Situated in Bradford, West Yorkshire, LIFE Church UK is a Christian megachurch with roots stretching back nearly five decades. Originally founded in 1976 by Bryn Jones, one of the early figures in the Restoration and British New Church movement, the church grew from the merger of three small Bradford congregations: a charismatic Brethren assembly meeting at the Bolton Woods Gospel Hall, an independent charismatic group largely made up of former Baptists, and the New Covenant Church, a fellowship previously under the apostolic leadership of G. W. North. In its earliest years, the church gathered in the Anglican Church House and was known locally simply as Church House.
From Abundant Life to LIFE Church
For many years the congregation was known as Abundant Life Church, a name that reflected its Charismatic Restoration heritage, which itself had grown from the movement associated with Arthur Wallis. In 2012, the name was shortened to LIFE Church, marking a change in leadership and direction. That same year, Steve and Charlotte Gambill – the eldest daughter and son-in-law of long-serving senior pastor Paul Scanlon – were appointed as lead pastors. Scanlon had guided the church since 1980, including a significant period in 1997 known as ‘Crossing Over’, during which the church left Covenant Ministries. In April 2022, Jonathan ‘Jock’ and Shirley James took on leadership of the Bradford campus.
Campus Life and Broadcasts
The main Bradford campus includes a coffee shop serving coffee from local roasters North Star Coffee, and a skatepark connected to the youth building. Since 2000, the church has broadened its reach through regular television and radio broadcasts on platforms including God TV, United Christian Broadcasters, and the Australian Christian Channel, as well as a weekly half-hour slot on Cross Rhythms radio. Programmes are also available as podcasts and on YouTube. The church runs annual conferences attended by Christians from across the UK and further afield, and its training college, Life10, is also based in Bradford. In recent years, formerly affiliated campuses in Leeds, Belfast, and Warsaw have each been released to operate as independent churches.