A two-year search for a bilingual Baptist minister to lead an all-Punjabi congregation in Oxford has ended, thanks to a magazine advertisement in India.

The United Asian Baptist Church in Wytham Street, off Abingdon Road, south Oxford, has welcomed its new minister, the Rev Aroon Kumar Dass, who has emigrated from the province of Punjab.

Mr Dass has come to Oxford with his wife and three children. Indian Christians packed the church for his inaugural service.

Growing numbers of Punjabi Christians moving to Oxford have helped the church thrive since two families, consisting of just seven people, began worshipping together in a house in Wytham Street 30 years ago.

The families joined South Oxford Baptist Church next door, but decided to hold services in their own language to keep hold of their cultural identity while still practising Christianity after moving to Oxford.

South Oxford Baptist Church minister the Rev Anthony Clarke said the arrangment had encouraged greater partnership between different ethnic communities as well as allowing diverse ways to follow Christianity.

The United Asian Baptist Church now thrives with more than 100 members attending its Punjabi service -- complete with songs sung in Punjabi, Urdu, Hindi and English accompanied by traditional Indian music -- every Sunday.

The former pastor, the Rev Sistehassan Massey, 69, has waited two years to retire after having built up the church.

An advertising campaign across England failed to attract applicants because a Punjabi speaker was required, so the church advertised in India.