There ya go Patrick. That's pretty much what I've been saying all along.

I'd have to say absolutely the majority of people would show if they took away the lights and sound and the band. Would some not show up, yes, but that can be said with any church for one reason or the other, maybe it's the style of preaching or the pastor or whatever. I've been going there for 7-8 years now, almost since it's inception (10 years). When I started going the church was a lot smaller although still a fastly growing church, they didn't have flashy lights, band, etc. and yet it still grew by leaps and bounds, why? because they are real with people, they accept people for who they are and where they are in life unlike many churches who "stereotype" or act "holier than thou".

On several occasions I still go to life to grow personally and spiritually with God and just for the excellent teaching, and I occasionally miss the praise and worship or "band" as some call it. The real issue is skeptics, cynics, critics if you will, religion since the beginning of time and until the end of time has and will always be a hotly debated issue. "I'm right your wrong, you're right I'm wrong" type arguments are pointless. I think that in no matter what the issue, religion, business, politics, etc. people are critical of success and Lifechurch.tv has achieved success and many want it to fail. People intentionally try to look for the flaw or something wrong in success, and guess what, no one is perfect, not even you or I. Jesus calls us to add to the church DAILY, I can honestly say Lifechurch.tv has done that, I can't say that for all churches. I hope you can learn to love me and my church because we'll be in heaven with you regardless of your viewpoints. If we can't get along on earth, how will we ever get along in heaven?

As far as your friend who had the sickness, I am sorry to hear that and will keep him in our prayers. I am positive that if he is in financial, physical, or emotional need, Lifechurch will do the best of their abilities to help him out. Lifechurch is one of the few churches I know that says before any offering if you are an adult in need of food, clothing, or shelter to take money directly out of the offering. They also have Mercy ministries and over 200 more ministries that can help whomever out in whatever their need may be. I can understand that they would have to say no to hold a benefit concert because of the number of requests they receive for various things. As Craig says " you have to say know to some good things to hold out for even greater things". Yes, helping your friend out is good and I wish you could do that, but with tens of thousands of people being touched by the church in just one weekend, it would be hard to accomodate everyone's preferences or requests.

Is lifechurch.tv or myself always right, not hardly. But we're not perfect and neither is anyone else. I hope and pray we can all learn to love each other dispite our disagreements on this topic. And hey, if you open your eyes and ears up and not shut or move them in skepticism, you might even learn something from lifechurch.tv or one of it's messages that you can take with you.

I hope you can learn to love me and my church because we'll be in heaven with you regardless of your viewpoints.
that's the thing with me... i don't think that the things lifechurch teaches are consistent with what scripture would have us do. while lifechurch embraces the notion that we should add to the church daily, which is true and noble, it does so at the expense of scriptural truth. by teaching things that contradict scripture, i think that the salvation of many who attend lifechurch is in jeopardy. so... we may not be in heaven together, after all... i want to make sure that we are. that's what motivates my comments, not jealousy or a desire to appear 'holier than thou.'

i'm curious as to what you actually believe. let me pose some questions. use scripture where you can so that we don't devolve into an 'i'm right, you're wrong' situation... ask anything of me, if you want. -M

Did God give us a choice as to what church we could belong to?

Are we part of this world or are we to be separate in faith and worship?

What is faith?

What must I do to be saved? (i especially want to see scripture on this one)

What is the Lord’s Supper?

Are women allowed to preach, teach or lead songs when men are present?

Some churches use instrumental music in worship. Do you? Why or why not?

mmm, as I mentioned this will be a neverending debate. If you'd like to start a faith/religion/beliefs debate, let's start a separate thread please.

it may be neverending, but being able to explain and defend your faith is worthwhile isn't it? besides, i'm asking about your faith as a member of lifechurch and not about people's faith in general. therefore it seems applicable to this thread... as a member of lifechurch can you explain what you believe to me? -M

mmm, the corporate beliefs of LifeChurch.tv as a whole are listed on their website at http://www.lifechurch.tv/p/117/Default.aspx. Of course, every believer has a right to disagree with the non-essentials of our faith, but this is the "official" statement of belief for the church.

