Church’s size can’t hinder welcome

Kerry Sides had hit rock bottom when she found herself at the church door.

Homeless and with no money left for drugs, she stood outside Life Center on a cold, winter morning – crying for what seemed like an eternity, wondering if she should open the door.

“Hi, I’m Joe,” said a guy inside when she finally stepped in. “It’s nice to meet you.”

He smiled at her, Sides recalled. He shook her hand. He didn’t recoil at her gaunt face, at the fact she had only 100 pounds left on her 6-foot frame.

“I felt nothing but love,” said Sides, recalling how others reached out to her that day nearly eight years ago. When the service began, she realized that Joe – the guy who greeted her at the door – was also the man up front, leading the congregation in prayer. Pastor Joe Wittwer never judged her, she said, even if she had been meth-free for only three days.

Like hundreds of others in the past decade, Sides kept returning to this Foursquare church in Spokane. She came for Wittwer’s message, for the fellowship, for the support she received as she struggled with addiction. Now, she considers this church her home.

While many congregations throughout the area struggle to retain members, some like Life Center are experiencing a boom.

When Wittwer and his wife, Laina, moved to Spokane to lead the church in 1978, Life Center had fewer than 100 members. At the time, they gathered at a tiny building near the Spokane County Courthouse, in a church so small that it owned only six off-street parking spots.

Today, regular Sunday attendance has skyrocketed to 5,000. The congregation grew so large that it had to move from its second location on Nora Street in north Spokane to a brand-new, 80,000-square-foot building in northwest Spokane along the Bloomsday route. The church’s grand opening in September drew so many people that it caused a traffic jam that Sunday morning.

Sides, now 38, was amazed to learn that Life Center had thousands of members. It never felt big to her, she said. Somehow, despite its size, people managed to take time to talk to her, pray for her and pay attention to the problems in her life. “They’ve cared for me from day one,” she said.

Intimacy at this megachurch has been fostered over the years not only by the pastors, some say, but by the members themselves.

Visitors to a church – especially vulnerable ones like Sides – would normally get lost in such a massive organization. But Sides and many others quickly made friends and discovered a sense of belonging thanks to a network of tightly knit church cells. At Life Center, they call it the life group – a regular gathering of three or more people who meet for friendship and spiritual growth.

More than 75 life groups exist at Life Center. There are more than a dozen for parents, depending on the age of their children. Some are exclusively for women or mothers. A few involve volunteer work at the jail, Habitat for Humanity and other community organizations. Others are based on recreational interests including quilting, jogging and bird hunting.

Besides focusing on their commonalities, members of life groups also pray and study the Bible together.

“It’s about supporting each other through both the good and the bad,” said Ed Hoffman, who first came to Life Center three years ago. “We’re a large church made up of small life groups.”

Sides, a mother of six, belongs to a life group of moms who call themselves the “Yo-Yo Yoyos,” a name based on “The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.” They meet once a month for breakfast or lunch, sharing their lives along with their prayer requests.

When Sides was diagnosed with cancer in August, these women, along with others at the church, took turns dropping off hot meals at her home every night for a month. Even now, on the days she has chemotherapy, this group of mothers continues to deliver food to her family.

“They’re my biggest cheerleaders,” Sides said. “I can count on them for anything. These are the kind of relationships I have always wanted in my life.”

The fellowship that members establish during the week in their homes, coffee shops or wherever they gather for their life groups is enhanced during worship services on Wednesday nights and Sundays.

Wittwer, the senior pastor and one of about 18 leaders at Life Center, is a casual, laid-back guy – so casual, in fact, that some were surprised to learn he was the church’s pastor. In the summers, he shows up for services wearing sandals, a polo shirt and shorts. When he speaks during the service, he tries to apply Scripture to daily life. Wittwer doesn’t preach or tell people what to believe, said Bill Rustemeyer, who first came to Life Center eight years ago. Instead, he provides them with guidelines and challenges them to develop their own connections to God.

“He’s there for the people,” Rustemeyer said. “He’s not the kind of guy who puts himself on a pedestal.”

Wittwer, 54 and the father of five children, never dreamed that Life Center would draw so many people. When he and his wife first arrived nearly three decades ago, some members actually left. The Wittwers were both in their 20s at the time, and their youthful, contemporary approach to church didn’t jibe with some people. It did, however, bring in more families – young couples with kids who then invited many others to Life Center.

“We came with a vision to reach people who were far from God,” said Wittwer, recalling his early days at the church.

Life Center’s mission, which hasn’t changed over the years, is simple: “Love God and love one another.” Their focus, members say, is on relationships – with God and with one other.

“It’s not about religion,” Hoffman said. “It’s about personal relationships. … If you’re looking, there’s a good chance you’ll find Christ will meet you where you’re at right here.”