Utah church plant launches on Easter Sunday

Harvest Time: Having a church building is key in Stansbury Park community

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The newest USMB church moved into its new facility April 14 for its last prelaunch service. Lakeview Church, sitting on the shore of the Great Salt Lake in Stansbury Park, Utah, took the keys to its new building with just days to spare before the public launch of services on Easter Sunday.

Situated 25 minutes west of downtown Salt Lake City, Stansbury Park is a burgeoning community that is home to a significant Mormon population. With little evangelical presence, Stansbury Park is in need of a gospel-centered church to reach a fast-growing population that is steeped in religion.

Phil Wiebe, lead pastor of Lakeview Church, has been working tirelessly for the past several months with realtors, contractors and construction workers to locate and build out a storefront facility that can be used for ministry and outreach purposes. Having an actual building in town is important in a region of the country that is marked by the physical presence of so many church buildings with long spires pointing into the sky. Located right on the main thoroughfare into town, the new Lakeview Church building is ideally situated to attract and host people as the gospel is proclaimed and ministry is carried out in Jesus’ name.

As a new community of believers, Lakeview Church exists to help people find the joy of salvation and freedom from shame and guilt that comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ. Phil and the rest of the launch team know and understand that a church is not a building, but a group of people forgiven by Jesus and living in the grace of his love. They know and understand that unless Jesus is building his church, they’re laboring in vain. A church building, though, helps serve as a tool from which Jesus can be lifted up and the truth of the gospel can be communicated and lived out.

Lakeview Church is part of a collaborative local and national effort between Mennonite Brethren from across the United States, the Pacific District Conference; Multiply, the MB church planting agency, and numerous local MB churches from around the country, such as The Bridge Bible Church in Bakersfield, Calif., and Birch Bay Community Church in Birch Bay, Wash.

Partnership, relationship and support have been key components in the birth of Lakeview Church. Yes, Jesus builds his church, and he invites us to be part of what he is doing. But when the body of believers links together for the cause of the gospel, then the reality of oneness that Jesus prayed for in John 17 is lived out and exemplified in the world. That linkage and partnership is part of the beautiful unfolding story that is Lakeview Church.

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