Life.Church

Life.Church formerly known as lifechurch.tv
Location Edmond, OK based[1] with various physical campuses and Church Online
Country United States
Denomination Evangelical Covenant Church
Website www.life.church
History
Status Active
Founded 1996 (1996)
Founder(s) Craig Groeschel
Clergy
Senior pastor(s) Craig Groeschel
Pastor(s) Trevor Williams, Brian Bruss, Chris Beall, Stefan Reed, Tome Dawson, Brian Atkins, Ryan Dowdy, Ronnie, Brumley, Johnny Roberts, Joel Wilkie, Vince Parker, Alan George, Jonathan Holcomb, Danny Duran, Sam Marin, Keith Phifer, Timothy Doremus, Bryan Hill, Tim Knox, Melody Dixon, Erin Crain, Derek Jewell, Cody Chaloner, Jeremy Davis, Rob Beckley, Zane Rowland

Life.Church (formerly known as LifeChurch.tv, Life Covenant Church, and Life Church) 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 September 2018, there are 30 Life.Church locations in eight U.S. states.

History

In January 1996, Life.Church was founded 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." 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 joined with Life.Church, effectively making it a multi-site church. Following the success of the additional location, the church launched campuses in Tulsa and Stillwater, Oklahoma in 2003, with these new campuses incorporating satellite video teaching into their services.[2]

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. In April 2006, the church established its "Internet Campus" (now called Church Online[3]) 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.[4] Also in 2007, Life.Church opened campuses in northwest Oklahoma City;[5] Wellington, Florida;[6] and Albany, New York.[7]

Life.Church 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".[8]

References

  1. 1 2 Banerjee, Neela (September 2006). "Intimate Confessions Pour Out on Church's Web Site". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  2. ↑ Bob Smietana; Rebecca Barnes (September 2005). "High-Tech Circuit Riders". Christianity Today. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  3. ↑ "Faces of Faith: A passion to bring people to Christ". Times Union. Retrieved 2017-08-30.
  4. ↑ 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.
  5. ↑ "Life.Church Northwest Oklahoma City makes a move". NewsOK.com. 2016-11-26. Retrieved 2017-08-30.
  6. ↑ "LifeChurch.tv Members Chip in $6M for New Campus in Fla". www.christianpost.com. Retrieved 2017-08-30.
  7. ↑ "Life.Church opens new building in Latham". Times Union. Retrieved 2017-08-30.
  8. ↑ Archived October 12, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
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