Life.Church

Life.Church (pronounced "Life Church", formerly known as LifeChurch.tv, Life Covenant Church, and Life Church) is an American evangelical multi-site church. Craig Groeschel is the founder and senior pastor of Life.Church.[1] As of April 2019, there are 34 Life.Church locations in ten U.S. states; the majority are located in the Midwest United States, but are centered primarily around the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metropolitan areas. The church is known for its YouVersion ministry, which publishes the Bible App.

This article is about the American Evangelical organization Life.Church. For the British Christian organisation, see LIFE Church UK.
Life.Church
LocationEdmond, OK based[1] with various physical campuses and Church Online
CountryUnited States
DenominationEvangelical Covenant Church
Websitewww.life.church
History
StatusActive
Founded1996 (1996)
Founder(s)Craig Groeschel
Clergy
Senior pastor(s)Craig Groeschel

History

In January 1996, Life.Church was founded as Life Covenant Church in Oklahoma City with 40 congregants meeting together in a two-car garage. [2] From 1996 to 1999 the church membership grew rapidly. During this time, Life.Church built its first facility (now known as the "Oklahoma City Campus").

In 2001, MetroChurch, a 25-year-old, nondenominational church in nearby Edmond, Oklahoma merged with Life.Church, effectively making it a multi-site church.[3] With this merger, they changed their name, combining Life Covenant Church with MetroChurch to arrive at the name "LifeChurch", a nod to both previous churches. Their staffs were combined under the leadership of Craig Groeschel as lead pastor. Groeschel said he would be calling on MetroChurch members to help them grow in God. Life Church has had tremendous success in reaching people, but MetroChurch is a proven developer of faith, he said. During these early years of the merger, Craig Groeschel traveled back and forth between the two campuses to deliver his sermons live to the congregations. For a while, this meant he gave five sermons each Sunday, as there were multiple services at both locations. Following the success of the multi-site services, the church launched campuses in Tulsa and Stillwater, Oklahoma in 2003, with these new campuses incorporating satellite video teaching into their services.[4]

Life.Church opened an additional campus in Oklahoma City, the South Oklahoma City Campus, in Spring 2005. In February 2006, Life.Church introduced a campus in Fort Worth, Texas, its first location outside Oklahoma. In April 2006, the church established its "Internet Campus"[5] which broadcasts weekly, interactive worship services live over the internet.

On Easter Sunday, 2007, Life.Church began broadcasting from their new campus in the online game Second Life.[6] Also in 2007, Life.Church opened campuses in northwest Oklahoma City;[7] Wellington, Florida;[8] and Albany, New York.[9]

In 2012, the church had more than 26,000 members. [10]

In 2015, the church had 15 campuses in different American states. [11]

In 2019, it had 34 campus locations as well as their online church[12]. They also make available past sermons for churches to use as materials in their sermons and bible studies.

See also

References
  1. Banerjee, Neela (September 2006). "Intimate Confessions Pour Out on Church's Web Site". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  2. Carla Hinton, Life.Church celebrates its 20th anniversary, oklahoman.com, USA, January 10, 2016
  3. Tamie Ross, MetroChurch members OK Life Church merger, oklahoman.com, USA, January 8, 2001
  4. Bob Smietana; Rebecca Barnes (September 2005). "High-Tech Circuit Riders". Christianity Today. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  5. "Faces of Faith: A passion to bring people to Christ". Times Union. Retrieved 2017-08-30.
  6. Stephanie Simon (April 8, 2007). "It's Easter; shall we gather at the desktops? / Virtual houses of worship await you online in Second Life". Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  7. "Life.Church Northwest Oklahoma City makes a move". oklahoman.com. 2016-11-26. Retrieved 2017-08-30.
  8. "LifeChurch.tv Members Chip in $6M for New Campus in Fla". www.christianpost.com. Retrieved 2017-08-30.
  9. "Life.Church opens new building in Latham". Times Union. Retrieved 2017-08-30.
  10. Justin G. Wilford, Sacred Subdivisions: The Postsuburban Transformation of American Evangelicalism, NYU Press, USA, 2012, p. 169
  11. Todd M. Kerstetter, Inspiration and Innovation: Religion in the American West, John Wiley & Sons, USA, 2015, p. 241
  12. "Life.Church Locations". www.life.church. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
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