YMCA BCG Commemorates Local Black Leader: Rose Lyseight

3 August 2020

In proud memory of the life of Rose Lyseight.

In 1953, amidst the backdrop of the recent arrival of Commonwealth citizens from the West Indies from 1948 in and effort to rebuild the United Kingdom following the catastrophic impact of the Second World War, a small group of Pentecostal Christians from the Caribbean held their first official church service at a YMCA in the Black Country, which was then based on Stafford Street, Wolverhampton.

The leader of this group was Dr Oliver Augustus Lyseight along with his equally remarkable wife Rose. This small gathering went on to become one of the first and largest black led church organisations in the UK – The New Testament church of God. Birthed with a desire to provide a space where Pentecostal worshipers from the Caribbean could worship God in a way that was authentic to their Christian identity.

We are proud to say that YMCA provided the space which birthed this inspirational Christian movement which now covers the breadth of the UK.

The NTCG now has over 110 churches across the UK with over 30,000 congregants.

We are honoured to have played a small part in the history of this church.

On Sunday the 25th of July 2020, Rose Lyseight aged 92, sadly passed away. YMCA BCG extend its condolences to her family, friends and church family.

Rose and the late Dr Lyseight’s legacy inspire us to work together to create a diverse, just society, and to hold fast to our values of extending God’s kingdom, and provide services that enable all people to belong, contribute and thrive in mind body and spirit.

Mrs Rose Lyseight, may you rest in peace and may your legacy continue to speak to future generations.