LifeChurch.tv LifeChurch.tv
Brings The Church
By Deborah Welky
experience at all. Our church is not what they expect.” Founded in 1996 by Senior Pastor Craig Groeschel, LifeChurch.tv has 18 campuses around the United States, primarily in Oklahoma. There is also one in New York, one in Tennessee, two in Texas and one in Florida. That Florida campus is located on State Road 7 in Wellington. The building opened two years ago, but attendees met at Palm Beach Central High School for five years prior to that. Mayer said the majority of people who find their way to the Wellington campus come through an invitation from a friend who has had his or her life changed through LifeChurch.tv. Some drop in simply because they’ve been driving past the building. “Maybe they were looking for a church and they
Fellowship
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April 2014 |wellington the magazine| 10th Anniversary
weren’t sure what was happening here,” Mayer said. That is how Wellington residents Joe and Ashley Maguire got involved. “We saw the building go up, and we were curious about it,” Joe Maguire recalled. “I didn’t know what it was, but I kept hearing people talking about it in the community, so I went online to see what it was all about. Every one of Pastor Groeschel’s messages hit home. I felt I learned something every time I listened.” The online experience led the Maguires to visit the Wellington campus. “We got the kids together and Ashley’s mother, and, as soon as we walked in, we were greeted by LifeChurch.tv staff and met Pastor Larry. The LifeKids pastor showed us around the LifeKids area. Within five minutes, we knew that
Inspiration
You enter the auditorium and the music is pulsating, the fog is rolling, the lights are flashing. There are three huge TV screens over your head and your friends are there. You grab a cup of coffee and something to eat. Your kids break away to be with the other kids. Are you at a rock concert? Some sporting event? No, you’re at church — LifeChurch.tv. Although its approach is non-traditional, the mission of LifeChurch.tv is simple — to lead people to become fully devoted Christians, using technology to make it happen. “We don’t do spaghetti dinners or bingo night,” explained Pastor Larry Mayer, leader of Lifechurch.tv’s Wellington campus. “We create an atmosphere where people feel valued, needed and wanted — especially people who have given up on church or have no church