I'm a newcomer to the forum, so I just read the entire 13 page thread. (Yes, I need a hobby...) :) But anyway, someone asked about financial records several posts earlier and I just happened to run across them on their site the other day. http://www.lifechurch.tv/p/468/Default.aspx

Wow zg, am I reading that Lifechurch "gave" a whopping $20,000 out of a 20 million dollar budget to charity? Now that is generosity!

Wow zg, am I reading that Lifechurch "gave" a whopping $20,000 out of a 20 million dollar budget to charity? Now that is generosity!
You are correct. That is generosity....although I know you were being very sarcasticl. That's better than what most people give their church....nothing.

Life asks for a 10% tithe, does it not? In turn it gives a whopping 1% to a charity which in turn might even give the money back.

Yeah, that's definitely generosity.

thanks for the links, zgilliam. i'd seen the one about core values, but never saw the financial report.

since lifechurch is incorporated, it has to produce these financial reports by law. the church that i attend is incorporated for tax purposes as well and produces a similar report annually. i'm not sure where the $20k figure comes from. according to the report, lifechurch gave $1.4M in 2005 under the heading, 'missions and compassion.' Therefore, for every $1 spent, lifechurch spent $0.07 on missions and charitable causes. two things are interesting about this to me:

first, unlike my congregation, missions and charity aren't separated. on our report, we separate benevolence and each mission that we support. from this report, i can't tell how much of that money went to support local need and how much went to support a missionary's salary... or who/where that missionary is. furthermore, we disclose how much our minister's make. this report combines pastoral leadership and campus operations into a $5.5M figure. it's hard to tell exactly where the money is going.

second, i find it interesting that $2.9M is spent on experiences and marketing. lifechurch spends twice as much money on music, lights, sound and advertising than it does on missions and compassion.

-M

EDIT:

i stumbled onto one more thing looking at the support staff section of the site. zgilliam, it appears that you are an employee of lifechurch since the name under 'media distribution' pretty closely resembles the username you've chosen here. given that, do you have anything to add to the discussion?

it may be neverending, but being able to explain and defend your faith is worthwhile isn't it? besides, i'm asking about your faith as a member of lifechurch and not about people's faith in general. therefore it seems applicable to this thread... as a member of lifechurch can you explain what you believe to me? -M

In addition to Essential Beliefs, we uphold the following:
In Non-Essential Beliefs, we have liberty. Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters…Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls…So then each of us will give an account of himself to God..So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. (Romans 14:1, 4, 12, 22 NIV)

With this being said, I will not further dispute this topic. Get another hobby.

Midtowner, for those of you who still have financial questions about life, why not ask them directly. If you don't agree with it, simply don't go to church there. Leave it at that.

Members of LifeChurch.tv may request a copy of our most recently audited financial statements or ask general questions about our financial practices at any time by contacting us at Finance@LifeChurch.tv.

Metro, that's fine and all, but I have reservations about LC, and I have just as much right to air them as you have the right to air your displeasure with me in the way that you do. Feel free to try and explain away these problems, but haven't you figured out that your wanting to keep this thread positive simply isn't something I'm interested in cooperating with?

metro,

at least you quoted some scripture. i'll give you that. and you're right, in matters of preference we are given liberty. in context, the scripture you quote discusses some believers' choice to eat meat and others' choice not to and that both are not wrong. however, this discussion deals with weightier things... essential beliefs in your words.

you've chosen not to answer some simple questions about these essential beliefs. either you don't know for yourself or you don't care enough to take the time. either way it's sad. get another hobby? christianity is a life and not just a hobby, friend. maybe someday you'll gain a little maturity and understand that. -M

It seems to me that there isn't a lot that binds the LC community together other than (possibly) a belief in God and Jesus...

--and the ability to rock out jeebus style.

