Freedom Church | |
---|---|
Country | Worldwide |
Denomination | Evangelical [1] Charismatic [1] |
Website | www |
History | |
Former name(s) | New Life Church |
Founded | May 1988 |
Founder(s) | Gary Snowzell, Heather Snowzell |
Freedom Church is a global non-denominational evangelical Christian [2] church whose vision is to "Connect Anyone Anywhere to a Life Changing relationship with Jesus". [2] [3] [4] The church is headquartered in Hereford in the United Kingdom with locations in Africa, North America, Asia and Europe. [5] Freedom Church is a member of the Evangelical Alliance. [6] [7]
Freedom Church was founded as New Life Church by Pastors Gary and Heather Snowzell in 1988. [2] Originally situated in Leominster in Herefordshire, in around 2005 it moved to Hereford and was renamed Freedom Church.
In 2011, Freedom Church partnered with the Southern Baptist megachurch NewSpring Church in South Carolina. The purpose of the partnership was to help Freedom Church plant churches all over the world. [8] [9] This arrangement came to an end in December 2017. [10] In 2015, Freedom Church started to give 10% of its income as a tithe to NewSpring Church, [11] though this has since ceased [12] [ failed verification ].
Freedom Church's first planted church was in Cardiff in 2011, [13] and it has since started locations in Africa, North America, Asia and Europe. [5]
In 2015, Freedom Church's location in Hereford moved location to a converted cinema and nightclub. [14] [15]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Freedom Church in Worcester, England supported a local food bank with storage space. [16] [17]
Freedom Church has produced 3 albums, 2 singles and an EP. [18] [2] [19]
Albums
Singles and EPs
Freedom Church has a YouTube channel and its messages have been shown on the TV channels TBN UK [20] [21] and TBN Africa. [22]
Freedom Church in Kampala, Uganda runs an organisation called 'Freedom Heroes' which takes homeless boys aged 12–21 off the streets of Kampala, Uganda and supports them with housing, a "Street School", and "Street Church" with the stated aim of reuniting them with their families. Sponsors from the United States can visit their beneficiaries on a missions trip with NewSpring Church. [23]
Freedom Heroes is a registered charity in both Uganda and the United Kingdom.
Stuart Anderson, who sat on Herefordshire Council as councillor for Kings Acre ward and was later elected as the Member of Parliament for Wolverhampton South West in the 2019 general election, is a member of the church along with his wife, and has appeared on Songs of Praise to promote the church. [24] His former business eTravelSafety previously shared the same registered address as Freedom Church Hereford. [25] [26]
Freedom Church has also maintained a connection with NewSpring Church's founder Perry Noble, who continued to deliver sermons for Freedom Church after being ousted from NewSpring Church. [27]
In 2011, the Hereford Times publicised allegations of arranged marriages, fight clubs, and mass baptisms. [28] They also alleged that the church encouraged its young members to turn to church leaders for relationship advice rather than friends or family, and that the church and its youth group, 2XL, had links to Herefordshire Council. 2XL reportedly received council funding to deliver certain youth services in local schools. [29] Freedom Church strenuously denied the claims, saying "We have never encouraged 14-year-old girls to 'consider marrying older men'", "Nor have we ever implied that if a girl were to be baptised 'it will lead to a relationship with someone in the church'", and "We do not brainwash people [...] if Freedom Church is not the place for [new people], they are quite free to leave". [30]
In 2012, the police were called on Freedom Church volunteers, who were giving out sweets with attached leaflets to children outside the gates of Whitecross Hereford High School in order to promote the Church's youth club. [31] [32]
In 2013, a Freedom Church staff member at the newly-opened Siem Reap church attracted criticism after posting that Cambodia "...is a spiritually dead place but there is an increasing anticipation amongst the team and a sense that this city is ours. Despite all the false worship, rampant sex trafficking and the go-to party destination in Southeast Asia, we know that Jesus has given us this city". [33] Freedom Church were accused of evangelising, which is technically illegal in Cambodia (although rarely enforced in practice), and preying on the poor.
