free church

American

[free church] / ˈfri ˈtʃɜrtʃ /

noun

(sometimes initial capital letters) a church free from state control.
(sometimes initial capital letters) a dissenting or nonconforming church.
(initial capital letters) Also Free Kirk (in Scotland) the church established by those who left the Church of Scotland in 1843.

Free Church British

noun

1. any Protestant Church, esp the Presbyterian, other than the Established Church
2. ( as modifier )
  
  Free-Church attitudes

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of free church

An Americanism dating back to 1825–35

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

A 1967 graduate of the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, York has been backed by a number of local churches in operating a "free church" that ministers to Berke ley hippies.

From Time Magazine Archive

We stand for a free pulpit and a free church.

From Time Magazine Archive

They were ready to assert through every portion of the king's dominions the great principle of a free church in a free state.

From Cavour by Martinengo-Cesaresco, Countess Evelyn

They resembled very nearly the party in the church of Scotland which formed the free church.

From History of Free Thought in Reference to The Christian Religion by Farrar, Adam Storey

There was neither a free church nor a free State?

From Pius IX. And His Time by Dawson, Æneas MacDonell

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023