Movie theaters have always been a place for people to go for entertainment, and churches have always been places for worship. Now the two very different places will become one.
Starting Sunday, Life Church will hold weekly services at 9:30 a.m. Sundays in the three-story UltraScreen auditorium at the Marcus Majestic Cinema off I-94 in the Town of Brookfield.
Life Church is the first religious institution in Milwaukee to hold services in a movie theater on such a large scale.
About a thousand people currently attend Life Church’s services at their Germantown location, and they’re expanding so they can reach a broader audience. The UltraScreen auditorium at the Majestic, which they call their new “West Campus” seats 477 people, and is the largest theater of its kind in Wisconsin.
“Opening this second campus makes us more accessible to the 46,000 households located within a five-mile radius of the Majestic,” Life Church senior pastor Aaron Cole said.
The Germantown campus opened in 2000, an outreach from Evangel Assembly of God in Milwaukee.
Pastor Cole's Sunday sermons will be delivered live at the Germantown location, and seen via video on the 72-foot wide screen at the Majestic “West Campus” location.
“We present the gospel as 10 percent instruction and 90 percent application,” said Jeremy Chapman, the new West Campus Pastor. “Pastor Cole breaks down the teaching into bite-size pieces so it applies to everyday life.”
Both locations will have live worship bands featuring guitars, bass, keyboard, drums and lead vocals.
“Our worship music is very energetic. It is contemporary in music style, selection and volume,” Chapman said.
During the main service in the UltraScreen auditorium, child care will be on-site for birth through fifth grade. A children's program, LifeKids, will have activities, crafts and an age-appropriate church service for elementary students. It will be held in a 71-seat smaller theater at the Majestic.
Life Church created this video to explain how the adult and children's services will work at the theater.
Guests are welcomed to attend Life Church’s ministries. The inaugural service this Sunday will be titled “Masquerade: What Mask Are You Wearing?”
“Our main goal is to change people’s lives,” Chapman said. “We try to help people see church differently, and that means doing church differently. At Life Church we think church should be fun, and we know that people are enjoying their experience when they laugh with us.”
The first 300 people to attend Sunday will receive free movie passes, and all elementary-aged children at LifeKids will receive complimentary movie candy.