In 2014, the Swansea University student newspaper reported that the church was banned from campus by the university after concerns were raised about student welfare. [34] The article quoted Kevin Childs, Director of Student Services, saying: "Concerns have been raised by various organisations and individuals in Wales and elsewhere about the operational methods used by the Freedom Church to recruit members by targeting vulnerable members of society and their cultic style of operation". [35] Freedom Church responded saying it was "baffled by the Swansea University ban, claiming the institution had 'never spoken to us about anything.'" [35]
The University later retracted saying: "We have not officially banned this organisation from holding services and events on campus. Permission is not granted to any faith group unless they are a society registered with the student’s union. The Freedom Church is not registered with the student’s union. This is what we meant by the term affiliated." [36] A University Spokesperson further clarified: "Only affiliated faith organisations are permitted to hold services on the campus. Members of the Freedom Church were not removed from campus but the 250 posters which appeared just before the Freshers arrived were taken down. Only approved posters are permitted on campus." [7]
An ex-member told Wales Online that they joined the church at a vulnerable time of their life but felt the church 'drove a wedge in families'. When they were asked to attend a £1,000 year-long course they declined and described it as a 'red flag'. It was also claimed that members "never" had relationships outside of the church. The church responded by saying that they were “great believers in the importance and strength of the family even when families sometimes have a different perspective” and was "more transparent than just about any church". [35]
The Evangelical Alliance strongly denied that the Freedom Church is a cult, saying that it has worked alongside the organisation for over 20 years. The national director for Evangelical Alliance Wales Reverend Elfed Godding said, "We are fully supportive of what they do. They're an orthodox Christian church; they have a good track record of social engagement, of caring for needy people. I'm not quite sure what the issue of complaint was about." [7]
Freedom Church has churches across the world, with locations in the following cities: [5]
Worcestershire is a ceremonial county in the West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands county to the north, Warwickshire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south, and Herefordshire to the west. The city of Worcester is the largest settlement and the county town.
Hereford is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is situated on the banks of the River Wye and lies 16 miles (26 km) east of the border with Wales, 23 miles (37 km) north-west of Gloucester and 24 miles (39 km) south-west of Worcester. With a population of 53,112 in 2021, it is the largest settlement in Herefordshire.
Phnom Penh is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, industrial, and cultural centre. Before Phnom Penh became capital city, Oudong was the capital of the country.
Hereford and Worcester was an English non-metropolitan county created on 1 April 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 from the areas of the former administrative county of Herefordshire, most of Worcestershire and the county borough of Worcester. An aim of the Act was to increase efficiency of local government: the two counties are among England's smaller and less populous counties, particularly after the same Act transferred some of Worcestershire's most urbanised areas to the West Midlands.
Ledbury is a market town and civil parish in the county of Herefordshire, England, lying east of Hereford, and west of the Malvern Hills.
Herefordshire is a ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire and Powys to the west. The city of Hereford is the largest settlement and the county town.
Sir William David Wiggin is a former British Conservative Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Herefordshire, previously Leominster, from 2001 to 2024.
The International Churches of Christ (ICOC) is a body of decentralized, co-operating, religiously conservative and racially integrated Christian congregations. Originating from the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement, the ICOC emerged from the discipling movement within the Churches of Christ in the 1970s. Kip McKean, a key figure until 2003, expanded the church from Gainesville to Boston and it quickly became one of the fastest growing Christian movements with a heavy focus on US college campuses. Under his leadership, the ICOC experienced rapid growth but also faced criticism. In March 2024, the ICOC numbered their members at 112,000.
BBC Hereford & Worcester is the BBC's local radio station serving the counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire, which were one county from 1974 to 1998.
Norodom Sihamoni is King of Cambodia. He became King on 14 October 2004, a week after the abdication of his father, Norodom Sihanouk.
The Evangelical Alliance (EA) is a UK organisation of evangelical individuals, organisations, and churches, which is itself a member of the World Evangelical Alliance. Founded in 1846, the Evangelical Alliance aims to promote evangelical Christian beliefs and advocate for evangelical Christians in politics and society. The Evangelical Alliance is based in London, with offices in Cardiff, Glasgow, Belfast and Stockport.
