Craig Groeschel's Life.Church to open 40th campus at new facility in Kansas
Life.Church, the multi-site megachurch overseen by Pastor Craig Groeschel, will be opening its 40th satellite campus next week, with the new facility located in Kansas.
Life.Church Derby, which is located around 12 miles from Wichita, will hold its official opening services on Sunday, making it the third Life.Church campus for the Wichita metropolitan area.
Zach Hurley, pastor of Life.Church Derby, told The Christian Post that the other two local campuses serve different communities spread out over the metropolitan area.
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“We recognize how important it is for people to be able to attend a church that is located in and invested in the community where they live,” Hurley said.
“So, in addition to our West Wichita and East Wichita locations, we wanted to open a location to serve the people of Derby and the surrounding communities.”
Hurley stated that those planning to attend the Derby location “are excited for this location to open and have a new way to reach their community,” Hurley stated.
“There are so many people who need the love and hope of Christ, which is why we continue to be passionate about opening new locations,” he added.
In advance of the opening, Life.Church spread the word through personal invitations from volunteers and staff and pushed the event on social media.
Originally launched in 1996 with a small group of people meeting in Edmond, Oklahoma, Life.Church has since ballooned into a multi-site megachurch with campuses in several states.
In 2018, Life.Church opened its 30th campus in Rogers, Arkansas, and boasted approximately 85,000 weekly worship attendees across all of its locations.
“We’re excited about it,” said Bobby Gruenewald, innovation leader at Life.Church and creator of the popular YouVersion Bible App, in an interview with CP in 2018.
“We see a lot of people coming to Christ through the ministry, which is a big emphasis for us, but it’s an exciting time for sure.”
As with other Life.Church campuses, the Derby location will have its own pastor and staff. But the church will still mostly feature the preaching of Groeschel via livestream.
“While there are opportunities throughout the year for our local pastors to preach live, the majority of our weekend messages are from our Senior Pastor Craig Groeschel,” noted Hurley.
“Every experience begins with high-energy worship led by our own worship pastor and a live band. And I also get to lead a team of incredible pastors who are excited about pastoring our neighbors in Derby.”
Later this year, Life.Church is expecting to open another new campus in Amarillo, Texas.
