New Life Ministries will hold its first service on Easter Sunday in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. The church will meet in the Scarritt Building ballroom at 818 Grand.
Pastor Troy Campbell says New Life wants to be a part of the revitalization of downtown. The church, Campbell says, hopes to attract a diverse crowd, from the homeless to loft dwellers. “It takes away the societal breaking points and it gives us some sort of equality at the foot of the cross,” he says.
If the church fails, it won’t be for lack of marketing. New Life built a spiffy Web site, rented a billboard along I-70 and placed yard signs around downtown. Campbell insists that the branding efforts were more spontaneous than they may appear. “Our marketing is what is it is, but it’s just happened that way. We just praise the Lord for it.”
Campbell, 30, says he’d never started a church before. He says he has been a minister for eight years, but he declines to say where he last preached. Chances are, New Life’s services will look familiar to Baptists. In church incorporation papers, Campbell used a Lee’s Summit address that’s an office of the American Association of Christian Schools, which has Baptist ties.
A Web search indicates that a Troy Campbell used to be the adult ministries pastor at Tri-City Ministries, a Baptist church in Independence. Campbell did not respond to an e-mail asking if he served at Tri-City. He was, perhaps, mindful of a story I wrote in 2005 that described Tri-City’s opaque financial activities under senior Pastor Carl Herbster.
But here’s to fresh starts. New Life worship services begin at 10:45 a.m.
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David - Thanks for the update. I am interested in the revitalization of downtown Kansas City and particularly in the faith communities. It will be interesting to how this venture and worshipping communities in the downtown area react to economic and building changes downtown.
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