Our History

1953: JC (Jake) Norrs and approximately 15 other believers rented space in a skating rink on Atlanta Highway in Gainsville, Ga and remained there for approximately 2 years.

1955: Membership grew to about 35 and a new church was built by mostly volunteers on Keith Circle in Gainesville and remained there for about 15 years.

1955-1970: Several pastors served during this time: Louis Bragg, Walter Smith, and Ben Tapp. Blanche Lancaster served as interim until Roy Wellborn was chosen as pastor.

1975: On Mother’s Day, the first service was held in a new facility on Brown’s Bridge Road. The church grew to a membership of about 250 and remained there for about 20 years.

1989: Jentezen Franklin was selected as senior pastor to succeed Pastor Wellborn.

1992: The church moved to a new location on McEver Road where the congregation grew from 300 to over 4,000.

2004: The church moved into their new and current location and began running a congregation of over 10,000 weekly.

2007: Free Chapel OC established in Irvine, CA and has a congregation of over 3,500

2011: The Georgia campus runs over 12,000 weekly and the California campus over 3,000 weekly. There are currently plans in place to break ground in 2011 for an expansion on the Georgia campus that will add administration buildings, larger youth and children’s facilities and over 2,000 more seats to the main sanctuary.