HISTORY

In 1937 Thomas Price joined a spiritualist group at the age of 33. Thirty years later in 1967 while sitting in a cafe on the arterial road, he was amazed to find out that they didn't have a church in laindon. Thomas received a message from spirit to build a new church. But Thomas hopes of building the church on two plots of land he owned at laindon link were shattered when Basildon development corporation said they wanted it for development. So Thomas built the church on a site rented from the corporation. Thomas and with some voluntary help started building the church. Thomas had nothing but problems from the start, the biggest was simply the lack of real funds but he struggled on with the help of donations. A lack of funds meant that jobs took weeks when it should had taken days. The concrete pillars that form the main part of the building were put up with moulds. When Thomas inquired about hiring a crane to do the job he found it would cost thirty pounds a day and the funds just couldn’t meet it so instead he made a steel framework and poured the concrete in from the top. A man called Alfred Edward age 52 helped Thomas and another man called Bill Cox who was blind helped with operating the cement mixer and tipping when he was told to. Everything in the church from thick wooden beams to the granite on the walls were put in by Thomas with a little help on the heavy work. Eight years later in APRIL 1973 Tomas Peace Price age seventy one finally finished building his church in laindon and called it the temple of light. Thomas dreams had finally come real to him.

HOMAS IN THE LOCAL EVENING ECHO PAPER AS THOMAS HAD FINISHED BUILDING HIS CHURCH.

TOP LEFT THOMAS ADMIRING HIS WORK,TOP RIGHT THOMAS FINISHED BUILDING HIS CHURCH AND BOTTOM RIGHT INSIDE VIEW OF THE CHURCH