We began our church in LaSalle as a Sunday morning church in a house not unlike many other church plants. Over time we tried an old racquetball court turned dance room, then on to a musty, run down, former furniture store, and finally bar located inside our local recreation centre. Odd and varying locations indeed, but all were at prime church time on Sunday morning. The idea that stood in front of us now was a whole new game.
Finally after hours of prayer, and opinions volleyed both for and against we felt strongly lead to make our biggest move and step of faith yet. Some said we were crazy, many said it wasn’t even legal. We were going to move our weekly gathering to another local church building down the street. Oh yeah, and we were gonna meet on Tuesday nights, not Sunday. That’s Right, No Church On Sunday! Our church was young, our people lead busy lives, there was no big tradition to break, and people said it would just be better for their lives. But would it?
April 21 2009, we held our 1st ever Tuesday night church meeting; and I was terrified. Would anyone show? Was this a gigantic mistake? Could this spell the end of Lifeline Church?
People showed up. Not a lot, but they showed up. But more important, God was there before we were, and I believe He was planning our move long before we were; and it was ok. The next week there were a few more, and the next even more. After a couple months we realized that this was church and church was working on Tuesday night. In fact it was working better on Tuesday night than it ever had on Sunday. People that were once attending regular every 3 weeks were now attending every week. Our core was growing and solidifying into a family that wanted to serve God and impact their community. People were inviting new friends and the friends were coming back too. And all of this was happening… Not on Sunday morning.
Why am I telling you all of this? Not to pat myself on the back. Not to trumpet Lifeline Church, and certainly not to tell you to copy any of what we’ve done. I’m telling you all this simply to say “let God out of the box”. Don’t limit Him, don’t say you can’t, don’t say it’s never been done that way, and don’t be scared to fall down and get back up and try again. Let God do what God wants to do, wherever and however.
We’re now 4 yrs. old at Lifeline Church in LaSalle, and we’ve been successfully meeting on Tuesday evenings for over 2 yrs. We’re still growing in numbers, slowly, but we’re growing. Most importantly Lifeline Church has become a family in LaSalle that loves each other, and loves the community of LaSalle. We meet together on Tuesday, but we are the church every day of the week wherever we are and whatever we are doing. Loving God and Loving People has become our motto, and that’s what we plan to do here in LaSalle for many years to come.
Kevin Saunders – lead pastor, Lifeline Church, LaSalle
www.lifelinechurch.ca
