Like his predecessors the church’s third pastor put in a long innings from 1928 until 1953. Like the present pastor, Rev Ernest Kennard Alexander was originally from the Newport area of Monmouthshire/Gwent in South Wales. Evidently his 'Nuwpaught' accent stayed with him all his life. Mr Alexander had worked with his father as a dock contractor, but in 1911 he felt called to the mission field and began to study at Harley College. At the outbreak of war the college closed and Mr Alexander went to Scotland to do welfare work. He opened a YMCA at Methil in Fife and worked on Inchkeith, an island from which the army guarded the Forth Bridge.
In 1915 he sailed for the Belgian Congo to help in the work of the RBMU (Regions Beyond Missionary Union). In 1919 he was married to a Miss F Clare also from Newport and a trained nurse. Sadly the conditions were not favourable to the family’s health and following the death of their baby and the sickness of their young son they were forced to return in 1925. After working for two-years in Highams Park Baptist Church, North East London, the Alexanders came to Childs Hill. Here they remained. The Congo was not forgotten, however, and their interest in overseas needs was communicated to the church and an enthusiasm for missionary work was kindled that has continued down the years.