What about Lifegroups? Are you dismissing the sense of a small community and personal accountability with a few people in a core group. (much similar to a small church) or the underground church in the early 1st century sometimes referred to as an Acts 2 [As in Acts chapter 2] type of church.

personally, i don't have a problem with programs similar to lifegroups. meeting in small groups definitely helps keep people from being lost in the shuffle.

however (and not to put words in anyone's mouth), i think that what midtowner is saying is that lifechurch doesn't have any doctrinal substance beyond a belief in god or jesus. other than that belief, you can do pretty much whatever you want. while lifechurch emulates the first century church through lifegroups, it diregards some important doctrine that scripture tells us about the early church and what it practiced and believed. -M

personally, i don't have a problem with programs similar to lifegroups. meeting in small groups definitely helps keep people from being lost in the shuffle.

however (and not to put words in anyone's mouth), i think that what midtowner is saying is that lifechurch doesn't have any doctrinal substance beyond a belief in god or jesus. other than that belief, you can do pretty much whatever you want. while lifechurch emulates the first century church through lifegroups, it diregards some important doctrine that scripture tells us about the early church and what it practiced and believed. -M


How much percentage of a specific denomination's members actually abide by their practices all the time? The belief in God and Jesus is the most important foundation that should unite churches.

How much percentage of a specific denomination's members actually abide by their practices all the time?
i'm not sure where you're going with this... some practices are matters of choice and others are matters of doctrine. for matters of choice, it isn't so important as to how many people abide... it's just tradition and preference. the scriptural basis for matters of doctrine, however, doesn't change regardless of the percentage of people who are loyal to it. ...perhaps i'm misunderstanding the point you're driving at?

The belief in God and Jesus is the most important foundation that should unite churches.
true... without a belief in god or christ, a group could scarcely call itself 'christian.' however, truly being a christian is based on more than just believing.

Sorry for being a bit unclear with my message. I guess what I was just trying to understand why some previous posts were suggesting that Life Church didn't have much of a doctrine they follow. Several churches and/or religion groups have doctrines lined out specifically what they follow. I understand that most of them are tradition and/or preference. But I don't understand the importance of outlining specific rules, for ex: (not eating certain foods, honoring the Sabbath, what to wear, etc.) when a large percentage of the congregation doesn't abide.

Honoring the Body, Hospitality, Household Budget, Keeping the Sabbath, Forgiveness, etc. these are essential practices that hold Christianity organizations/churches together. Why would anyone suggest that Life Church doesn't have any doctrinal substance except a belief in God or Jesus?

If you would like to see some examples of "Essential Beliefs" that Life Church believes in please visit the link below.

http://www.lifechurch.tv/p/117/Default.aspx

The mission of LifeChurch.tv is "to lead people, to become, fully devoted followers of Christ."

Simple enough.

With every new move of God, there is always controversy.

so i've read the 'essential beliefs' page again. it appears to me that there really isn't much in them besides a belief in god and jesus. there's nothing about obedience. nothing about baptism. nothing about meeting on the lord's day. nothing about the lord's supper. are these and other things that the new tesatament church did non-essential? where in scripture did it say that these things were optional? it seems to me that lifechurch's message is that as long as i believe in god & jesus, then i'm 'ok' regardless of anything else.

as for lifechurch's mission, there's nothing wrong with that. the issue is the means in which they choose to achieve this goal. everything is done to bring in the most people possible... but in the process, some essential things are compromised since they are seen as making the average person uncomfortable.


With every new move of God, there is always controversy.
how do you know that this is a change on god's part and not simply a change on man's part? why would god violate his own scripture?

-M

mmm have you attended Life regularly? Perhaps even more than once? I'm curious as to what authority you have to judge man and one's heart? Matthew 7:1 . I think you have a misconception of Life because you are not familiar with it. How can you judge if you do not attend regularly? Life is passionate about people selling out 100% to God. Their motto is to "Bring in, Build up, Train, and send out". Sounds like the Great Commission if you ask me (Matt. 28: 18-20)

How could Jesus say, "And if you brother sins, go and reprove him...?" How could Jesus go on to say, "And if he refuses to listen...tell it to the church"? (Matthew 18:15,17). How could Jesus' apostle, Paul, say, "Do you not judge those who are within the church?...Remove the wicked man from among yourselves" (1 Corinthians 5:12,13).

Luke 6:37
Judge not, and ye shall not be judged.

Romans 2:1
Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.

James 4:12
Who art thou that judgest another?
1 Corinthians 2:15
But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

1 Corinthians 5:12-13
For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

1 Corinthians 6:2-3
Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?.

I think that the second we start to judge anothers life we should remove the plank in our own life. That does not say that I'm holier than thou, in fact, far from it. Let us not take one verse out of context without taking into consideration ALL of SCRIPTURE.

Let's all work on our own problems (including myself) before looking at someone elses.

