UK Shincheonji / New Heaven New Earth Church: Legal Status, Church Development and Founders
A research paper by Human Rights Without Frontiers about a religious movement founded in South Korea and now present in the UK which was frequently portrayed negatively or described as a ‘cult’ in some UK media (See Part I HERE)
A Bible study class of New Heaven and New Earth in London
By Willy Fautré and Hans Noot, director and associate director
HRWF (24.04.2026) – This study is the second in a series, written to clarify how the members of this religious community live and work.
Foreword
This paper does not take a position on Shincheonji’s theology or internal beliefs. It focuses on verifiable facts about legal status, organisational development, and member profiles in the UK, drawing on official records and interviews.
Allegations about recruitment practices and the label ‘cult’ are analysed separately in Part I of this series; here we restrict ourselves to structural and biographical aspects.
What is Shincheonji Church?
Shincheonji, whose full name is Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony, is a Christian new religious movement founded in South Korea in 1984 by Chairman LEE (Lee Man Hee, born in 1931) who still leads the organization as of March 2026. In early 2026, their membership could be estimated worldwide at over 500,000 with another 200,000 students following their Bible courses, according to their own statistics.
Legal status in the UK
In the UK, the Shincheonji Church was registered by three persons in London on 25 January 2023 under the name of “New Heaven New Earth UK Ltd”.
Rather than registering (at this stage) as a charity, the group currently uses the structure of a private company limited by guarantee. This legal framework enables them to rent community spaces, open bank accounts and conduct educational workshops in reputable venues across London and throughout the UK in general.
This registration model prioritises administrative simplicity, respect for members’ privacy and manageable transparency obligations, and local self‑reliance. As a small private company rather than a large registered charity, its legal administration is simpler. This “decentralised” approach allows the church to function as an autonomous financial unit, independent of its South Korean headquarters.
Every year, the Church complies with the administrative and financial rules of its status. See here for registration details at Companies House https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/14616910.
Start and development of the Church in the UK
Its beginnings
The Church in the UK began as a small Bible study community in the early 2010s, gradually moving from informal gatherings to more structured teaching programs and worship services. As the Church developed a more stable core of attendees, it broadened its activities beyond weekly services to include seminars that presented its interpretation of Scripture in a systematic way.
These events were framed as opportunities for people from a range of Christian religious backgrounds, or with none at all, to study the Bible in depth in a classroom‑style setting. Earlier criticism has focused on whether such events were clearly identified as linked to Shincheonji; our separate paper examines former recruitment practices and the move from ‘covered’ to ‘open’ evangelism.
According to interviewees, many newcomers are intrigued by the Church’s teachings on the New Testament parables of Jesus and the Book of Revelation. Many people find these texts difficult to understand because of their ancient imagery. Over time, this combination of regular Bible classes and Sunday worship laid the foundation for a more visible and organised national presence.
Growth
As the number of members grew, the Church also began to host larger public events such as worship services, musicals, and other related activities designed to invite more people to “come and listen to the Word.” These programs were often promoted as open events rather than as members‑only occasions, with the aim of lowering the barrier for newcomers who might be curious but cautious about formal commitment. In practice, this meant hiring conference spaces, theatres, or community halls where choirs, plays, and personal testimonies accompanied sermons and Bible lectures. For many attendees, these larger gatherings functioned as their first direct encounter with the Church and its teaching.
Expansion
As growth increased, the Church also took steps to formalise its presence in the UK within existing regulatory frameworks. An associated charity, “Parachristo”, was initially registered with the Charity Commission in 2016, and in subsequent years an additional entity using the “New Heaven New Earth” name was incorporated, as a company limited by guarantee registered in 2023 to support the Church’s activities nationally. This formal registration provided transparent structures for governance, finance, and event organisation, aligning the Church’s operations with standard expectations for religious and voluntary bodies in the UK.
Membership has increased steadily over the past decade, from a relatively modest base to approximately 1,500 members by the end of 2026, with the Church reporting that it surpassed 1,000 members in 2024. One of the internal milestones often highlighted by the Church is the visit of Chairman Lee to London in 2015, which is credited with giving a significant boost to membership and morale. Large‑scale events surrounding that visit drew participants from across the UK and from other European countries, reinforcing a sense of connection to a global movement rather than an isolated local group.
Who are the founding members & managers?
In 2026, HRWF interviewed two of the founding members of the New Heaven New Earth Church identified here by their initials: L.B. (he) and K.B. (she). These biographical sketches illustrate the broader pattern within the UK branch, where new members often come from mainstream educational and professional backgrounds and join only after a prolonged period of structured scriptural instruction.
- B. (32) was born into a traditional Anglican family in one of the neighbourhoods of London. One year after his birth, his parents went to Paraguay as missionaries with the Anglican Church. They returned back to the UK when he was 16.
L.B. has nothing but praise for his parents. “They were very open. Growing up, we had discussions about all sorts of topics, including religion, and they were always respecting the opinions of their children. We were not baptized because they thought it should be our own choice and our own decision,” he said.
Back in the UK and now fluent in Spanish and English, he began studying mechanical engineering at university in London. He came in contact with the Shincheonji Church through a roommate of his who invited him to one of his Bible studies. His teachers were South Korean and South African. L.B. was then 22 (in 2015).
He is now the managing director of the Church’s community and works in full-time volunteering service for the Church. He has been married for three years with a Swiss woman originally from a Christian Evangelical family, but now a member of the Church. She works in the financial district of London.
K.B. (38) was born in Brighton. Her mother was originally from Lebanon while her father was British. Her parents had no religion and did not raise her religiously. One year after her birth, the family went back to Saudi Arabia where her father had been working before she was born.
Until K.B. was 14, her family travelled across various countries of the Middle East and Northern Africa for her father’s professional activities. She then got her school education in various American and British institutions.
Her family went back to the UK in 2002. Later, she studied mathematics and computer science in Oxford, and afterwards accounting in London.
She was then exploring faith and close to mainline Christian groups. Her first contact with the Shincheonji Church was through a housemate from university. She was then 26 and went on to participate in Shincheonji Bible study. One year later, upon completion of the program, she joined the Church. She was then working as a chartered accountant.
Several years later she became increasingly involved in the management of the Church in the UK and started to work part-time to be able to support it.
Currently she volunteers full‑time for the Church in the UK. Her husband, also a Church member, pursues his own professional career outside the organisation.
Her spiritual journey surprised her non-believing parents, but their relationship has remained very close and harmonious.
Photo:A Bible study class of New Heaven and New Earth in London