The Apostolic Vicariate of Phnom Penh is a territorial subdivision of the Catholic Church in Cambodia. It is immediately subject to the Holy See and it is presided over by Bishop Olivier Schmitthaeusler M.E.P. since 10 October 2010.
Leominster railway station lies on the Welsh Marches Line, serving the town of Leominster in Herefordshire, England. It is situated 11+1⁄4 miles (18.1 km) north of Hereford. The station has two operational platforms, for northbound services via Ludlow and southbound via Hereford; in the past, it had three more for discontinued services to Worcester and Kington.
Great Commission Churches (GCC) is a fellowship of independent evangelical Christian churches. The Great Commission church movement began in the United States in 1970. Other associated organizations include Great Commission Ministries (GCM), Great Commission Latin America (GCLA), and Great Commission Europe (GCE). The movement has grown in size and scope through its focus on church planting in the United States and abroad. GCC is a member of the National Association of Evangelicals, and one or more organizations within the movement has continuously been a part of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability since 1992.
The Catholic Church in Cambodia is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. Throughout the Church's history in Cambodia, Catholics made up a small percentage of the country's population, and a majority of adherents have been ethnically Vietnamese; in 2005, around two-thirds of the total number of Catholics in Cambodia were Vietnamese.
The Phnom Penh Post is a daily English-language newspaper published in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Founded in 1992 by publisher Michael Hayes and Kathleen O'Keefe, it is Cambodia's oldest English-language newspaper and prior to the transferring of ownership, was considered to be one of Cambodia's newspaper of record. The paper was initially published fortnightly as a full-color tabloid; in 2008 it increased frequency to daily publication and redesigned the format as a Berliner. The Phnom Penh Post is also available in Khmer. It previously published a weekend magazine, 7Days, in its Friday edition. Since July 2014, it has published a weekly edition on Saturdays called Post Weekend, which was folded into the paper as a Friday supplement in 2017 and was discontinued in 2018.
Worcestershire County Council is the county council for the non-metropolitan county of Worcestershire in England. Its headquarters are at County Hall in Worcester, the county town. The council consists of 57 councillors and is currently controlled by the Conservative Party.
Mean Chey is an administrative district (khan) located in the south-eastern part of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. As of 2019, due to boundary changes, its population decreased from 2008 but is the second most populous district of Phnom Penh.
Anti-government protests took place in Cambodia from July 2013 to July 2014. Popular demonstrations in Phnom Penh took place against the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, triggered by widespread allegations of electoral fraud during the 2013 general election. Demands to raise the minimum wage to $160 a month and resentment at Vietnamese influence in Cambodia have also contributed to the protests. The main opposition party refused to participate in parliament after the elections, and major demonstrations took place throughout December 2013. A government crackdown in January 2014 led to the deaths of 4 people and the clearing of the main protest camp.
Stuart Paul Anderson is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the member of parliament (MP) for South Shropshire since 2024. He was previously the MP for Wolverhampton South West from 2019 until 2024. He was also Vice-Chamberlain of the Household from November 2023 until July 2024. He has been shadow minister of state for defence since July 2024.
People would typically consider Freedom to be a charismatic, evangelical church, if these sorts of groupings are helpful to you.
Thank you SO MUCH for the way you have given SO generously this year. Because of the way you gave[...]We were able to partner with Freedom Church in the UK...assisting them in planting churches all over the world! And...within three years we will have assisted them with planting at least one church on every continent in the WORLD (with the exception of Antarctica!) YEP...because of YOUR generosity we are literally to do more to fulfill The Great Commission!
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: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)Freedom Church Hereford CIO has been receiving financial support for a number of years from NewSpring Church (South Carolina, USA). As anticipated, and by mutual agreement, this support came to an end in December 2017
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: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)As I was working on my messages this morning for Freedom Church in the U.K. this weekend I had an overwhelming sense of fear that I simply was not going to be able to clearly communicate what I feel needs to be communicated – and that someone else would be much better suited for the task.
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