{"id":79770,"date":"2016-09-10T08:37:09","date_gmt":"2016-09-10T13:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=79770"},"modified":"2016-09-12T07:01:08","modified_gmt":"2016-09-12T12:01:08","slug":"lifehouse-church-ready-for-1st-sunday-in-new-building","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2016\/09\/10\/lifehouse-church-ready-for-1st-sunday-in-new-building\/","title":{"rendered":"Lifehouse has 1st service in new building"},"content":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n

Approximately 9\u00bd years ago, Matt and Tina Braun and 100 of their spiritual friends decided to start a new church.<\/p>\n

\"Just
Just a portion of Lifehouse Church’s new adult meeting area, with state-of-the-art sound and lighting and large TV screens.<\/strong> Dave Mosier\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The result, Lifehouse Church, quickly grew to the point that the Brauns and their congregation needed to find more space to worship. That process ended a year ago when church members purchased the former Pick \u2018N\u2019 Save building. Starting in January, the former supermarket was transformed\u00a0into a 15,000-square-foot worship facility with an adult worship area\u00a0that can seat approximately 850 people, with state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems, and several activity areas for the church\u2019s young people.<\/p>\n

The new facility also has a much larger parking area and a huge lobby to accommodate the hundreds of worshipers who attend each Sunday.<\/p>\n

The Brauns, who came to Van Wert when Matt took a position with Trinity United Methodist Church, spent nearly four years at that church before Matt became pastor of Ohio City Church of God. While that church was successful and growing, the Brauns had a vision of a new kind of church that would attract \u201cunchurched\u201d area residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe kind of had a vision about creating a church that people that weren\u2019t attending church wanted to attend, and creating a place that was engaging,\u201d Braun noted.<\/p>\n

The church began meeting in the Clay Center at the YMCA\u2019s Camp Clay, remodeling that facility into a place of worship, and the church began to grow. And grow. And grow.<\/p>\n

From its original congregation of approximately 100 people, Lifehouse has grown to the point that, by last spring, the church was averaging 950 people combined at two Sunday services.<\/p>\n

Braun, the church’s lead pastor, said Lifehouse began feeling the space pinch 4-5 years ago, with a need for more children\u2019s space a particularly pressing problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the finish line,\u201d Matt said of the new facility, \u201cbut four years ago we said \u2018we need a permanent home, we need space, a lobby\u2019 \u2026 our children\u2019s areas were deficient.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"This
This photo shows the building just prior to the start of construction for the new church facility.<\/strong> (photo submitted)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In fact, more of the new Lifehouse Church area is reserved for children than adults. In addition to the adult worship space, Lifehouse includes a large group area and eight smaller areas for preschool children called Waumba Land, while elementary age children have their own area called UpStreet, and middle school and high schoolers congregate in the Attic. Those areas include large and small group areas, an area where kids can shoot hoops or play video games when they\u2019re not engaged in a plethora of activities.<\/p>\n

Braun said more than half the facility is used by children, with more space still available that will be converted as resources become available into an additional area for teenagers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis place is all about children and family,\u201d Braun said. \u201cWe wanted to create such a great environment for children that they\u2019re begging their parents to go to church. That\u2019s what we really work hard to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

He noted that the children\u2019s areas are also secure, with a stringent security system set up in those areas to ensure the kids\u2019 safety.<\/p>\n

Moreover, while Lifehouse Church has gone from two staff members — Braun and his wife, Tina, who is church administrator — to 10 staff members, the real core of the church, Braun noted, is its more than 400 volunteers.<\/p>\n

\"This
This large-group room in Waumba Land includes nice carpet and bright artwork.<\/strong> Dave Mosier\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe have an army of people,\u201d Braun said, adding that volunteers are involved in all areas of the church, from child care, facility preparation for Sunday and weekday activities, to assisting members with parking and distributing bulletins during services and pointing out a restroom (the new facility has 37 of them, compared to six at the Clay Center).<\/p>\n

Braun said he is humbled every day by the level of commitment Lifehouse volunteers have to the church\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is more dedication here than I\u2019ve ever been a part of,\u201d he said, noting that six volunteers\u00a0put in 600-700 hours alone building the church’s new stage area. \u201cThey serve like crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tina Braun, who supervises six groups who provide \u201cguest services\u201d for the hundreds who attend church each Sunday, said volunteers put in lots of hours weekly to meet Lifehouse\u2019s mission of making those who attend as comfortable — and welcome — as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just want to make this place as welcoming as possible, that\u2019s our goal,\u201d Braun said, adding, \u201cand then to tell them that God actually loves them \u2026 to foster a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of those volunteers have been working this week to complete the many little details remaining before this Sunday’s opening services.<\/p>\n

Braun said he\u2019s excited about the first service in the new facility, adding that he has no idea how many people will attend. If it\u2019s anything like this past Easter, 1,600 people could show up for the two Sunday services combined. That many people could really show off the capabilities of the new facility, which is rated for 2,800 people, although Braun doesn\u2019t expect anything like that, at least in the near future.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we ever get 2,800 people in here, it will be a wild day,\u201d Braun said with a smile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/independent editor Approximately 9\u00bd years ago, Matt and Tina Braun and 100 of their spiritual friends decided to start a new church. The result, Lifehouse Church, quickly grew to the point that the Brauns and their congregation needed to find more space to worship. That process ended a year ago when church members purchased […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-07 09:10:20","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79770\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}