Matthew 7:3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you (Luke 6:27-28).

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse (Romans 12:14).

Father, my prayer today is that we all will get along, regardless of denomination, belief, sect, creed, or elsewise. Our ultimate goal is all the same. Please help us to pray for one another lifting our brothers and sisters up.Bless our enemies. And God please give us strength to get through our trials and tribulations, give us peace and clarity. Amen.

mmm have you attended Life regularly? Perhaps even more than once? I'm curious as to what authority you have to judge man and one's heart? Matthew 7:1 . I think you have a misconception of Life because you are not familiar with it. How can you judge if you do not attend regularly? Life is passionate about people selling out 100% to God. Their motto is to "Bring in, Build up, Train, and send out". Sounds like the Great Commission if you ask me (Matt. 28: 18-20)

How could Jesus say, "And if you brother sins, go and reprove him...?" How could Jesus go on to say, "And if he refuses to listen...tell it to the church"? (Matthew 18:15,17). How could Jesus' apostle, Paul, say, "Do you not judge those who are within the church?...Remove the wicked man from among yourselves" (1 Corinthians 5:12,13).

Luke 6:37
Judge not, and ye shall not be judged.

Romans 2:1
Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.

James 4:12
Who art thou that judgest another?
1 Corinthians 2:15
But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

1 Corinthians 5:12-13
For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

1 Corinthians 6:2-3
Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?.

I think that the second we start to judge anothers life we should remove the plank in our own life. That does not say that I'm holier than thou, in fact, far from it. Let us not take one verse out of context without taking into consideration ALL of SCRIPTURE.

Let's all work on our own problems (including myself) before looking at someone elses.

Matthew 7:3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you (Luke 6:27-28).

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse (Romans 12:14).

Father, my prayer today is that we all will get along, regardless of denomination, belief, sect, creed, or elsewise. Our ultimate goal is all the same. Please help us to pray for one another lifting our brothers and sisters up.Bless our enemies. And God please give us strength to get through our trials and tribulations, give us peace and clarity. Amen.
Very well put, metro.

My church's ultimate goal is not to line the pockets of those in charge.

So I guess we don't have the same goals...

metro,
i'm glad to see that you continue to add more and more scripture to your arguments.

first, i've not attended lifechurch. however, another evangelical covenant church that is similar in size and is structured and marketed very similarly to lifechurch was a major client at a former job... read that, i personally spent alot of time getting to know them and their faith. we also had as clients some smaller covenant churches and one of the covenant conference districts. i'm therefore quite familiar with the inner workings of organizations like lifechurch.

what insight did i gain from my experiences? they were nice people and well-intended (unlike other organizations that i've had dealings with), but their doctrine is lacking. the purpose and focus of the marketing and of the 'experiences' were always to attract more people by apearring 'hip' and 'relevant.' their focus was on attracting and pleasing people rather than on pleasing god.

as for the great commision, verse twenty states 'and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you...' i think that lifechurch does pretty good with the 'go out into the world' part but is severely lacking in teaching obedience to all of christ's commands.

as far as judgment is concerned, i make no claims as to what goes in your heart. being critical and asking questions of a church is far different than judging the state of an individual's salvation.

paul praises those who turn to scripture to closely examine and question gospel,
Acts 17:11
Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

as christians we are to teach and admonish each other,
Colossians 1:28
We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.

Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

as christians we are called to love one another. however, love is not simply making peace. i think it's safe to say that good parents love their children. even still, good parents don't simply do things to make their children happy... they correct them when they do wrong and they try to steer them away from things that are harmful regardless of whether or not it makes their children happy. the type of love extended by lifechurch, to me, is the type that just strives to make people happy. it's not always enough simply to get along. -M

Just wondering if any Lifechurch.tv volunteers on this site attended the Big Show on Friday. I'm sure it will make some upset on this site but we will be adding locations in Indianapolis, Atlanta, San Antonio, and Denver as well as the new NW OKC campus and potential other sites across the world. Praise God. If you missed the big show, you missed out. Craig shared an awesome glimpse into the history of the church (Luther, Gutenberg, etc) as a whole as where as where he would like to see our church go.

Hey Metro! I attended the Big Show on Friday. It found it to be very inspirational and a great time. It is exciting to think of how many thousands and thousands of lives can be saved around the world.

