Lane Park Church was founded as Christian Fellowship Upper Hutt by Hudson and Joan Salisbury in September 1977. It started out of an experience of powerfully encountering God and fuelled by their heart to see the life and freedom of Christ come to many others. Hudson and Joan began by meeting on Sunday afternoons in their own home with 15 people at the first meeting.

From the very small beginnings to 50 people arriving regularly, it wasn’t long until larger venues were needed and we found ourselves meeting in school halls.

Having established the church, Hudson quickly established a team of elders whose foundations were drawn out of _{Philippians 2:3-4}, _{Hebrews 10:24-25} and a strong personal commitment to relationship with each other.

Paul Jackson would take on the responsibility of leading the team of elders and serving the church pastorally. Paul carried this role for 25 years (1984-2007). We are so grateful both to Hudson and Joan for their initial vision and to Paul and Raewyn for their service and sacrifice through the years. We also recognise and appreciate all the elders and leaders who have served the community and helped develop our understanding of who we are in Him and how to express that in this city.

We very much appreciate those that have served in an external accountability function, from Peter and Linda Lynne, Barney and Janette Coombs and Dennis Peacocke and KMI (Kingdom Ministries International). Dennis helped bring a significant theological shift within the church (see Core Beliefs – Kingdom) and brought the Strategic Life Training school. Bruce Billington acted as our internal church consultant here at Lane Park Church.

In the early 90’s we purchased our first building in Queen St. We had outgrown Queen St by the late 90’s and were able to purchase our current ‘Lane Park’ location. We converted the main factory floor into a large auditorium, developing some other spaces for smaller meeting rooms, and established a Business Centre.

Both Lane Park Church and its property are filled with so much potential and it is our desire to see this place fully used to be an expression of the Kingdom of God where we partner and support both church and community initiatives that brings life to people. While this has occurred to some degree, we are so excited for the future and look forward to continued development and growth of both church and property as we move forward.

In late 2013 the Eldership Team approached Jesse and Angie Northway with the possibility of relocating from the United States to come and partner with the Eldership Team to continue moving the church forward. Jesse had been a part of the congregation in years past and they relocated to NZ to join the leadership team in May of 2014. Jesse was appointed into the role of Pastor at the start of 2017.

Over this time a number of initiatives have been implemented into the core of Lane Park Church, including revisiting vision, core beliefs and core values. We have instituted new ways of calling the church together for home groups, in our ‘Home Group All In’ campaign and have embraced programs like ‘Cleansing Streams’ to see people find freedom in Jesus.

Jesse and Angie relocated back to the States in early 2019.

Current Pastors Dean and Gina arrived from Lifechurch in Palmerston North, where they were on staff, to take the role of Lead Pastors in January 2019.

In mid-2019 Lane Park Church joined the New Life Churches of New Zealand, after forty years as an independent Pentecostal church. The move has had very positive results, as we have gained the benefits of being part of a combined movement, being able to contribute to and in particular receive from a wide range of wisdom and resources from the wonderful people of God.