On Easter Sunday of 2012, new life DOWNTOWN had its first public worship service. Gathered in the Carter Payne, a restored historic church building south of downtown Colorado Springs, we worshipped, read the Scriptures, and proclaimed the resurrection of Christ and what it means for all people.
But the story begins a bit before that day. In 2009, Pastor Brady asked Pastor Glenn to lead a new service on Sunday evenings at the main New Life Church campus. Because Pastor Brady believes in paying attention to what God is doing in the hearts of his team and then calling those things out of them, he encouraged Glenn to incorporate some of the liturgical elements Glenn had been re-discovering. Pastor Brady and Glenn studied together each week, preaching from the same text and on the same theme.
Then, in the Fall of 2011, something began stirring in the leadership of New Life Church to begin a campus further south. The idea for a downtown campus arose, and the elders prayed and discussed it. Both Pastor Brady and Glenn have had a burden for the downtown community. With the resurgence of commerce and culture downtown, the time felt right to let a new congregation develop in the heart of our city.
new life DOWNTOWN remains a “parish” of New Life Church, sharing finances and submitting to the oversight of Pastor Brady and to the spiritual counsel of the Elders of the church. While many administrative functions—from IT to HR to accounting—are centralized, the pastoral ministry and community life are localized to our congregation, leadership team, and staff. As one church in two congregations, we trust God for the grace to continue to embody His life and love in our city.