My church's ultimate goal is not to line the pockets of those in charge.

That isn't the goal of LifeChurch either. At least LifeChurch spends their money on things that are going to reach people, instead of wasting money on sculptures, idols, and the like. I don't think anyone has ever been led to Christ through a scupture of Mary.

That's true, no one has ever been led to Christ by a sculpture of Mary.

What exactly is your point?

Which "Idols" are in the Catholic church? We do have a crucifix, however, it is more symbolic, much as the Bible is for Bible thumpers. In fact, there are a lot of symbolic things in the Catholic church none of which are thought to be idols according to any common understanding of the term.

We're actually fairly sensitive to that in that the "Great Schism" of the East and West churches was driven in large part by accusations of idolatry, hence the iconoclast movements beginning as early as the 700AD's.

Should a place of worship be a pretty place? Certainly. A house of worship ought to represent the God for which it was built, hence cathedrals, stain glass windows, stations of the cross, etc.

Faith, glad you had a good time. It will be interesting to watch what God unfolds for the future of not only Lifechurch.tv but the church body as a whole worldwide. I loved when he poured out his heart and vision about how Luther had the knock that was heard around the world, and then Gutenberg created the printing press so common people could have access to scripture, and perhaps lifechurch.tv will help set the standard for "the click heard around the world"(referring to satellite and online campuses) in these last days.

Metro - Yes it gave me chill bumps to think that it could be the modern day "knock heard around the world"!

Faith, glad you had a good time. It will be interesting to watch what God unfolds for the future of not only Lifechurch.tv but the church body as a whole worldwide. I loved when he poured out his heart and vision about how Luther had the knock that was heard around the world, and then Gutenberg created the printing press so common people could have access to scripture, and perhaps lifechurch.tv will help set the standard for "the click heard around the world"(referring to satellite and online campuses) in these last days.

In these last days...You talking about last days of 2006?

no of civilization i think

no of civilization i think

Aha...Do you know if it's sometime next year?....Gotta turn in my vacation requests pretty soon :tiphat:

oh... so when's everybody serving the purple kool-aid? -M

Do we get a snazzy pair of black nikes and track suits?

Please stay on topic. I began this thread to see if anyone here attended Life Church, and if so how they like it.

but we're on topic! apparently we're in the last days of civilization... i need to know which kool-aid to drink, which tracksuit to wear... i want to be prepared! -M

but we're on topic! apparently we're in the last days of civilization... i need to know which kool-aid to drink, which tracksuit to wear... i want to be prepared! -M

If by last days they mean sometime in the next 50,000 years then I wholeheartedly agree...

And mmm weren't the tracksuits designed for comfort when they were going to be travelling with the alien spaceship hiding behind Hale's comet??...Of course you wear nike's and tracksuits...Don't want to be uncomfortable while space travelling

naysayers, ask me this time next year after chaos breaks loose in the Middle East and beyond. anyhow back on topic, this isn't something LifeChurch.tv is promoting its just something I believe as far as prophecy in the scriptures goes. Anyhow anyone not attending church is welcome to join us at Life this weekend. The church has 6 or more services to accomodate to your schedule and is very welcoming.

i see... so you're saying this end-of-the-world stuff is more your personal opinion than the official stance of lifechurch? -M

yes, just to clarify, didn't want to create any grey areas that that is what lifechurch.tv is teaching. in fact, they haven't talked about prophecy or end times to my knowledge.

cool. that's a good thing to clarify... when you first posted it, i thought it sounded atypical of something lifechurch would talk about... so it peaked my curiosity.

while the middle east situation won't be calming down any time soon, i'm not so sure that's a sign that the end of the world is impending... things have been pretty turbulent down there for quite some time now... centuries, in fact. but that's another discussion.

-M

Drove down Expressway today. Lifechurch.tv now has our "coming soon" sign on the other half of the old SuperWalmart that Incredible Pizza is in. Can't wait until it launches next month.

Are they going to have a pizza buffet and arcade games as well :tiphat:

if they did easy180 would it matter?

so i guess it wouldn't matter if they had a full-service bar, either. -M

so i guess it wouldn't matter if they had a full-service bar, either. -M

Now that's what I'm talking about mmm!!

