History

As a family of churches, we are constantly broadening our involvement in new towns and new cities. In this section, we highlight some of the key elements that have shaped us over the years. We hope that you find this section helpful in seeing where we have come from, but more importantly, helpful to see where we are going in the years to come.

In 1968 Terry Virgo moved to Seaford on the south coast of England, where he began leading a small group of believers. His goal was to build a new radical church life founded on the principles that he saw in the New Testament. Over the next few years Terry's sphere of influence grew as churches and small groups from the surrounding area began to look to him for advice and help in building churches characterised by a restoration of New Testament principles. This signalled the beginning of the ministry, which has grown into the work of Newfrontiers.

In 1979 Terry moved along the Sussex coast to be part of Brighton & Hove Christian Fellowship. Terry's wider church role continued to develop which saw him gather together an apostolic team that could work along side him in building 'word & spirit' churches. Initially this was a small, local gathering, but quickly spread, and today local leaders gather regularly to pray together. Further to this, the apostolic team has widened to include those from across the country, and these men oversee churches with which they have an established relationship.

At a meeting in the early nineties, there was a vision of southern England with a bow superimposed over the coastline, and an arrow pointing to the south. Gradually the string and arrow were pulled back across the heart of the nation until the bow was fully stretched and the arrow was ready to be shot out. This was seen as a picture of our need to strengthen our base before reaching the nations by planting more churches in our own country. As a result of this word, Terry and his apostolic team began to plant churches through the nation, moving up the UK to the Midlands followed by Northern England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

David Stroud and his team now oversee our churches in the UK, and this team gathers regularly in order to serve each of the churches and to strategise future church plants. As we plant more and more churches, there is a need for those with emerging apostolic gifting to become further involved in establishing and maintaining relationships with existing churches, and forming new relationships with those who join us. As a result, the wider team is constantly evolving to meet needs as they arise.

Over the years, Newfrontiers has run Bible weeks, perhaps most famously the Stoneleigh Bible weeks during the nineties. Today we run several events in place of these. Newday is an annual camp for young people to gather together for worship and teaching, and to spend their afternoons doing social action and evangelism in local towns. We have also recently introduced regional Bible weekends, as churches have realised the benefits of gathering together for an extended period. We run an annual conference in Brighton called Together on a Mission. Students and twenties also gather as part of this, meeting at Mobilise in the mornings, and joining the other leaders for the rest of the times.  Our leaders and pastoral staff also gather for two days of Prayer and Fasting three times a year.

Today, there are approaching 500 Newfrontiers churches worldwide. We have around 200 churches in the UK and many church plants working to establish new vibrant and dynamic communities that are salt and light to the surrounding areas. We are seeking to play our part in seeing the kingdom of God advance, by carrying the vision to plant 1000 churches in the UK and sending church planting teams to the nations. To read more, visit the Who We Are section of the site.