Freedom Christian Fellowship

Freedom Christian Fellowship was founded at the end of 2008 as the result of a long process of prayer and preparation among the core team members.   Each of us was looking for a door to walk through into another season of serving God.   Although we were each living in different parts of the country, after prayer and investigation, we chose Cincinnati.  We were looking for a place where there was:

• A clear need for more laborers in the harvest field
• Openness to the gospel
• Financial and logistically favorable conditions

Cincinnati has all of these.   We have found the people generally eager and open to hearing the Gospel many in vast “urban spiritual deserts” where there are few churches.  The number of evangelical ministries working in Cincinnati itself is far too few to meet the social and spiritual needs present in the city.   The name “Freedom” describes both our identity as well as our mission, but we have come to realize since living here, it also describes a calling on our city.

Cincinnati, City of Freedom

Cincinnati was first settled by members of the Society of the Cincinnati, who after the American Revolution — like the ancient Cincinnatus — chose to defend the Republic rather than support a military dictatorship, as usually follows a revolution.   These original patriots raised the banner of Freedom, but they refused to abuse for themselves the immense power that resulted.   Our desire is to raise the same kind of banner in God’s church.

It was in this spirit, that John Quincy Adams, in his final speech, given on the Mt. renamed in his honor declared that our society had the unique distinction of being “members of a community, by the fundamental principles of which, every soul belonging to it is born to the inheritance of freedom.”   Thus Adams’ final speech, given here in Cincinnati, stands as a reminder of the significance of our inheritance of freedom and our call to walk in it.

Lyman Beecher, one of the great preachers of the 19th century, and father of Harriet Beecher Stowe the great abolitionist, and “author of freedom,” was based here for a good part of his ministry.

This calling was fulfilled as Cincinnati was even then becoming a  hub of the underground railroad, and now home to the National Freedom Center, a powerful testament to liberation.   Riverman William Casey was  is remembered to have told slaves that “Tell them if they can only get to Cincinnati, they can get liberty”  We are excited about both picking up the banner of racial freedom again, as well as being a beacon of Spiritual Freedom.   We want people seeking freedom to know that “If they can only get to Cincinnati….”

Cincinnati, Revival History

Cincinnati also has a rich spiritual history which goes back to its earliest days. The first noted revival occurred in 1828 – a time when someone could be fined $50 for selling a pack of cards in the morally conservative city. The great Methodist Cincinnati Camp Meeting was held north of the city in what is now known as “Epworth Heights.”

Cincinnati was an important center of activity during the great revival of 1857 as well, especially under the preaching of Hannah Reeves.   Later, powerful meetings were held in 1870 by E.P. Hammond where 2500 were converted, in 1882 by Rev. Thomas Harrison the “boy preacher.”

In 1885 the famous evangelist Sam Jones held a 5 week crusade, and at the last meeting, held in the Music Hall, some 50,000 people tried to attend, with only 10, 000 or so able to jam into the building. Jones was recorded as saying “I thank God that the Gospel of Jesus Christ can outdraw anything in Cincinnati.”

In addition, Cincinnati was the home of G.C. Bevington, a holiness evangelist trained here at God’s Bible School.  Bevington published a powerful book of his experiences called “Remarkable Miracles.”   We consider this book unfinished.