LIFE Church UK

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This article is about the UK based Church organisation LIFE Church. For the American Evangelical organisation, see Life.Church.

LIFE Church
LIFE Church transparent logo.png
LocationBradford, West Yorkshire
CountryUnited Kingdom
Weekly attendance3,000
Websitelifechurchhome.com
History
Former name(s)Abundant Life Church
Founded1976 (1976)
Clergy
Pastor(s)Steve and Charlotte Gambill

LIFE Church UK, formerly the Abundant Life Church, is a Christian megachurch established and based in Bradford, England. The church has additional facilities in Belfast, Leeds and Warsaw and describes itself as "one church, four locations". It also regularly streams Sunday services online. In 2003 it had an attendance of over 2,000 people; by 2006, the figure had climbed to 2,800.[1]

History[]

LIFE Church has its roots in the Charismatic Restoration movement of Arthur Wallis. It was founded in 1976 by Bryn Jones, one of the early Restoration/British New Church leaders, by an amalgamation of three small Bradford churches: a charismatic Brethren Assembly based at the Bolton Woods Gospel Hall; an independent charismatic church made up mostly of former Baptists who had been unable to continue in their church because of their charismatic beliefs; and the New Covenant Church, a fellowship originally under the apostolic leadership of G. W. North.[2]

In its early days it met in the Anglican Church House and so was known locally as Church House.[3] Later known as Abundant Life Church for a number of years, in 2012 the name was shortened to LIFE Church, reflecting a move into a season of new leadership and direction.

Since 2000, LIFE Church has become more widely known through its regular radio and television broadcasts. Programmes are broadcast on God TV, United Christian Broadcasters, Australian Christian Channel and several other stations around the world. The church also has a weekly half-hour slot on Cross Rhythms radio.[4] Many of the programmes broadcast on TV and radio are also available as podcasts and on YouTube.

The church organises annual conferences and events which are attended by Christians the UK and beyond. Their Women's Conference 'Cherish' has outgrown the Bradford campus and is now hosted at the Leeds First Direct Arena.

Controversies[]

On 1 June 2021, Life Church Bradford released an official statement via their website 'in response to recent concerns raised from a number of people via social media'. These concerns included allegations of poor working conditions from past and present staff and mistreatment of attendees due to sexual orientation. The church leadership stated that 'we have appointed a third party, Trusted HR Ltd, to lead the review and compile the report and any resulting recommendations.' [5]

Facilities[]

The church's main location is in Bradford, West Yorkshire, but it also has campuses in Leeds, Belfast and Warsaw, Poland. The Bradford campus has a coffee shop, serving coffee from local roasters North Star Coffee, and connected to the youth building is a skatepark.

College[]

Life Church College is based in Bradford, England.[6]

Leadership[]

Paul Scanlon was the senior pastor of the church until 2012, having been part of the team alongside his wife Glenda since 1980. In 1997, he led the then Abundant Life Church during a period of transition that later became known as 'Crossing Over', during which it left Covenant Ministries. In 2012, Paul and Glenda’s eldest daughter and son in law; husband and wife, Steve and Charlotte Gambill were appointed as lead pastors of the church.

In 2021, it was announced that Charlotte Gambill would step down from paid employment for church but would remain as the Lead Pastor alongside her husband, Steve.

As of 2021, David and Abigail Niblock are the Leeds campus Pastors, Maciek and Iga Liziniewicz are the Warsaw campus Pastors, Jock and Shirley James are the Bradford campus Pastors and Liam and Natalie Gordon the Belfast campus Pastors.

Music[]

The church has produced a number of albums and singles, mainly recorded live. They also publish music from church services and conferences online.[7] The early recordings were distributed by Kingsway Communications and later albums by Integrity Music. Dance Again, a live album released in May 2014 entered UK Albums Chart in the top 40.[8]

Discography[]

Title Band Release Year
Higher Abundant Life Ministries 2000
Divine Exchange Abundant Life Ministries 2002
God is Here Abundant Life Ministries 2003
How Loved Abundant Life Ministries 2004
Let the World See Jesus Abundant Life Church 2005
RPM: Live RPM 2005
I Surrender All RPM 2005
Give My All RPM 2007
Send Me Abundant Life Church 2007
Sound of Praise EP RPM 2010
Name Above All Names ALM:UK 2010
I Am Future I Am Future 2012
Dance Again LIFE Worship 2014
Love Let Loose I Am Future 2015
Wide Open Space LIFE Worship 2016
Speak to the Storm LIFE Worship 2018
Love is Life I Am Future 2018
Your Name LIFE Worship 2020
Your Name - Reimagined, Vol. 1 LIFE Worship 2020
Seek First: Songs for Devotion LIFE Worship 2021
Your Name - Reimagined, Vol. 2 LIFE Worship 2021
With Us (Emmanuel) LIFE Worship 2021

References[]

  1. ^ Peter Brierley, Ed. UK Christian Handbook, Religious Trends 7 (Swindon: Christian Research, 2008) 9.10.2
  2. ^ William K Kay, Apostolic Networks in Britain (Milton Keynes, Paternoster, 2007) 48–49
  3. ^ Andrew Walker Restoring the Kingdom: the Radical Christianity of the House Church Movement 4th Ed (Guildford: Eagle, 1998) 112
  4. ^ "Podcasts". Cross Rhythms. Retrieved 25 July 2008.
  5. ^ "Statement in response to recent social media posts".
  6. ^ "LIFE Church Leadership College | LIFE Church, UK". LIFE Church, Home. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  7. ^ "LIFE Worship". YouTube Channel. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  8. ^ Whitehouse, Paul (June 2014). "Breakthrough for a Christian song as amateur recording shoots to No 38". The Telegraph and Argus.

Coordinates: 53°47′59″N 1°44′44″W / 53.79972°N 1.74556°W / 53.79972; -1.74556

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