LIFE Worship
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.
In its early days it met in the Anglican Church House and so was known locally as Church House. 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. 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.
Facilities
The church's main location is in Bradford, West Yorkshire. 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
Life10 is based in Bradford, England.
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, David and Abigail Niblock were the Leeds campus Pastors, Maciek and Iga Liziniewicz were the Warsaw campus Pastors, Jock and Shirley James were the Bradford campus Pastors and Liam and Natalie Gordon were the Belfast campus Pastors.
In 2022, it was announced that the Leeds campus would be released to become an independent church, and they have since become “North^Church”. It was also announced in May 2022 that Liam and Natalie Gordon would be stepping down as campus pastors, and the Belfast campus would be closing. In 2023 LIFE Church Warsaw was also released to be an independent church, now known as 'Warsaw LIFE'.
As of April 2022, Pastors Steve & Charlotte Gambill passed on leadership of LIFE Church Bradford to Jonathan 'Jock' and Shirley James.
Music
The church has produced a number of albums and singles, mainly recorded live. They also publish music from church services and conferences online. 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.
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
- ^ William K Kay, Apostolic Networks in Britain (Milton Keynes, Paternoster, 2007) 48–49
- ^ Andrew Walker Restoring the Kingdom: the Radical Christianity of the House Church Movement 4th Ed (Guildford: Eagle, 1998) 112
- ^ "Podcasts". Cross Rhythms. Retrieved 25 July 2008.
- ^ "LIFE Church Leadership College | LIFE Church, UK". LIFE Church, Home. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
- ^ "LIFE Worship". YouTube Channel. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
- ^ Whitehouse, Paul (June 2014). "Breakthrough for a Christian song as amateur recording shoots to No 38". The Telegraph and Argus.