About Us

Mission

We exist to glorify God by making and maturing disciples of Jesus Christ to minister to the world with the gospel by the Holy Spirit.

About Us

First Free is an Evangelical Free Church located in Maplewood, MN. We are unashamedly committed to teaching and understanding the Bible. We gather on Sunday morning for worship services and Sunday School. Midweek evenings hold discipleship clubs and study groups for all ages.

Our Core Values

Download Statement of Faith

  • Word-Centered: Jesus Christ reigns over His church through His Word. We are intentional in keeping the Word central to all ministry and teaching.
  • Prayer: Conversation with God is integral to all we do. We demonstrate dependence on the Spirit of God by empowering His people for His work through prayer.
  • Worship: We worship God reverently in spirit and truth. Our corporate worship is God-centered, Jesus Christ focused, and Spirit-filled.
  • Community: We connect and develop meaningful relationships with other believers by serving one another, growing as disciples, being accountable, and functioning in unity.
  • Discipleship: We develop people by bolstering spiritual maturity, entrusting them with ministry responsibilities, supporting godly relationships, and rooting them in essential areas of discipleship.
  • Stewardship: We are generous with all the Lord has provided – our time, our talents, our spiritual gifts, and our material resources.
  • Local Outreach: We initiate local outreach by meeting physical, spiritual and emotional needs of the surrounding community.
  • Global Outreach: We initiate global outreach by mobilizing our congregation to reach people of every tribe and nation.

Our Name

We are First Evangelical Free Church. What does that mean? The word evangelical comes from the New Testament word euangelion which means “good news.” We frequently find this word translated in our Bibles as “Gospel.” Broadly speaking, an evangelical is one who is committed to living and communicating the ‘Good News’ that God has sent a Savior in the person of Jesus Christ to remove men and women’s sinful alienation from God and restore relationship and communion with Him.

This means that we believe:

  • The veracity & authority of the Scriptures, without error as God originally gave them.
  • The necessity of personal faith in Jesus Christ as Savior for one’s salvation.
  • The urgency of seeking the conversion of spiritually rebellious and alienated men and women to Jesus Christ.

The word “free”, as it applies to churches, originally referred to being free from state control. When the movement of free churches began in Europe in the nineteenth century, any church that was not owned, operated and overseen by the official religion of that state was a free church. The Evangelical Free Church has roots in this movement from Scandinavian countries.