Emmanuel

What Emmanuel does

Emmanuel Church, legally constituted as Clarendon Trust Limited, is a registered UK charity (No. 1069942) and company limited by guarantee (No. 3546759) operating since 1984. The organization runs a multi-site Christian congregation with four physical locations across Brighton, Hove (Villas), Hangleton (Oasis), and Shoreham-by-Sea, supported by 46 employees and a network of site-level leadership teams and a Board of nine trustees. Emmanuel serves five primary segments: general congregation members, university students from Sussex and Brighton, children and families, youth (school years 7-13), and vulnerable community members accessing social support.

The ministry operates a portfolio of spiritual formation and community programmes including Bible Every Day (a structured daily reading plan), the Alpha Course, weekly small groups, dedicated students ministry with free campus transport and the BLESS Society, Emmanuel Kids work, youth ministry, and the 'Care for Our City' outreach umbrella spanning four food banks, Charis Counselling, KEYS Detox, Baby Basics, and housing support. Digital channels include YouTube for live and on-demand services, Instagram accounts for general and student/young adult audiences, and a Spotify artist profile for worship content.

Emmanuel's revenue model is voluntary donations and tithes from congregation members with no fees charged for any service. Back-office operations are managed on ChurchSuite (third-party church management platform) handling donations, event registration, small group signups, volunteer rotas, and member administration; donations are augmented by gift aid, payroll giving, legacy giving, and building hire. GDPR compliance is maintained under the legal basis of Article 6(1)(f) for legitimate interests and Article 9(2)(d) for religious data, with a designated Data Protection Officer.

Name

Emmanuel

Legal name

Clarendon Trust Limited

Website

https://weareemmanuel.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Emmanuel Church (Clarendon Trust Limited) is a registered UK charity operating four multi-site Christian congregations across Brighton, Hove, Hangleton, and Shoreham since 1984, serving congregants, students, families, youth, and vulnerable community members through worship, education, and outreach funded by voluntary donations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Religious services (Christian church and community ministry)

NAICS

Religious Organizations (8131)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Local Congregations & Worship Communities (Churches, Mosques, Temples, Synagogues) (BPAGAJAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Faith-Based Social Services & Community Outreach (Food Pantries, Shelters, Counseling) (BPAGAJAG), Faith-Based Missions & Evangelism Organizations (Domestic & International) (BPAGAJAE), Campus Spiritual & Religious Life (EDALAHAI)

Keywords

• Christian church services
• Religious community programs
• Faith exploration courses
• Community outreach services
• Youth and student ministry

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Emmanuel Church is a multi-site Christian congregation operating four physical locations across Brighton, Hove, and Shoreham (UK), delivering Sunday worship services, Bible teaching, faith-exploration courses (Alpha), student and children's ministries, small groups, and community outreach programs including food banks, counseling, and housing support. The church is funded primarily through voluntary donations and tithes from its congregation and operates under the legal entity Clarendon Trust Limited, a registered charity.

Product overview

Emmanuel Church is a multi-site Christian congregation operating four locations in Brighton, Hove, and Shoreham areas. The church offers a unified portfolio of spiritual formation programs (Bible Every Day, Alpha Course, Smallgroups), student ministry, children's programs (Emmanuel Kids), community outreach (Care for Our City), and digital giving tools. Emmanuel's digital presence includes online donation processing via ChurchSuite, event registration, and a YouTube channel for digital services. The church operates under the legal entity Clarendon Trust Ltd.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sunday Services

Quantifiable outcome

• Alpha course has reached over 24 million people in 100 countries
• +1 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• St Luke's Church Brighton: Anglican church serving central Brighton with comparable community outreach and student engagement around the same university population Emmanuel targets. A direct local competitor for congregation members and volunteers in the same geography.
• Brighton Food Bank (Brighton & Hove Food Bank): Brighton-based charity operating food bank and welfare assistance programmes serving overlapping beneficiary populations to Emmanuel's Care for Our City food insecurity arm. Comparable as a regional community-service provider rather than as a place of worship.

Others

• ChurchSuite: Church management software platform that Emmanuel uses for donations, event registration, small group signups, and member administration. An enabling technology vendor rather than a peer, but the operational dependency is material.
• Alpha International: Global organisation that produces and licenses the Alpha course that Emmanuel runs. Not a competitor but a key upstream partner/supplier whose curriculum adoption, marketing tooling, and brand association materially shape Emmanuel's evangelism programme.

Direct peers

• KingsGate Community Church: Multi-site evangelical church with locations across the UK including Cambridge and Peterborough, running Alpha, Kids, Youth, and Smallgroups programmes. Closely comparable in operational model, programme mix, and stage of multi-site development to Emmanuel's four-campus structure.
• Vineyard Churches UK & Ireland: UK network of evangelical churches running Alpha, Kids, Youth, and Smallgroups programmes with comparable governance and volunteer-led operating models. Emmanuel's multi-site community-care emphasis aligns with the Vineyard movement's missional orientation.
• Jubilee Church London: Multi-site UK charismatic evangelical church running Alpha, student ministry, and community outreach programmes with a comparable target audience of young adults and families. Similar stage of multi-site development and programme portfolio to Emmanuel.
• Soul Survivor Watford: UK-based evangelical church and conference movement with strong student and young-adult ministry orientation. Comparable to Emmanuel in its emphasis on the 18-25 demographic, Alpha-style faith exploration, and event-based outreach model.

Broad incumbents

• Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB): One of the largest Anglican churches in the UK, operates multiple sites in London and originated the Alpha course that Emmanuel runs. Comparable as a multi-site UK church using Alpha, with similar digital content and church-planting ambition, but at materially larger scale and broader national footprint.
• Hillsong Church UK: International multi-site evangelical church with UK presence, operating worship-music production (Spotify/iTunes catalogues), student outreach, and digital content channels similar to Emmanuel's media footprint, though at significantly larger global scale.

Market position

Strengths6 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/weareemmanuel
• Instagraminstagram.com/weareemmanuel
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/weareemmanuel

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Emmanuel