Newfrontiers History
From humble beginnings on the South coast of England, to over 800 churches worldwide, God has blessed and grown us over the past few decades. Here are just a few snippets of the story so far.
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History
In the 1950s, Terry Virgo became a Christian, and for the next few years, sought to find a place where he felt he belonged in the churches of his day. In the 1960s he experienced the baptism in the spirit, which brought a new vibrancy to his faith, and made him long and hope for something more. Over the next few years, he found himself captivated by the vision of a way of doing church that avoided the formality and religious trappings with which he had become disillusioned. In the pages of the New Testament, he found principles for building churches that were full of life and strikingly relevant.
In 1968, Terry moved to Seaford on the South Coast of England, and began to lead a small group of people who were committed to building a church based on the principles found in the New Testament. Over the next few years, many similar churches from across the region began to look to Terry for advice and guidance. This signalled the beginning of the ministry, which has now come to be known as Newfrontiers.
In 1979 Terry moved to Brighton, which would be his base for the next 32 years. As his influence continued to grow, churches from across the country began to establish relationship with him, recognising their common values and wanting to join in the work he was doing. In time, this widened out, and by the nineties Newfrontiers was beginning to have a national and international reach. Churches were being planted in the Midlands, the North, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Churches were looking in from overseas, and many were beginning to feel God lead them to plant churches outside of the United Kingdom.
A key feature of Newfrontiers’ development has been regular Bible Weeks and conferences, perhaps most notably the Stoneleigh Bible Week, which ran from 1991-2001 gathering, at its peak, around 26,000 people for worship and teaching. More recently, leaders have gathered for the annual Together on a Mission conference in Brighton, incorporating Mobilise, a gathering for students and twenties. In addition, the summer youth event, Newday, has grown from strength to strength, attracting thousands of young people from across the nation.
Today there are around 800 Newfrontiers churches worldwide, including 230 in the United Kingdom. David Stroud leads the team who oversee the churches in the UK, where we have a vision to plant 1,000 vibrant churches that make a significant difference to their communities
For a more detailed account of our history, visit the international website, or read No Well Worn Paths. For more information on Terry Virgo and his ministry, please visit www.terryvirgo.org
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