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Life Church Celebrates 10th Anniversary
EDMOND, OK (January 25, 2006) - The largest congregation (as measured by
attendance) in the Evangelical Covenant Church recently celebrated its
10th anniversary.
More than 16,000 people attended the seven campuses of Life Church on
January 7-8. Campuses are spread throughout Oklahoma and Arizona, as
well a congregation in Ft. Worth, Texas, that will have its first
official worship service in February.
Members began meeting in a dance studio in 1996 and quickly moved to a
school cafeteria. Soon the church was meeting in a renovated bicycle
factory.
The church now is one of approximately 1,000 churches in North America
that incorporate multi-site campuses. Each campus of Life Church has its
own local pastoral staff, daily ministry and worship, except for the
sermon, which is broadcast from the central campus in Edmond.
Despite the large numbers, the leadership has worked hard to keep a
sense of intimacy through small groups and offering more than one
experience (worship) time, says Katie Moore, the church's director of
marketing. The recently added campuses also tend to be smaller.
The church's first two campuses seat 2,000 and 1,400 people
respectively. Every campus started since then has about 500 seats - some
will have as few as 200 people participating in a worship experience.
The growth continues to amaze even those who have been apart of it.
"It's been humbling," says Moore.
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