Life.Church
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| Life.Church formerly known as lifechurch.tv | |
|---|---|
| Location | Edmond, OK based[1] with various physical campuses, Internet and Second Life campuses |
| Country | United States |
| Denomination | Evangelical Covenant Church |
| Website | www |
| History | |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Founder(s) | Craig Groeschel |
| Architecture | |
| Status | Active |
| Clergy | |
| Senior pastor(s) | Craig Groeschel |
| Pastor(s) | Joe Dingwall, Miles Paludan, Robert Wall, Chuck Dennie, Trevor Williams, Brian Bruss, Chris Beall, Jay Henderson, Stefan Reed, Tome Dawson, GT Moody, Derrick Henslee, Larry Mayer, Scott Cornelius, and Brandon Donaldson |
Life.Church (formerly known as LifeChurch.tv, Life Covenant Church, and Life Church[2]) is an American evangelical multi-site church with multiple locations. Craig Groeschel is the founder and senior pastor of Life.Church (pronounced "Life Church").[1]
As of May 2015, there are twenty-four Life.Church locations in seven states across the United States.[3]
History
In January 1996, Life.Church began in Oklahoma City with 40 congregants meeting together "in a two-car garage, equipped with just a borrowed overhead projector and two construction lights purchased at Lowe's for $19.99."[4] From 1996 to 1999 the church membership grew rapidly. During this time, Life.Church acquired its first facility (now known as the "Oklahoma City Campus"). In 2001, MetroChurch, a 25-year-old, nondenominational church in nearby Edmond, Oklahoma joined with Life.Church, effectively making it a multi-site church. Following the success of the additional location, the church launched campuses in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Stillwater, Oklahoma in 2002, and these new campuses began incorporating satellite video teaching into their services.[5]
Life.Church opened an additional campus in OKC, the South Oklahoma City Campus, in Spring 2005. In February 2006, Life.Church introduced a campus in Fort Worth, Texas. In April, the church established its "Internet Campus," which broadcasts weekly, interactive worship services live over the internet. In July, the church also launched a new campus in Hendersonville, Tennessee.[6]
Easter Sunday, 2007, Life.Church began broadcasting from their new campus in the online game Second Life.[7][8][9]
Life.Church also decided to do away with "church membership", deciding instead to encourage people to become "partners" in helping lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. The church has developed a Bible application for mobile phones, YouVersion. Introduced in 2008, it has been described as "[t]he world's most popular Bible program for mobile phones."[10]
Life.Church features a casual dress code and most attendees wear jeans and casual clothing, the worship service includes refreshments before and after the services, music style is pop-rock and praise-worship, with the performances amplified concert style and lyrics shown on projector.
Locations
There are currently twenty-four Life.Church campuses in seven different states, as well as an online campus.[11]
- Albany, NY
- Broadway & Britton,OK
- Broken Arrow, OK
- Edmond, OK
- Fort Worth, TX
- Hendersonville, TN
- Jenks, OK
- Keller, TX
- Midwest City, OK
- Moore, OK
- Mustang,OK
- Norman,OK- Coming Soon
- Northwest Oklahoma City, OK
- Oklahoma City, OK
- Overland Park, KS
- Owasso, OK
- Rio Rancho, NM
- Shawnee, OK
- South Broken Arrow, OK
- South Oklahoma City, OK
- South Tulsa, OK
- Stillwater, OK
- Tulsa, OK
- Wichita, KS
- Wellington, FL
- Yukon, OK
Life.Church makes its material available to other churches for free through a site called Open.[12]
Affiliation
Life.Church is part of the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC).[13] The ECC upholds the core evangelical Christian beliefs, while allowing believers the personal freedom to have varying interpretations on theological issues that are not clearly presented in Scripture.[13]
References
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- ↑ [1] Archived October 12, 2012 at the Wayback Machine
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External links
- Life.Church Life.Church Official Website
- Life.Church Open: Free Church Resources
- LifeKids.tv Resources
