Life.Church (pronounced "Life Church", formerly known as LifeChurch.tv, Life Covenant Church, and Life Church) is an evangelical Christian multi-site megachurch based in Edmond, Oklahoma, United States of America. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Covenant Church. Craig Groeschel is the founder and senior pastor of Life.Church. Weekly church attendance was 85,000 people in 2018. The church is known for its YouVersion ministry, which publishes the Bible App.
| Life.Church | |
|---|---|
 A Life.Church location in Oklahoma City | |
| Location | Edmond, Oklahoma based with 45 physical campuses and Church Online |
| Country | United States |
| Denomination | Evangelicalism |
| Associations | Evangelical Covenant Church |
| Weekly attendance | 85,000 |
| Website | life.church |
| History | |
| Status | Active |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Founder(s) | Craig Groeschel |
| Clergy | |
| Senior pastor(s) | Craig Groeschel |
History
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In January 1996, Life.Church was founded as Life Covenant Church in Oklahoma City with 40 congregants meeting together in a two-car garage.[1] The church membership grew rapidly, and Life.Church built its first facility (now known as the "Oklahoma City Campus") in 1999.[2]
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". Following 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.[5] 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"[6] 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.[7] Also in 2007, Life.Church opened campuses in northwest Oklahoma City, another in Wellington, Florida in 2012 and in Albany, New York in 2016.[8] [9] [10]
In 2012, the church had more than 26,000 members.[11]
In 2015, the church had 15 campuses in different American states.[12]
In 2018, the church claimed to have 85,000 members and had opened 30 campuses in different cities.[13]
Beliefs
editThe Church has an evangelical confession of faith and is a member of the Evangelical Covenant Church. [14]
See also
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References
edit- ^ KFOR, Life Church in Edmond named 3rd largest church in America, kfor.com, USA, October 13, 2017
- ^ Carla Hinton, Life.Church celebrates its 20th anniversary, oklahoman.com, USA, January 10, 2016
- ^ Tamie Ross, MetroChurch members OK Life Church merger, oklahoman.com, USA, January 8, 2001
- ^ Bob Smietana; Rebecca Barnes (September 2005). "High-Tech Circuit Riders". Christianity Today. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
- ^ Banerjee, Neela (September 2006). "Intimate Confessions Pour Out on Church's Web Site". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
- ^ "Faces of Faith: A passion to bring people to Christ". Times Union. Retrieved 2017-08-30.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Life.Church Northwest Oklahoma City makes a move". oklahoman.com. 2016-11-26. Retrieved 2017-08-30.
- ^ "LifeChurch.tv Members Chip in $6M for New Campus in Fla". www.christianpost.com. January 28, 2012. Retrieved 2017-08-30.
- ^ "Life.Church opens new building in Latham". Times Union. December 15, 2016. Retrieved 2017-08-30.
- ^ Justin G. Wilford, Sacred Subdivisions: The Postsuburban Transformation of American Evangelicalism, NYU Press, USA, 2012, p. 169
- ^ Todd M. Kerstetter, Inspiration and Innovation: Religion in the American West, John Wiley & Sons, USA, 2015, p. 241
- ^ Michael Gryboski, Life.Church Has Grown to 30 Campuses and 85,000 Attendees, christianpost.com, USA, September 12, 2018
- ^ Life.Church, Our beliefs, life.church, USA, retrieved August 8, 2020