About Us

Liberty Fellowship was founded in November 1996 in Keizer, Oregon.  A group of 35-40 displaced lovers of Jesus had been holding weeknight meetings when we lost own facility.   Too big for a home meeting, the group asked Pastor David Mangis and his wife, Joleta, “Why don’t we become incorporated and become a formal church body?”  The next week, the leadership team met and applied as a 501c3 nonprofit organization.   The Lord provided a meeting place at the Lions Club in Keizer, Oregon.  The foundation was set and with the Lord’s help easily flowed to completion.  Even the name was given to them through prayer.  The name “Liberty Fellowship” was rooted from 2 Cor 3:17, “Now the Lord is that Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty.”  It came from a desire for his “presence” and his “leading “in all things.    In a way, it was a “new start” for all the brokenness we had experience in our “church life”.   As of the people who came to our church were fragile, the Lord told us we were a “Hospital for the Heart” and “Many of these people will never be in church again if they don’t receive a healing from me”.   Our goal of being “Christ Like” could only be done by the leading of the Holy Spirit as we “grow in the image of Christ” (Rom 8:29).   Our leadership in the assembly is not “called by God to rule through manmade rules of order but serve through love and truth.”  Keizer served as a training ground for our next phrase of ministry.   Psalm 127 says much about the heart and call the Lord placed in the Mangis’, “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.”  
In October of 2002, God orchestrated an amazing transition in the Mangis’ Ministry.   They were “called” to take over a small group of believers in Mill City, Oregon and began a new work in the Santiam Canyon.  In 2006, they were blessed to take over a large building, formally the hardware store on Highway 22.   They were blessed with a low monthly lease payment.  The Sunday morning attendance grew to three times its size and a Youth group of nearly 100 kids were also added during the week.  At this same time, Pastor David received some historic documents that showed his adopted Great Grandfather led evangelistic tent meetings into the logging camps of the Canyon 100 years before.  The amazing part was that they traveled there from their home church they pastored in Dallas Oregon, which is over 50 miles one way.  
The church began reaching the canyon communities through food and clothing distribution.  These ministries have reached many homeless and disadvantage community members.
During this time, they have also ordained Pastors to do ministries in three other states and two foreign countries. 
Pastor David and his wife have been faithfully serving in the Santiam Canyon now for almost 19 years.  We are expecting great things from the “Lord of the harvest” (Matt 9:30) He never fails to accomplish his plans and purposes according to his will.