas Jefcoate was a 24 year old farm labourer who arrived in Christchurch from England in January 1865 with his young wife Janet. They had been members of the Rugby Baptist Chapel in England, so on Sundays they walked from Spreydon into the centre of Christchurch to the only existing Baptist church.

The Spreydon district at this time consisted of swamp and tussock paddocks without water supply, sewers, drains, electricity or transport. It was a quagmire in winter and a dust bowl in summer.

But Thomas had a vision to start a church in the area so he approached Charlotte Twigger, a local farmers wife who said he could have the use of a 16x12 foot sod house standing in a 50 acre tussock paddock. So he began a milk run to raise money for the new work and on September 17, 1865 the first service was held in the sod house which apparently was filled with men, women and children.

A year later a church was formed with six initial members.

The group decided to build a chapel, and this was opened debt free in April 1867. Two years later William Pole was invited to be the first pastor with a guaranteed income of £1 for three months!

The church continued to grow and ten years later a larger building was needed which was opened on Lincoln Road in November 1882. The building which seated about 300 people still stands, as a grocery store.

In 1895 John North became the pastor and this was followed by a period of rapid growth and the starting of various initiatives in the community. Unfortunately this growth of the early years was not able to be sustained in the decades that followed, apart from one encouraging period in the 1930’s.

During that decade the Spreydon suburb was growing rapidly and the Mayor of Christchurch J K Archer, who was also pastor of the Colombo Street Baptist church, decided there was a need for an outreach Sunday school in Lyttelton Street which started in 1933, and developed into a church five years later.

It became obvious that it would make sense to unite the two small churches at a central location. This was literally carried out transporting buildings from both locations by traction engine and the first services at the present location were held in October 1949.

Murray and Marj Robertson began their ministry at Spreydon nearly twenty years later in December 1968. In the decades which followed, the church continued the evangelistic vision and community involvement that marked the early years. 

During the 1970’s a foundation was laid of Biblical preaching, neighbourhood evangelism and a growing commitment to global mission.  The charismatic renewal followed with the challenge of incorporating this emphasis into a traditional church. 

In the mid 70’s the church was completely restructured around small groups.  Very rapid growth followed, and a new building, the present auditorium, was constructed.

In the 1980’s a number of daughter congregations were started, some of which became independent churches.  This decade also saw the birth of a number of community ministries which have subsequently grown remarkably.

Another new building was erected during the 1990’s, this time a multi purpose building reflecting the growth in mid week community ministries.  Some of the smaller daughter congregations returned to the mother church and more seeker friendly services began on Sunday nights.

In the 2000’s a multi service approach developed, with currently six services, including one on Tuesday nights. By 2006 over 1,700 people were attending these services most weeks and more than 3,000 were involved in community ministries during the week.

In December 2008 the church celebrated 40 years of Murray and Marj's ministry at Spreydon, then in February 2009 Alan Jamieson became the new senior pastor. Alan had previously been on the pastoral staff at Spreydon in the 1980's