A Brief History of Free Life Church

Our history is one of God’s grace and sovereignty. More than once since the establishment of Free Life Church (FLC), we have prayed from Isaiah 43:5-6, where God speaks of bringing people from the east, west, north and south for restoration.  In the origins of this church, we saw the Lord gather people from the four corners of the earth and give them the vision from which FLC has emerged.

In January of 2002, The Lord spoke to Ken that change was coming for him and Michelle and that by the end of that year they would hand over the church they were currently leading in South Africa. Meanwhile, the Lord had been preparing the way that would bring them to Leesburg, VA.  Four couples in Leesburg, brought together through friendship and a united heart for Christ, felt they had been joined together for church planting.              

In May of 2002, those couples began meeting together in their homes for times of prayer, worship and Bible study and established in their hearts God had called them to see a church planted in Leesburg. These couples attended a Leadership Training Time (LTT) in Los Angeles whey they were “looking in” on New Covenant Ministries International (NCMI) translocal team. It is here they connected with Ken and Michelle who then flew back to Leesburg and met with the four couples. During this time, the Lord moved powerfully and knit their hearts together.

It was on the flight from America back to South Africa, that Ken and Michelle knew they were called to America and even specifically to this group in Leesburg.  All four couples had also undoubtedly felt to ask Ken and Michelle if they would come lead them in a full-time pastoral role. In December of 2002, Ken and Michelle obeyed the call of God and handed over their church in South Africa. In January of 2003, leaving friends and family behind, they stepped out in faith, moved to Leesburg and held their first service in February 2003 as the lead couple of then Chesapeake Church International (CCI).  By this time the church had moved into the Hampton Inn hotel in Leesburg and was off the ground. A few months later, Jim Lamont, from the NCMI apostolic team came and set Ken in place as the pastor of this church.

The Lord has brought increase from our humble beginnings as a small home group, then to a hotel meeting room, and now the Lord has enlarged us and led us to our current venue in the local high school. We now have room to grow as we continue to trust the Lord for permanent facilities.

Over the past years, the Lord has been establishing His specific call on this church. God has spoken repeatedly that this Church will be a place of freedom, life and healing to our community. We have also been called ‘A House of Freedom’ in the past, and we desired the name of this Church to reflect the call that He has given us. In the latter half of 2010, the Lord began to stir the hearts of the leaders to change the name of the church as we see the Lord repeatedly do throughout the Bible with those He had called. Out of this process, we changed our name to FreeLife Church in May 2011.

Free Life Church reflects what God has called us to be and to do, having an impact by bringing freedom and life to our community, cities and the nations of the world.