LifePointe Christian Church in Fort Mill South Carolina, led by Nate Siemon, believes in getting better before you get bigger. The reality is LifePointe is doing both. With average weekly attendance of approximately 700 people over two weekend services, the communities of South Charlotte, Fort Mill and Rock Hill are truly coming together to worship, serve and grow.
When Matt McGue partnered with Stadia in 2004 to plant LifePointe, Nate soon joined the team as the Student Pastor, eventually becoming their Campus Pastor. Nate reflects on his time serving with Matt. “Matt is my hero in ministry,” says Nate. “He believed in me and saw more in me than I saw in myself. Next to my wife, he has been my biggest cheerleader. His leadership style has tremendously impacted me and helped me develop into the leader I am today.”
When Matt knew he was being called to start ONE Church in Jackson, MS, he wisely realized that the period of transition was going to be a marathon, not a sprint. Nate and Matt worked alongside each other during a year-long transition that culminated in Matt passing the baton of leadership to Nate. Nate credits this intentional, well thought out transition to the continued success of LifePointe. Matt and Nate still speak to each other about every six weeks.
Recently, their conversations have focused on diversity within the church. LifePointe has always seen ethnic diversity among its members and recently that has become an even more defined characteristic of the church. Matt is leading ONE church in one of the most culturally diverse areas of the community. Together, these men brainstorm and strategize on how to best serve those in their church population.
In this spirit, LifePointe partners with ONE Church by donating items such as school supplies for their Hope Truck.
LifePointe continues to embrace Stadia’s vision of Every Child Has a Church and this fall will begin to implement a three part program called Every Child. First, they are launching a partnership with their local elementary school to pioneer a mentoring program. Nate explained that this hasn’t been done in their local community and they are looking forward to connecting students one-to-one with members of their church. The second part of Every Child is an Adoption and Foster Care ministry which will begin by “wrapping its arms around people who have done this in our own congregation.” Then, focusing on lifting the value of adoption and foster care in the community. Finally, Every Child will be opening a safe-house for abused and battered children that have been removed from their home.