Our Story

Capstone Church was never meant to be defined by a building, a programme or a location. From the beginning, it has been about a people called by God, gathered around Jesus and sent in the power of the Holy Spirit.

What began with a God-given vision became a journey of faith; one step of obedience, one prayer and one act of trust at a time. As people responded to God's call, He began to build something far greater than a church service or a meeting place: He formed a spiritual family with a mission to make Jesus known.

Capstone's story is ultimately God's story. It is the story of His faithfulness, His provision and His transforming power at work through ordinary people who said "yes" to Him.

Not through human strength.
Not through clever strategy.
Not by might or by power.
But by His Spirit.

In the late 1990s, God spoke to Pr. Preethy:

“When you plant the church, call it Capstone Church.”

The name came from Zechariah 4, where the final stone is brought into place with shouts of:

“Grace, grace to it!”

It carried something of the heart of what God was saying from the beginning: this would be His work, accomplished by His grace and completed by His Spirit.

In 2005, God brought Pastors Rakesh and Preethy to London.

Soon after arriving, the Lord spoke to Pr. Rakesh through the story of Isaac in Genesis 26:

The instruction was clear:
“Re-dig the wells of revival.”

And with it came a direction:
Go to East London, and as you minister there, the living waters will flow again.

At the time, East London was unfamiliar territory.

They arrived with nothing established, only a clear sense that God had sent them east and a word they believed He would fulfil.

So they did what they knew to do.
They prayed.
They fasted for forty days.
They began walking through the streets of East London, praying over neighbourhoods and asking God to show them what He was doing.

Prayer became evangelism.
Conversations became salvations.
And gradually, people began gathering.

One of the earliest prayer meetings was held in their home in South Woodford. They hardly knew anyone. That morning, Pr. Rakesh had prayed and asked God to bring people.

Later that day, someone passed his office. Rakesh shared the gospel with him; he gave his life to Jesus and that evening he came to the prayer meeting with a friend.

It was small.
But it had begun.

As more people began gathering, homes became too small.

In 2007, a little hall was hired opposite East Ham Station.

At that point, East Ham felt about as East London as they could possibly imagine. 😂

The hall became known as the Tent of Meeting.
It was simple, but the name mattered.

It expressed what Capstone was becoming: not merely a place to hold meetings, but a place for people learning to meet with God.

Prayer remained at the centre.
People gathered.
The gospel was preached.
Lives were touched.

The group became known as East London Mission, with a heart to pray, evangelise and help people become rooted in local churches.

But over time, it became clear that God was doing more than creating a prayer meeting or a mission.
He was building a church.

In 2009, Sunday services began at 500 High Street North, Manor Park.

And there, Capstone Church was established.

What had started as a word, then a prayer meeting, then a mission, had become a local church.

Yet the conviction remained unchanged:
God must build the house.

Prayer was never meant to be one department of church life.
It was the foundation.

Over the years, seasons of fasting and prayer became part of the rhythm of Capstone. Again and again, significant steps forward seemed to come through seeking God first.

The pattern became familiar:
Prayer. Presence. Obedience. Then breakthrough.

As the church grew, so did the sense that God was teaching us something deeper.

We were not called simply to hold services.
We were called to become a people who make room for Him.

In 2013, we began to experience a new depth of God’s presence among us.

In the years that followed, God brought ministers, spiritual fathers and mothers, and builders from different parts of the world who helped strengthen what He was forming in the house.

The following year, in February 2016, we moved into the building, marking a new chapter in the life of our church.

From 2017 into 2018, God graciously visited us in what became known as the London Awakening, a beautiful outpouring of the Holy Spirit that continued through seven months of nightly gatherings.

People came from across London, the UK, and over 25 nations to worship, pray, and encounter God's presence. It became an oasis where people could be refreshed by the Holy Spirit, rekindle their passion for Jesus, and drink deeply from His presence. Pastors, ministry leaders, and people from every walk of life gathered together as lives were transformed, hearts were renewed, and many experienced God's healing and restoring power.

More than anything, it was a reminder that when God's people make room for Him, He is faithful to meet with them.

The presence of God cannot be manufactured. It can only be welcomed, honoured, and obeyed.

The years that followed were marked by both blessing and pruning. As revival spread to other places and we continued serving through missions, ministry, and equipping leaders, we also learned that God's presence can never be sustained by yesterday's encounters.

Like many churches, we navigated the challenges of change, the disruption of COVID, and seasons of internal realignment. Yet through it all, God remained faithful, and Capstone became a place of refreshing, healing, and encouragement for many pastors, leaders, and believers.

In those years, the Lord reminded us that our identity could never be found in a move of God, but in God Himself. We did not want to be a people known for revival yet living on its memory.

So once again, we turned to prayer, fasting, and seeking His face, asking for fresh direction and a deeper reality of His presence among us.

“We went through fire and through water;
But You brought us out to rich fulfillment.” —Psalm 66:12 NKJV

In 2025, the Lord began calling us again – back to the altar.
Not first to do more.
But to come nearer.
Back to prayer.
Back to consecration.
Back to the altar.
Back to Jesus at the centre of everything.

Much of what usually occupied our attention became secondary as we entered an extended season of intentional prayer.

For around twenty months, we sought God.
Not because we believed prayer could force God to move.
But because we sensed that He was already moving, and we wanted to be ready to respond.

We began speaking often about rebuilding the altar.
About becoming a house where God is welcomed.

About creating space in our lives and in our gatherings where the presence of Jesus is not an addition, but the centre.

And gradually, an old promise began to surface again.

In 2026, we began to recognise a fresh move of the Holy Spirit among us.

Hunger for God deepened.
Prayer intensified.
Worship lingered.
People began encountering Jesus in fresh ways.
Lives were being restored.

After a season of both pruning and promise, we began to see remarkable breakthrough and answered prayer. It felt as though God had brought us through the storm into a spacious place of His goodness  

And the picture the Lord repeatedly brought before us was Ezekiel 47.

A river flowing from the house of God.
At first shallow.
Then deeper.
Then deeper still.
And everywhere the river went, there was life.

Suddenly, words spoken many years earlier began to connect.
Re-dig the wells.
Living waters will flow again.

What God had spoken at the beginning was appearing again in another season.
What felt like rain was becoming a river.

And we understood something important:
The river was never meant to stop with us.

It must flow beyond the church building.
Into our homes.
Into marriages and families.
Into workplaces and neighbourhoods.
Into East London.
And into the nations.

One of the most beautiful things God has done at Capstone is the people He has gathered.

Different nations.
Different cultures.
Different generations.
Different stories.
Yet one family around Jesus.

What Isaiah described has become part of our prayer:

In that diversity, we see something of the Kingdom of God.
Not sameness.
But unity in Christ.

When we look back now, we can see a thread running through it all.
God spoke.
We prayed.
People gathered.
Capstone was born.
God gave us a home.
His presence deepened.
He called us back to the altar.
And now, the river is flowing.

None of it began with a grand plan.

It began with listening.
Then obedience.
Then another step.
And another.

We do not believe the greatest stories of God’s Church belong only to the past.
The God who opened wells before can open them again.
The God who sent revival before can move again.
The God who called people into His presence before is still calling now.
And Jesus is still building His Church.

So our prayer remains simple:

May we always be a people who recognise His voice, respond to His Spirit and make room for His presence.

And may everything He pours into this house become a river of life to the world around us.