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About

First, we would like to thank you for desiring to know more about Freedom Church. We are humbled that God has placed us in Baltimore to join Jesus as He works in and through the lives of His people. We hope that this brief summary of who we are and what we are about answers your questions. If not feel free to drop us an email or to call us. We would love to hear from you.  

God is at work! He is still at work in the world and we can definitely see His hand here in the city of Baltimore. Freedom church is the unveiling of God’s story in the city through people from all different backgrounds and ethnicities. The one thing we all have in common is that we are now apart of God’s story because we have all met with Jesus and repented of our sin and trusted in His gospel. And, in the providence of God we have been united together to serve Jesus in and through Freedom Church.  

So how did Freedom church begin? Freedom started as God brought two men from two entirely different backgrounds to join Jesus on mission as He builds His church. The two founding pastors, Michael Crawford and Rob Steinbach, like to say that the best part about how Freedom began is that they had nothing to do with it.  

In 2007 a young married man named Rob Steinbach relocated back to North East Baltimore from Portland Oregon in response to the call of God on his life. Rob grew up around and in Baltimore and once he met Jesus he was given a calling and passion for Baltimore. Rob had moved to Portland Oregon to be mentored and poured into by the pastors and people at Red Sea. After some time at Red Sea the pastors and people there believed God was calling Rob to start a church in the city of Baltimore that was committed to making disciples. So, Red Sea sent Rob and his wife Beth and their 4 kids to Baltimore. Rob soon settled in to the North East part of Baltimore and began planting the gospel.  

Michael Crawford was in California and began wrestling with the call of God on his life to plant a church in a major U.S. city in 2008. Michael had pastored for 10 years and always desired to start a church in a major U.S. city. In September of 2008 Michael received a phone call from Pastor Steve Hartland, a long time friend, who was living in Harford County Maryland and pastoring there. Pastor Steve’s church desired to see churches started in the city and the two men talked about the possibility of Michael coming out for a visit. In November of 2008 Michael took his first visit to Baltimore. From the moment he landed he knew God was calling him to this city. Over the next few months and into 2009 God continued to confirm this.

During one of Michael’s visits he and Rob finally connected. As they listened to one another’s story they began to be convinced that God was calling them to work together to plant a church. In July 2009 Michael and his wife Dani and their 5 children moved to the same area in the city of Baltimore that Rob was in. Michael and Rob began to gather people and had Freedom’s first public meeting in August at the YMCA on 33rd street. 50 adults and 12 kids showed up to hear about the vision, mission and values for Freedom church. God was clearly moving and doing something in and through Freedom church so the next step was to locate a more permanent facility for Freedom to meet at. On September 6th 2009 Freedom began meeting at Garrett Heights Elementary School on Sunday evenings at 5pm.  

Freedom Church is a church that is committed to making disciples, equipping existing disciples and above all being disciples of Jesus! We love the city of Baltimore and we want to see this place set free to serve the true and living God. We are committed to planting churches that are serious about making disciples in this city. Our mission is simple, we want to draw people to Jesus and then see them developed in communities and then deployed to culture.