It is not known who brought the Christian faith to Britain but the first British martyr was St Alban in 209. Just a century later, Christianity was not only tolerated throughout the Roman Empire, but had become the official state religion, so Britain can be described as a Christian country from about 312 until the Romans withdrew around 400.

Pagan Angles, Saxons and Jutes then invaded the part of Britain now called England. We are not sure to what extent Christianity survived. At the end of the sixth century two Christian missions set out to convert the invaders: one, led by St Augustine, worked north from Canterbury; the other, led by St Aidan, worked south from Northumberland. England was probably completely converted by 800.

Braughing, with Hitchin and Welwyn, was one of the original Minster churches of East Hertfordshire. Teams of priests lived communally in these centres, going out to preach the Gospel in the surrounding villages. The parish system, with a church in each village, developed later. It is not known if the Minster stood on the same site as the present church. According to a Charter dated about 825, Braughing church was at that time dedicated to St Andrew. A new church in Braughing was consecrated in 1220, and parts of our present building date from that time, with other sections from the fifteenth century.

Since the reformation in the sixteenth century, the Christian Church in England has divided into different denominations. The Congregational Church was first established in this village in 1691, only two years after Free Church worship became legal. The Roman Catholic parish of Puckeridge and Old Hall Green, which includes Braughing, was the very first parish in the country to be established after Roman Catholic worship was permitted. This area must, therefore, have been in the vanguard of religious toleration. Methodists worshipped for a number of years in a wooden barn given to them by Standon Methodists. When the present church was built in 1893, they sold the barn to their neighbour, January Newman, for £5.

One of the great developments of the twentieth century has been the growth of understanding between the different denominations, with a growing commitment to work together whenever and wherever possible. In Braughing we have built close links during the past 30 years. United services, planned by an ecumenical group, are held monthly in one of the three churches. We also meet through a branch of the Bible Society which covers the Braughing, Puckeridge and Standon area. The Women's World Day of Prayer is another occasion on which Christians come together, and there are united Lent courses.