Christ the King Case Statement

Imagine walking into a Christian community where economic, cultural, and political differences are set aside for the greater mission at hand. This community worships in the lower level of an office building and therefore draws people into its presence not with a stunning appearance, but rather with the powerful experience of God’s love. As you look across the many faces, you see that you are in a place where men are as excited as women to go to worship and help out in all activities. You also recognize that you are in the presence of a people who continue to give more of themselves in spite and because of the difficult economy. In this community, people can proudly and publically speak the name of Jesus not as a curse word but rather as the Living Word. You now see for yourself what you have been hearing about at the nearby coffee shop – the Sunday morning worship experiences are some of the most diverse gatherings of people in the local community. What you are imagining is God’s dream for Lapeer that is being discovered and lived out by Christ the King Lutheran Church, a congregation that exists in order that all may know the love of God in Jesus Christ.

Christ the King is a community where a 50 year old father of two recently learned to pray for the first time, where a 30 year old woman learned to forgive a person who used to abuse her, where marriages are being saved and old wounds are being healed all by the power of God. On an average Sunday morning, over 25% of the people in worship are 18 years old or younger. Half of the people who regularly worship with Christ the King had not worshiped God in any congregation for over ten years, or ever, before entering our community. When most of these people first set foot in the door at Christ the King, it was their first Lutheran worship experience. New worshipers tell us that they most admire the authenticity, grace, and hospitality of the Christians they encounter here. We regularly receive and love to answer questions such as: “What’s the difference between worship and Sunday School,” “Do you really believe you’re eating flesh and drinking blood,” and “How can an all-powerful God die?” We intentionally challenge people’s faith rather than shy away from difficult questions, because we believe that faith, like a muscle, must be stretched in order to grow stronger. We sincerely believe that this is why nearly half of the baptisms we administer are for adults.

As Christ the King Lutheran Church, we are dedicated to living out our mission, and we therefore have a clear strategy for reaching our neighbors. This strategy involves monthly evangelism projects, the purpose of which is to “share God’s love in a practical way.” These projects include, but are not limited to: 1) Handing out carnations at the local farmer’s market around Mother’s Day, 2) Giving 9-volt batteries to families in winter for use in their smoke detectors, 3) Doing a door-to-door distribution of flower seed packets in the spring to remind people of the new life we experience in Jesus, 4) Planting pumpkin seeds on the church land and then giving the grown pumpkins away in the fall, and 5) Raking leaves and trimming branches for people in the community. Our strategy also includes using direct mail to reach 11,500 homes at a time with the message of hope and love that is revealed in Jesus. This strategy has helped our attendance more than triple in three years (from around 30 people to over 100 people on an average Sunday).

As a community, we continue to seek new ways to reach those who have not come to know the power of God’s love in Jesus Christ. Therefore, we recently began an endeavor to establish a mission center on the congregation’s eight acres that are located on M-24. This mission center will be used for worship, evangelism, discipleship, service, and fellowship. Above all, it will be a center in which our mission is discerned and from which our mission is shared. We invite you, through your prayers and financial support, to take part in this life-changing opportunity that is part of God’s dream for the Lapeer community and beyond.