THIS IS OUR STORY
Over 100 years
in Burnley
“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures”
1 Corinthians 15:3-4
THE TIN HUT
A group of pentecostal believers first met together in 1911 and were formally recognised as The Pentecostal Church towards the end of 1921.
In 1949 the church purchased its first building, a rather modest ‘tin hut’, after 38 years of meeting in hired halls.
QUEENSGATE
They continued to meet in this facility, on Thursby Road in Burnley, for 21 years until the growing congregation purchased the former Colne Road Methodist Church.
On Saturday 22nd August 1970 the Colne Road building was opened as Queensgate Pentecostal Church and met continually for 35 years at this location.
NEW LOCATION, NEW NAME
In 2005 the church moved premises to its current site in South West Burnley which was formerly home to the ‘Gannow Baths’ swimming pool. The move required a change of name and ‘Life Church’ was adopted as the new identity, reflecting the transition the church was making not only geographically but also in style and emphasis.
On Sunday 17th April 2005 over 300 joined in worship at the first gathering in the refurbished building.
From the new location at Junction 10 of the M65, Life Church grew to be a regional church for East Lancashire and embarked on a project to create a new, purpose built facility on the Gannow site.
NEW HOME
Our new purpose-built church building was officially opened on Sunday 30th November 2014 with over 400 people in attendance. You can learn more about that story in the video below.
In the years since, it has provided us with a strong base from which to serve and reach East Lancashire and beyond and a venue to serve the community through Impact Conferencing.
THE JOURNEY
Having been the Senior Leader for 23 years and having led the church through significant changes, including a change in name, location, style, emphasis and two new buildings, Jeff Brunton passed the leadership of the church to Pete and Bryony Baker in January 2023. Jeff continues to faithfully serve the wider Church by providing leadership and ministry coaching to many church leaders across the UK and beyond.
‘We are convinced the Church has a great future in this Nation and want to continue to play our part in what God is doing as we pass on the legacy of faith we have received.’ - Jeff and Trish Brunton.