Inside the Titchfield church led by pastor accused of far-right Christian nationalism
Reverend Chris Wickland has sparked controversy with his outspoken views on immigration, national identity and modern Britain
A Titchfield church leader who claims he was involved in witchcraft before finding Christianity now leads a congregation of more than 200 people – but his outspoken views on immigration, national identity and modern Britain have made him a controversial figure and left him branded by critics as a ‘far-right Christian nationalist’.
Reverend Chris Wickland, 54, started Living Word Church more than 15 years ago. He now has over 200 people regularly attending his services across sites in Titchfield and Bridgemary. The church is a registered charity and accepts donations from its followers.
The church also has a prayer garden in Wickham, where parishioners can help tend the land and grow vegetables that are then sold in a farm shack. They also hold big meals, open to anyone who wants to join, every Sunday.
But beyond its community activities, Mr Wickland and his church has attracted attention for the pastor’s increasingly outspoken political commentary, particularly through his YouTube programme, The Vexed Vicar.
His videos cover subjects including immigration, abortion, gender and sexuality, and the role of Christianity in British society. He also regularly warns of what he sees as a growing communist threat and believes current world events are signalling the approaching return of Jesus Christ.
His language in his videos and teachings has frequently proved provocative, with one video seeing him describe King Charles as "Islamic". He has also frequently spoken at Tommy Robinson rallies, and has been seen at anti-immigration protests across the UK.
Reject Fascism, a Portsmouth-based anti-fascism organisation, has accused him of “weaponising the Christian faith”, and of “spewing white supremacist hate” in his speeches. They said: “What we see in Wickland’s public remarks is calculated political grift.”
Mr Wickland is aware of the labels attached to him, but strongly rejects the suggestion that he is a far-right extremist.
"I'm called now the main leader of the neo-Nazi, fascist, far-right Christian nationalist movement," he said.
"But I dispute that. I'm pro-Zionistic, so how can I be a Nazi? I'm not a fascist, because I don't agree with communism. I'm just an ordinary Bible-believing Christian.
"The only thing that makes me extraordinary is that I'm just happy to put my neck on the line and talk. Everything has shifted so far to the left that anyone to the right of Stalin is now considered far right."
Outside of his church, Mr Wickland is best known for his views on illegal immigration. He was filmed attending the protest in Portsmouth on September 6, when demonstrators clashed with police after an RNLI boat carrying migrants who crossed the Channel in a small boat arrived at Eastney point.
Although he insists he is not opposed to immigration itself, he is strongly critical of open-border policies and believes the government has failed in its responsibility to protect Britain's national security.
"I am anti open-border policies where anybody can just come into our nation,” he said. "A nation that doesn't control its borders is insane, because we should have national security, but our government seems more interested in social security.
“The Bible says that he who doesn't look after his own household is worse than an infidel, and yet we are doing that on an industrial scale over the nation where we are overlooking the people of the nation and giving deference to other people that are breaking into a country illegally.”
When questioned whether being unwelcoming to people crossing the Channel is against the Biblical commandment of ‘Love thy neighbour’, he said: “The word neighbour means near dweller, so someone from 3,000 miles away is not my near dweller.”
Wickland's journey to becoming a church leader was far from conventional. He was born in Scotland but raised in Hampshire after his father joined the Royal Navy. He was brought up in a non-religious household, but has described experiencing what he considered paranormal and sinister events throughout his childhood.
“I was having demonic experiences,” he said.
“That then led me to question ‘what is the meaning of life, what is the purpose of me being here?’ I was only nine years old. Eventually, I got into things like Ouija boards and the occult, so I was looking for all the right things, but in all the wrong places. I got myself into a whole world of trouble.”
Mr Wickland recalls one particularly significant moment when he was returning home from a local woodland after performing a witchcraft ritual and says he heard a voice, which he immediately recognised as God.
"In the instant that he spoke to me, everything within me resonated with this voice," he said. "I knew that he was God, I knew it was Jesus, and he was the creator of everything. He basically said, 'Stop what you're doing. Come to me. You can be forgiven for this.'”
