We started Great Lakes Church for one reason: To make it easy for people find and follow Jesus Christ. Each week, a team of 300+ volunteers do their absolute best to remove the hurdles that have kept people at a distance from God. We have a huge welcome team to help people feel wanted! We give away everything for FREE to avoid the feeling that "the church just wants my money". We have Growth Groups and volunteer teams to provide care and a relational network for people. Simply put - We're working like crazy to make people feel loved, wanted and accepted.

Maybe I'm naive, but I never imagined that people would be hurt by Great Lakes Church. Everything we do is extremely intentional in helping people avoid negative church experiences. We've done our best to run from legalism and keep mean people from leading. However, since the church is made up of people... we've got flaws! Nobody is hurt by institutions. They're hurt by individuals who have a name and a face. People make dumb comments from time to time. People intentionally or unintentionally gossip. People sometimes don't show the compassion or concern they should towards other people. I hate to admit it, but I'm guilty of hurting people and so are the individuals who make up Great Lakes Church. When I hurt people 'cause of my carelessness, I'm totally wrong and need to ask for forgiveness.

Not to belittle what I just wrote, but sometimes people get "hurt" 'cause they're just easily offended. If people are hurt because of a decision we made that allows us to focus more on people who don't go to church, I'M NOT SORRY! If they're hurt 'cause we didn't respond to one of their emails as quickly as they would have liked, I'M NOT SORRY! If they're hurt 'cause they feel guilty about something we talk about on Sunday mornings and just don't want to change their lifestyle, I'M NOT SORRY! If they're hurt 'cause we don't take any of their suggestions seriously, since they're not involved at any level with Great Lakes Church, I'M NOT SORRY! Okay, I'd better stop before I say something I regret and really offend someone!!!