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1395 Campus View Court, Oviedo, FL 32765
For Immediate Release
Contact: Carolyn Smith, Director of Communications
407.359.2112, ext. 101; carolynsmith@ucumc.net
Orlando, FL—On Saturday, September 29, and Sunday, October 1, LifeSong Church opened its doors in East Orlando. After months of prayer, preparation, planning, construction, advertising and practice, the extension campus of University Carillon United Methodist Church (Oviedo) finally became a reality.
One visitor commented, “I’ve been waiting for you to open!” Her sentiment confirmed what the new congregation believed: East Orlando needed churches.
“We knew that the population was exploding in the Avalon area, but churches were scarce,” reports LifeSong Church Pastor Lyndol Loyd. “We hoped we could begin to fill that need.” If the weekend was any indication, that is exactly what is happening. More than 450 people attended services on Saturday and Sunday.
In the worship area, the church’s first services were marked by band-driven music, introductions of staff members, and a practical sermon on family relationships. (The initial preaching series, called Everybody Loves Family, uses illustrations from the popular sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond.) In another part of the building, children teemed in beach-themed rooms, staffed by trained and background-checked personnel.
Cindy Morgan, an Eastwood resident and longtime member of University Carillon United Methodist Church, LifeSong’s parent church, described the first service as “awesome,” saying that it had been a long time coming. (The original target date for opening was revised several times due to delays in construction of the Alafaya Village building the church is renting.) She said the whole family had helped out during the week getting ready for the first service.
Cindy added that, even though LifeSong was closer to her home, she and her husband Porter had initially debated moving from their familiar church location in Oviedo. Her 9-year-old daughter Alex made the decision for them; she asked, “Wouldn’t it be nice if I saw some of my friends from school at church?”
Reacting to the first service, Pastor Loyd said that the moment everyone had prayed and planned and hoped for had come. “It was an incredible experience.”
It was just the beginning. “We will keep reaching out to the East Orlando community,” he said. “We want to have a long-term impact. We want East Orlando to be a different place than it was before LifeSong came. We want life to be better in East Orlando for those who come to LifeSong and for those who don’t come.” |
