New Life Christian Fellowship
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| New Life Christian Fellowship | |
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| Formation | 1989 |
| Location | Blacksburg, Virginia |
| Membership | 1,000 |
| Pastors | Jim Pace, Matt Rogers, Mike Swann |
| Staff | 16[1] |
| Website | nlcf.net |
New Life Christian Fellowship (NLCF) is a church in Blacksburg, Virginia focused on ministering to Virginia Tech students. NLCF currently has a combined one thousand people attending their three worship services on a weekly basis, 600 of which are college students attending services held on the Virginia Tech campus. The church was founded in 1989 by J.R. Woodward as a part of Great Commission Ministries. In 2003, members of NLCF created a church plant in Los Angeles called Kairos.
[edit] Virginia Tech massacre
Following the Virginia Tech Massacre in 2007, NLCF received widespread media coverage. NLCF pastor Jim Pace was a guest on Larry King Live and Good Morning America, CNN created a video[2] of their memorial service.[3] Several newspapers, magazines, and radio shows carried quotes from NLCF pastors. On Larry King Live the night of the massacre, Dr. Phil McGraw applauded Jim Pace's comments and efforts, saying "God bless Pastor Pace for being on site and stepping up and providing a place for people to go to share their thoughts, share their feelings" after Pace told Larry King the church was "just trying to focus on giving some people a variety of different ways they can deal with this. We have some larger group things for people that want to process this with lots of people. And then we've got some smaller things for people that want to hole up in their -- in their dorm or in their apartment and just kind of try to sort this out with a few friends. We're just trying to be as many places as we can. We're helping out with what the university is doing, as well, and just trying to lend our support there."[4] On Good Morning America the morning after the shooting, Pace responded to a request for a single comforting sentence by saying that "any sentence would probably just sound fairly trite." He also pointed to free will as part of the cause of the incident and encouraged people to draw closer to God.[5] Christianity Today reported that two NLCF members died in the massacre and ten others were somehow connected to the church in a feature article on the church.[6] The Washington Post reported Pace as saying "We learned evil is real and evil can hurt us, but God's love is real."[7] Matt Rogers, another NLCF pastor, was interviewed on NPR's Morning Edition, encouraging people to "overcome evil with good."[8]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Meet the Staff. Retrieved on 2007-05-25.
- ^ Faith and forgiveness. CNN.
- ^ Full Video of April 22 Service.
- ^ CNN LARRY KING LIVE - Virginia Tech Massacre (2007-04-16). Retrieved on 2007-08-25.
- ^ Pastor: Words to Comfort Familes Would Be 'Trite'. ABC News (2007-04-17).
- ^ Alford, Deann (2007-04-23). Asking Why. Christianity Today. Retrieved on 2007-08-25.
- ^ Clergy Speak of Evil and Suffering, Love and Strength. Washington Post (2007-04-23). Retrieved on 2007-08-25.
- ^ One Pastor's Prayer Vigil. NPR (2007-04-17). Retrieved on 2007-08-25.
