Earthdate: 7/26/07 Captains Log: DAY 2 Des Moines – Lutheran Church of Hope (LCoH)
Today we stopped at the two fastest growing churches of the ELCA (Evangelical Church in America…our national church affiliation). First we started at Hosanna! Lutheran. (http://www.hosannalc.org/). We went with the thought of just to check out the campus, because we were ahead of schedule and it was on the way. Fortunately, we were blessed by an impromptu meeting of one of Hosanna’s pastors. Pastor Tim shared that about 3 years ago Hosanna! added a 3,000+ seat worship space which is full for the 3 weekend services already! He also shared that HL had 13 pastors on staff. (Only one ordained and only 6 fulltime…this idea of non-ordained pastors is a unique thing that Hosanna!) HL was a beautiful space with awesome ministries from Alpha to a motorcycle club, to skateboarders club. Hosanna is in the process of planting two new churches.
Next we headed down I-35 to Des Moines. We were greeted by Pastor Molly of Lutheran Church of Hope (LCoH) who took us on a campus tour. LCoH is in the middle of a huge building project. They are in the process of adding 2,600 seat worship center.
LCoH, unlike Hosanna!, is not planting daughter churches, but planting satellite churches. They presently have planted two satellites and are in the process of planting a third.
LCoH is busy place that teeters on the edge of organized chaos. Great wisdom was gleaned from LCoH, for example they are creating a systematized way of identifying, grooming and growing leaders. (They will be sending us their program later in the month) They operate with the rule of “don’t commit to anything till it is absolutely necessary.” (building buildings, adding staff, etc.)
Another unique LCoH thing is that LCoH only had Contemporary worship for its first 10 years. But, as they got bigger, they decided to add a Traditional Worship chapel (the most beautiful space on campus with seating for 300) Who goes to this service? A unique blend of two generations. Senior citizens and 20 something children who were raised in traditional worship, left church for a while, came back and wanted traditional worship. To be sure this is the smallest service of their 7 worship services on a weekend, but a vital part of their community.
Pastor Molly shared how nearly every room at LCoH has more than one function. LCoH tries to maximize the investment/tool of their entire church building. This using every inch of space adds to its uniqueness, charm and organized chaotic feel. There is just a buzz and an energy about the place that is contagious.
We later met with Pastor Scott who is the new Satellite pastor LCoH NorthBranch. (http://www.hopenorthbranch.org/) Scott shared how LCoH NB has intentionally avoided the whole “When will we build a building” question with the anwer,“We will build a building when it fits our mission.” Rather than going to a larger worship space they decided to add another worship time.
We got to check out VBS at LCoH. Wow! Four hundred kids for the evening. We missed the morning time slot where there were 1,200 kids (no—that number is correct…no typos)! The same numbers occurred the week before. LCoH sees VBS as a major outreach into the community. Our team was very impressed with the parent and older youth leadership/participation. The group worship was like one mass aerobic class of 50 adults and 400 kids. Words cannot truly convey the energy…check out the pictures!
The last piece of the day was my personal favorite. We went to one of LCoH satellites. Immersion is LCoH satellite for 20 somethings. It started out just as a band practice. But people started coming just to listen to the band. A congregation was being born. Six months later, the senior pastor asked if they would like to add worship elements to the practice for the audience…and…a congregation was born. The music was concert loud and the participation was spirit-filled reminiscent of a mini Life Light Fest. You can check this satellite online at http://www.beimmersed.com/
A full day, but a great day. Find pictures of the day at:
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0CYtW7lw3aMXNA
Thanks for all your prayers…we feel them…keep ‘em coming!
Peace Out!
T-Rob
No comments:
Post a Comment