Soon after this, he attended church with a school friend and, after attending a youth group, felt he had found the sense of belonging and spiritual purpose he had been searching for.
Wickland became a Christian at 17 and says his earlier experiences continue to shape the way he understands his faith today.
"For me, Christianity is a very supernatural faith as well," he said. "I came from witchcraft to Christ. The things that I saw as a witch – demons and all that kind of stuff – and then I came to Christ and I saw angels as well. When you see all these things, you can't deny it. It's just part of my Christian experience now."
Mr Wickland's political commentary extends well beyond immigration. He is particularly critical of what he describes as 'woke' culture and progressive interpretations of Christianity. He believes churches should remain firmly rooted in traditional biblical teachings, rather than adapting their beliefs to reflect changing social attitudes.
He said: “Progressive Christianity is slowly eroding the authority of scripture. But there is a resurgence in the numbers of people attending church, and one of the reasons why they're coming to faith is because they're seeing the evil that's in the world right now and the injustice and the madness but they don't want to go to a liberal church. They don't want to go to a wishy-washy church.
He also rejects the idea that his religious beliefs should be separated from political life, and disagrees with the division between Church and State.
"I wouldn't say I'm politicising Christianity. I would say that I'm using Christianity to try and shape policy," he said.
“It seems like, because I'm being political at this hour, it's like, ‘well, you're a Christian nationalist and you're one of those flag waving bigots’. That flag for me represents Christianity. It contains the Saint Andrew flag, one of the apostles, it contains Saint George and Saint Andrew, so even the Union Flag itself is a symbol of Christianity. Our national identity is important in that Christianity has shaped and forged our laws and our culture.
“I am not a Christian nationalist, I'm just a Christian who's got a heart for his nation and wants to protect historically what has been in our nation, which is Christianity and it's been like that for 1400 years.”
While he admits he would like all British people to be Christian, he is under no illusion that that is something that is a realistic goal. He said: “I believe that a Christian country is a healthier country, and if there are people living in a Christian context that aren't Christians, that they still get the benefits of what it is to live in a Christian culture.”
Mr Wickland has also been highly critical of King Charles, calling him on one occasion “Islamic”.
“I've been very critical of our king because he has a moral obligation bound binding in law to defend the Protestant faith. At the moment, there are Protestant Christians being butchered in parts of Africa right now, by Muslims, and he is saying nothing about it. He's not defending those Christians in any way, but instead he's talking more about Islam than he is about Christianity.
“I called Islamic because he didn't give an Easter message, but he gave a message for Ramadan. All throughout the Lent period, there were lots of photos of him at mosques, and he allows Islamic calls for prayer in one of his Royal Estates.
“More and more we are seeing him standing up for Islam and less and less and less for Christianity. For me is a problem. I've seen that on quite a few interviews he is seemingly very pro-Islamic and certainly is not pro-Christian.”
Mr Wickland believes the world is moving towards the end times, pointing to the re-establishment of Israel as a nation as a key sign that biblical prophecy is being fulfilled.
He references the Old Testament, which describes Israel becoming a stumbling block for other nations, arguing that current tensions surrounding the country are evidence of this prophecy coming to pass.
"The fact that Israel is a nation is a clear indicator that we're moving towards the end of the age," he said.
His interpretation of biblical prophecy also shapes his views on modern politics. Mr Wickland believes socialism and communism pose the greatest threat to Christianity, accusing the political left of using cultural movements to create division and destabilise society.
"My biggest concern actually isn't Islam. I believe Islam is just being used as a tool of socialists to bring about more division in our society," he said.
“Our socialist government is becoming more and more tyrannical. They don't listen to the people. They have broken the contract with the people.
“They pit minorities against others. So it was feminism, then it was gay rights, then it was trans rights. Now it's Islam's rights, and Palestine's rights to cause consternation. But that's just a tool which is used by socialists to create contention, create civil war, that's what we're starting to see now.”
However, he also appreciated that the Israeli kibbutz communal settlements “run on a communist kind of idea, and it does work”.