I don't know about the Bible you read but my Bible doesn't mention Heaven being segregated by any denominations, faiths, beliefs, viewpoints, etc.

Just to play devil's advocate: The Bible also never mentions satellite churches, simalcasting a service on the web, or church marketing.

Question, if LifeChurch does have 10 'locations' or 'campuses'... does it have 10 pastors over each congregation?

Yes it does, Stillwaters' is GT Moody.

Good. I had heard they use a video screen and have only 1 pastor. Good to hear.

mwmcl, to answer your questions accurately, I will provide a little more information than jdsplaypin. First off, Senior Pastor Craig Grochel still preaches at all the campuses through simulcast. Each Campus however has a Campus Pastor, Associate Campus Pastor, as well as a small paid staff and a large volunteer staff. The Campus Pastor usually starts off the service and prays at the end and greets visitors in the lobby, etc. When it is time for the teaching, the simulcast with Craig takes place.

To play devils advocate, the Bible also never talks about hymnals, robes, wearing a shirt and tie on Sunday, etc. In fact, many times does it mention that WE are the church, not a building or how we do things. You will find many examples in which Jesus went to the people and talked with them on their level and did life with them where they were at. In today's day in age, especially for a seeker or nonbeliever, entertainment is how you capture someone's attention. Just look at concerts, myspace, TV, youtube and how that has revolutionized American society. We are visual society. It just so happens that lifechurch realizes this is a modern way to reach a generation that otherwise probably wouldn't be going to church. The church is not so much about what many people on this website seem to get sooooooo upset about or against, the media is simply a beginning point, a tool, to reach people, the message is what changes peoples lives.

I hope you can check it out sometime.

On another note, any OKCTalker's helping launch the new NW OKC campus?

any church can be a great church if the pastor preaches from the bible. SO many people in churches today are looking toward the man and of course they are going to find fault with all fellow men, however if you look toward the bible and GOD you will over look men's faults and see just christian love. Just remember no Church is going to have everything you are looking for. That is when you should always follow the path of your bible.

I happen to love Crossroads Catherdral Church. Its big enough where the faults of other people wont be a distraction, they preach straight from the bible, and always seem to bring people to the alter. After all getting lost souls saved and teaching GOD'S word is what it is all about.

Good post HOTTCUTZ, I think too many skeptics of Lifechurch and church in general are always looking for a fault, a flaw. Everyone has flaws whether they realize it or not, and if they think not, they are only fooling themselves. I think many people don't realize that Christians are imperfect and human, just like everyone else, the difference is we're forgiven by a God who is perfect and righteous.

Believe it or not, but Craig Groechel intentionally makes LifeChurch not about him, buildings, our logo, etc. but strictly the word of God. Bringing truth to a postmodern world that no longer believes in truth. Go to our website and you won't find his name plastered all over it, or the bulletin listing everyone's names and titles, etc. because too many people in Christianity today get caught up in titles, or name recognition, etc.

i know... it'd be a shame if lc was caught up like many organizations in christianity today by displaying everybody's name & title... wait... oh noes!



