Whitefriars began life as a children's holiday club in 1991 and has since grown to be a friendly & informal church. Some of the key points in its history are shown below.

Early 1990: The Church of England in Rushden looked at possibility of planting a church. Several Church Council members visited a church plant in Hertfordshire in August 1990.

1991: Paper by Rev Alan Smith (then the Rector of Rushden) on strategy for church growth in Rushden was discussed by the Church Council. Proposals included starting a Sunday school in the Whitefriars area for children whose parents do not come to church.
Almost 220 different children attended the holiday club. Parents came for the last half hour each day, and were encouraging, "The response would appear to justify the decision to concentrate on a particular area of the town this year..." This led to a weekly Sunday Club for children under the leadership of a team including Rev Rod Lee (Curate of St Mary’s Church).

1992: Sunday Club opened to adults too. About 40 people in total attended each week. The main reasons for going to Whitefriars were said to be that it was near, friendly and relatively informal.

1994: Rev Alistair Kaye and family arrived. Alistair was given special responsibility for Whitefriars, whilst involved in some aspects of St Mary's Church.

1995: Rev Alan Smith observed that Whitefriars was no longer a church plant, but was, effectively, a church in its own right.

1996: Whitefriars Church launched The Warriors, a football team for boys with no church connection which lasted for a couple of years. A Tots’ Group had been started earlier in the year.

1997: Whitefriars Monday Club (for under-11s) was launched at the old Post Office in Rushden town centre.

1998: Due to the interregnum, Whitefriars had not had a leader free to give proper attention and time to the church plant for two years. In December Rev Ian Weaver and family arrived.

1999: Ian set out at St Mary's Council a vision for the future for Whitefriars. This included its own premises, financial independence and possibly structural independence from St Mary's at some stage in the future.

2000: Whitefriars Church had developed a range of mid-week activities, including a growing youth ministry. This led to it taking the running of the existing Anglican youth groups on behalf of the parish. Steve Chadwick was appointed, initially as a Youth Minister for the whole Church of England in Rushden, and later as a full-time appointment by Whitefriars Church. Soon afterwards, Whitefriars played a key role in launching and running the fortnightly ‘Kicking & Screaming’ contemporary service (later ‘KnS’) which took place in St Peter’s Church and ran until 2005.

2003: Rev Philip Evans and family arrived, following a few months without a minister.

2005: The church had continued to develop in various ways. Sunday morning attendances were averaging about 110 people, with it being noted that there was little room in the school hall for many more people. During the week, Alpha and home groups, and youth ministry had developed further. A fortnightly Sunday evening service being launched in September. This, together with a monthly interdenominational youth service, replaced KnS. The Bridge Church & Community Office in the school grounds was opened in November.

2006: The Bishop of Peterborough conducted the first confirmation service at Whitefriars.

2008: The Parish of Rushden Whitefriars came into existence, as part of the Rushden group ministry, on the 1st January 2008. The parish comprises two separate geographical areas: one in the south of Rushden near Whitefriars Junior School, and the other in the north of Rushden, including Rushden Community College. A monthly Thursday evening café church event – Venue2 – was launched at Rushden Community College in early 2008.

2009: In June Whitefriars PCC became a registered charity. Like other other PCCs, it had previously been excepted from registration, but – as a PCC with an income over £100,000 in 2008 – it was required to register in 2009 under the provisions of the Charities Act.