The group of 42 gathered in the back room of a Huntersville bowling alley to dream and pray. Their dream? To create the opportunity to worship and continuously grow, while following Jesus more closely in a radically open and inclusive way. They wanted to create an environment to meet with friends and explore questions about God without having to pretend they had it all together or wading through a bunch of religious lingo – an alternative community that wouldn’t make assumptions about what they believed about God or knew about the Bible. The group believed that the best way to grow in our love for God is to begin a mission of loving others in Jesus’ name, and thus they began their mission to create a place “for people who’ve given up on church, but not on God.”
The group of Lake Norman-ers from the bowling alley, with the help (otherwise known as love, support and money) of Forest Hill Church in South Charlotte, took their first step at creating the church they had dreamed of. Lake Forest Church “went public” in a Huntersville Skating Rink; founding Pastor Mike Moses even preached under a disco ball!
A church of about 150 grew that year with the united goal of creating “a real place for real people and a real God.” Two years later, LFC moved to the Lake Norman YMCA for some extra square footage. They grew in service to the world and the community, becoming a church of around 500.
Following a successful vision and stewardship campaign called “Dare You to Move,” LFC opened its doors at its first permanent location on Gilead Road in Huntersville for Easter Services.
LFC’s next vision campaign, Love10 (love to the tenth power) solidified the church’s vision of God’s commandment in Acts 1:8 and saw the body move as one towards the common goals of one more person, one more church, one more neighborhood and one more leader.
LFC-Huntersville made space for 250 additional guests by adding seats to the balcony and building a multi-purpose building, “The Box,” for children, youth and special events.
Lake Forest Church-Davidson held its first worship service at Davidson Elementary School, and LFC began a new chapter as one church in two locations.
Soon, there was a calling to reach people of the west side of Lake Norman.
LFC-WestLake launches at Lincoln Charter Elementary School in Denver, NC.
Unified, sacrificial and generous giving to the Immeasurably More Vision allows Lake Forest-Huntersville to open an expanded lobby and partner with a local, independent coffee shop to create a public gathering/work space. Funds are also used to seed a preschool – The Learning Tree at Lake Forest – which opened to 75 students in September 2018.
Lake Forest-WestLake’s Immeasurably More vision to become permanent stakeholders in the Denver community is fully funded and 42 acres of land are purchased for the site of a future church build.
A new LFC Church for the Spanish-speaking community in our area launched on Sunday, September 8 in Huntersville’s Huntington Green Community. Pastor Victor Leal serves as Teaching Pastor.
In January of 2021, in the height of a pandemic, we trusted God’s lead to launch our first intentionally cross-ethnic faith community in the University City area under the leadership of Terrel & Kemi Huntley.
We look to Cabarras County and the thriving community there as we trust God for our next Church planting pastor.
LFC’s history shows that this journey is about trusting God to do something truly unique and meaningful in and through imperfect people. God has allowed Lake Forest Church to grow tremendously, but the goal was never size. The goal always was, and continues to be, based upon the ideas of authentic community, learning the Scriptures, honest conversation, serving those in need, and exploring the question…
“WHERE IS GOD TAKING US NEXT?”