LifeChurch.tv Directional Leadership Team
Craig Groeschel - Senior Pastor
Bobby Gruenewald - Pastor, Innovation Leader
Jerry Hurley - Pastor, Team Development Leader
Kevin Penry - Pastor, Operational Leader
Sam Roberts - Pastor, Campus Operations
Executive Assistant Team
Sarah McLean - Executive Asst to Craig Groeschel
Lanita Lukens - Executive Asst to Jerry Hurley
Holly McHargue - Executive Asst to Bobby Gruenewald
Sherri Fisher - Executive Asst to Kevin Penry
Cindy Mason - Executive Asst to Sam Roberts
Regional Team
Todd Roy - Region 1 Campus Pastor
Chris Beall - Region 2 Campus Pastor
LifeChurch.tv Central Support Staff
LifeGroups Team
John Davis - Pastor, Executive Director of LifeGroups
Travis Petty - LifeGroups Coordinator
LifeKIDS Team
Scott Werner - Pastor, Executive Director of LifeKIDS
Allyson Evans - Director of LifeKIDS Central Team
JT Witcher - Associate LifeKIDS Pastor
Julie Dinkines - LifeKIDS Team
Kendra Golden - LifeKIDS Team
Carrie Thomas - LifeKIDS Team
Lyndi Thompson - LifeKIDS Team/Graphics
Jan Laymon - Asst Director of Central Staff Childcare
Shawna Naylor - Central Staff Childcare Director
Casey Davis - LifeKIDS Tech Specialist
Sara Cooper - LifeKIDS Production/Distribution
Kristy Chartier - LifeKIDS Executive Asst
Paula Ford - LifeKIDS Team
Amanda Hyden - LifeKIDS Programming Team
Masey Tillery - LifeKIDS Production/'Distribution
Youth Team
Zach King - Pastor, Executive Director of Youth
Terry Van Winkle - Pastor, Youth Leadership Development
Andy Tilly - Central Youth Communication
Kristin Packnett - Youth Admin Asst
Jeremy McCarter - Pastor, Youth SWITCH Experiences
LifeMissions/Mercy Ministry Team
Danny Vaughan - Pastor, Executive Director of LifeMissions
Jules Kloefkorn - Mercy Ministries
Jessica Thayer - LifeMissions Director
Rhonda King - LifeMissions Administrator
Experience Team
Kellian Schneider - Executive Director of Experiences
Mark Dawson - Senior Video Producer
Nick Jones - Video Producer - Youth
Aaron Ryburn - Video Producer - LifeKIDS
Grant Downing - Video Producer - Youth
Beth Johnson - Video Producer - LifeKIDS
Kevin Ely - Video Producer
Marcy McConnell - Host Team Coordinator
Stephen Cox - Graphic Designer
Abbi Zeliff - Graphic Designer
Crystal Davidson - Administrative Assistant
Finance Team
Cathi Linch - Executive Director of Finance
Robin Lee - Director of Finance
Kathie Unsell - Payroll Coordinator
Delicia Reherman - Contributions Specialist II
Maurine Holt - Contracts Coordinator
Lynn Fowler - Contribution Coordinator
Bonnie Thornton - Accounts Payable & Financial Reporting Coordinator
Jennifer Beagles - Accounts Payable Specialist
Christiana Bivins - Accountant
Buffy Pruett - Contributions Specialist
Technology/IT Team
Gary Holmes - Executive Director of Technology
Phil Rapp - Technical Team Leader
Suzy Crisswell - Systems Administrator
Andrew Snyder - Network Support Technician
Chris Thomas - Network Support Specialist
Stephen Gruenewald - Senior Tech Specialist
Kyle Thomas - Tech Specialist
Evan Hamilton - Tech Specialist
Brad Coats - Network Administrator
Katie Hoots - Administrative Assistant
Jared Taylor - Tech Specialist
Cody Birsner - Programmer/Software Engineer
Josh Turmel - Web Developer
Candace Penry - Media Distribution
Zach Gilliam - Media Distribution
Alison Dowdy - Website Administrator
Construction & Design
Mark Allen - Executive Director of Construction & Design
Travis Reynolds - Construction & Design Specialist
Rusty Stepp - Project Manager
Gina Evraets - Administrative Assistant
Scott Miller - Facilities
Communications & Public Relations Team
Katie Moore - Director of Communications & Public Relations
Erica Buchanan - LifeStore Director
Lisa Branson - LifeStore Coordinator
Human Resources
Terri Taylor - Director of Benefits and HR Administration
Aaron Ball - Training and Development Specialist
Ginger Ward - Director of Training and Development
Jessica Grimm - Human Resource Admin Asst
Receptionist Team
Malley Lynes - Receptionist
Danna Reynolds - Receptionist
Purchasing & Distribution
John Bizal - Purchasing & Distribution Coordinator
Jim Bernethy - Purchasing & Distribution Assistant
New Campus Launch Team
Damon Hudson - Launch Leader
Desiree Good - Launch Leader
Christie Coleman - Campus Launch Team Support
Partnership Exploration
Brian Ahern - Director of Partnership Exploration
Jeff Riles - Resource Manager
Kelton Hogan - Resource Manager
Digerati Team
Terry Storch - Pastor, Digerati Leader


