Freedom Church


Freedom Church is a global charismatic evangelical Christian church whose vision is to 'Connect Anyone Anywhere to a Life Changing relationship with Jesus'. The church is headquartered in Hereford in the United Kingdom with locations in Africa, North America, Asia and Europe. Freedom Church is a member of the Evangelical Alliance

History

Freedom Church was founded as New Life Church by Pastors Gary and Heather Snowzell in 1988. Originally situated in a small market town 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. This arrangement came to an end in December 2017. In 2015, Freedom Church started to give 10% of its income as a tithe to NewSpring Church. though this has since ceased.
Freedom Church's first planted church was in Cardiff in 2011, and it has since started locations in Africa, North America, Asia and Europe.
In 2015, Freedom Church's location in Hereford moved location to a converted cinema and nightclub.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Freedom Church in Worcester, England supported a local food bank with storage space.

Music

Freedom Church has produced 3 albums, 2 singles and an EP.
Albums
Singles and EPs
Freedom Church has a YouTube channel and its messages have been shown on the TV channels TBN UK and TBN Africa.

Freedom Heroes

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.
Freedom Heroes is a registered charity in both Uganda and the United Kingdom.

Notable people

, who was elected as the Member of Parliament for Wolverhampton South West in the 2019 general election and whose wife is also a member of the church, is a member of the church and has appeared on Songs of Praise to promote the church. His former business eTravelSafety previously shared the same registered address as Freedom Church Hereford.
Freedom Church also maintained a connection with NewSpring Church's founder Perry Noble, who continued to deliver sermons for Freedom Church since being ousted from NewSpring Church.

Controversies

In 2011, the Hereford Times publicised allegations of arranged marriages, fight clubs, and mass baptisms. 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. 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 , they are quite free to leave".
In 2012, the police were called on Freedom Church youth workers and children from Whitecross Hereford High School who were giving out sweets to advertise the Church's youthclub.
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". Freedom Church were accused on proselytising, which is technically illegal in Cambodia, and preying on the poor.

Swansea University

In 2015, it was reported that the church was banned from Swansea University campus by the university after concerns were raised about student welfare. The university said, "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". The Church had permission to use part of the campus premises, but this permission was withdrawn when it transpired that the premises were being used for unauthorised religious services. Although no members of the church were actually removed from the campus, hundreds of unapproved posters had been taken down shortly prior to Freshers' week.
A later clarification by a spokesperson for the University stated: "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."
An ex-member told Wales Online that the church targeted vulnerable young students, putting a wedge between them and their families, discouraging them from having relationships outside of the church, making it hard for them to leave, and using them as cash cows – pressuring them for £1,000 to take part in 'leadership courses' at the church's headquarters in Hereford. It was also claimed that members "never" had relationships outside of the church. The church responded by saying that it was "more transparent than just about any church", and the Evangelical Alliance 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."

Locations

Freedom Church has churches across the world, with locations in the following cities:
; Europe
;Africa
; Asia
;North America