Southland Christian Church is an

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

Christian

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

based in Kentucky, US.

Overview

The church is located in an unincorporated area of

Jessamine County, Kentucky Jessamine County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 52,991. Its county seat is Nicholasville. The county was founded in December 1798. Jessamine County is part of the Lexington-Fay ...

, just outside Lexington. The main campus is at Nicholasville. The church has four additional campuses. The church is associated with the

Christian churches and churches of Christ The group of churches known as the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ is a fellowship of congregations within the Restoration Movement (also known as the Stone–Campbell Movement and the Reformation of the 19th Century) that have no form ...

. Its current Senior Pastor, Jon Weece, came to the church as a teaching pastor in 2000, and became Lead Follower in 2003.

Size and facility

Southland Christian Church is considered a

megachurch A megachurch is a church with a very large membership that also offers a variety of educational and social activities. Most megachurches are Evangelical, although the term denotes a type of organization, not a denomination. A megachurch draws 2 ...

. It is one of Kentucky's largest churches, averaging over 12,000 in attendance per weekend in 10 services - two in Nicholasville, two in Lexington, two at Danville, two at Georgetown and two at Richmond. The church has several ministries, including Helping Through Him (an on-site warehouse at the Nicholasville campus), care, outreach and creative arts. An online church is available.

History

The church started in 1956 as a mission of Broadway Christian Church in Lexington. The founding pastor, Wayne Smith, came from Unity Christian Church (near Cynthiana, Kentucky), and held the first service with 172 people in attendance. The church was originally located on Hill 'N Dale Drive (near Southland Drive) in Lexington. In 1981, the church had grown substantially and relocated to a site in neighboring Jessamine County. It has since expanded its property to . Senior Pastor Wayne Smith announced his retirement in 1995. By this time, average church attendance was in the thousands. Mike Breaux, pastor of Canyon Ridge Christian Church in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

, was invited to preach as a guest. After this, he was hired as Senior Pastor. During his tenure the church grew to an attendance of more than 7,000 persons a week. Jon Weece joined Southland as a teaching pastor in 2000, sharing in the responsibilities of a church with six weekend services. After a building program that reduced the weekend services from six to five, Breaux moved to

Willow Creek Community Church Willow Creek Community Church is an Evangelical nondenominational multisite megachurch based in the northwestern Chicago suburb of South Barrington, Illinois. It was founded on October 12, 1975 by Dave Holmbo and Bill Hybels, who was its longtim ...

in South Barrington, Illinois, in 2003. Weece, a former missionary to

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

, became the third senior pastor on September 1, 2003. Still in his twenties at the time, he was one of the youngest megachurch senior pastors in the United States. In 2009, Southland opened its first satellite campus in

Danville, KY Danville is a home rule-class city and the county seat of Boyle County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 17,236 at the 2020 census. Danville is the principal city of the Danville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of t ...

. In 2010, Southland purchased the former Lexington Mall and a campus opened there in January 2013. In 2015, Southland began holding services in

Georgetown, KY Georgetown is a home rule-class city in Scott County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 37,086 at the 2020 census. It is the sixth-most populous city in Kentucky. It is the seat of its county. It was originally called Lebanon when ...

at Lemons Mill Elementary. In 2018, Southland announced a launch of a new campus in Richmond, KY in 2020.

Locations

Adopting a "single church in multiple locations" strategy, sermons are preached at the Nicholasville Campus and streamed to the remaining 4 satellite campuses: * Danville Campus
1001 Ben Ali Dr. #2, Danville, KY 40422
* Georgetown Campus
134 Amerson Way, Georgetown, KY 40324
* Lexington Campus
2349 Richmond Rd, Lexington, KY 40502
* Richmond Campus - 1414 Robert R Martin Bypass Richmond KY 40475

Beliefs

As a

Restoration Movement The Restoration Movement (also known as the American Restoration Movement or the Stone–Campbell Movement, and pejoratively as Campbellism) is a Christian movement that began on the American frontier during the Second Great Awakening (1790–1 ...

church, Southland's beliefs are similar to other churches' in the movement, although local congregations are independent and may vary slightly from each other. Southland members include a large number of people with roots in denominations outside the Restoration Movement, including a significant number from Baptist and Wesleyan/Methodist traditions among others. As such, the church also has strong influences from, and often identifies itself with,

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

. Southland's mission statement is that they are courageous followers of Jesus who love God and love people in their communities, in their city, and in the world. Southland is a church of people who believe the best way to live life is with Jesus, in community, and on mission. The church believes that marriage is a "a life-long relationship between a man and a woman."

References

External links

Southland Christian Church Website
* * {{coord, 37.96980, N, 84.59316, W, source:placeopedia, display=title Churches in Boyle County, Kentucky Churches in Jessamine County, Kentucky Churches in Lexington, Kentucky Christian churches and churches of Christ Evangelical churches in Kentucky Evangelical megachurches in the United States Culture of Lexington, Kentucky U.S. Route 68 1956 establishments in Kentucky 2009 establishments in Kentucky 2013 establishments in Kentucky Megachurches in Kentucky