LifeChurch.tv Edmond Pastoral Team
Miles Paludan - Edmond Campus Pastor
Trent Austin - Worship Pastor
Rod Costner - Associate Campus Pastor
David Brown - LifeGroups/LifeMissions Pastor
Tim Knox - Youth Pastor
Ketric Newell - Youth Pastor
LifeChurch.tv Edmond Staff
Patti Smith - Edmond Campus Administrator
Renee Brunette - LifeCare
Barbara Courson - LifeGroups Administrative Assistant
Jayma Winters - Volunteer Coordinator
Wendy Stanley - Youth Administrator
Josh Ritchie - Facilities Team
Brad Jackson - Facilities Team
Julie Brooks - LifeKIDS Director
Shauna Thomas - Administrative Assistant
Lacey Payne - LifeKIDS Ministry Coordinator
Stephen Hudgins - Tech Specialist
LifeChurch.tv OKC Pastoral Team
Chris Spradlin - Campus Pastor
Lance Young - Associate Campus Pastor
Chuck Salser - LifeGroups/LifeMissions Pastor
JC Riley - Youth Pastor
Dedra Smith - Associate Youth Pastor
Stephen Cole - Worship Pastor
LifeChurch.tv OKC Staff
Celia Borror - Administrative Assistant to Chris Spradlin
Dea Creek - Campus Administrator
Rodney Holt - Volunteer Relations Coordinator
Gary Hudlow - Facilities Director
Gina McClain - LifeKIDS Director
Toni Quinton - Cast Member Relations
Cari Kelley - LifeKIDS Administrative Assistant
Keast Neal - Facilities Team
Kristina Villar - Youth Administrator
Jil Neel - Administrative Assistant
Lisa Crawford - LifeKIDS Experience Coordinator
Justin Edge - LifeKIDS Ministry Coordinator
Arthur Smith - Facilities Team
LifeChurch.tv South OKC Pastoral Team
Trevor Williams - Campus Pastor
Clint Brewer - Associate Campus Pastor
JT Murrell - Worship Pastor
Wade Smith - Youth Pastor
Nick Smith - Associate Youth Pastor
LifeChurch.tv South OKC Staff
Laura Suttles - LifeKIDS Director
Stephanie McElhaney - Youth Administrator
Twyler Bibbins - LifeKIDS Castmember Relations
Marjorie Leibrock - Campus Administrator
Karyn Taylor - Administrative Assistant
Amy Urbach - Volunteer Coordinator
Michelle Adams - LifeKIDS Ministry Coordinator
Gage Brim - Facilities Team
Ian Grimm - Facilities Team


...ad infinitum -M

Bringing truth to a postmodern world that no longer believes in truth.

Metro come on my man ....Straight out of a brochure

Little much don't ya think?

Hey metro, what are those crop circles on the hill in front of LifeChurch Edmond?

mmm, just curious where on the website you found the info. it's been awhile but I know awhile back Craig had said he makes it purposely hard for people to find his name plastered on everything. I can't speak from the website since I haven't used it in awhile (perhaps I should), however I know its not on the bulletin, etc. anyhow, I think that is besides the point, a distraction from the message.

jbrown, I didn't know they had crop circles out front, BUT I believe you could be serious since the current message series is called Urban Legends, debunking spiritual myths. (kind of like the crop circles are urban legends, etc.) You should listen to one of the sermons online. They're only 20 minutes or so and very relevant to today's lifestyle. It's been a funny but serious message series that has garnered international interest including Youtube.com . A message a few weeks back was partially shot at a house which local urban legend claims to be "haunted". In the video you will notice some odd ghostly images. This has sparked global interest on youtube.com, thus thousands of people worldwide that otherwise might not hear the gospel message, are hearing because of this message series.

here is a link to the youtube videos. its the first one on this page.

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. (http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=lifechurch.tv)

on lifechurch's website there's a list of staff for the whole organization and a list for each satellite. i didn't even list every name that was contained on the site. honestly, though, i don't think it's a big deal one way or the other if lifechurch lists those in its employ... i was merely having a laugh at the idea that lifechurch wouldn't stoop so low as to list everyone's names and titles.

i just think it's a bit dishonest to say that it's only about the message. regardless of what i think of its theology... lifechurch is marketed like a brand. it markets branded bumper stickers, tee shirts, albums, etc. while you may argue that those are just witnessing tools, you can't deny that on these items themselves the brand is being marketed over the message. -M