West Dodge Mega Churches On The Move

Post by **Brad** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 10:00 pm

West Dodge Mega Churches On The Move

I came across this the other day, both of the "Mega Churches" on 156 and West Dodge are either moving or in the Realestate Business. I know Westside is planning on moving, but Trinity is new to me.

Trinity, 192 and West Dodge.

Westside 172 and Maple

eomaha · Post by **eomaha** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 12:01 am

The Westside site is pretty old news... they've had their windstorm toppled steeple sitting up there for (how many years has it been?) some time now.

That's the first I've heard of the Trinity property however.

Scary... watch Walmart buy their old property.

omahapropertymanager · Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:02 am

King of Kings (currently at 118th and I Street) also has purchased some land off of 370 and I-80. They don't expect to be doing anything with the land for at least 5 years.

icejammer · Post by **icejammer** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 8:11 am

That is incredible, neither church building is more than 15 years old, are they? And they're already moving a couple miles more west?

FatGuy · Post by **FatGuy** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 1:08 pm

Is there a reason they can't have services at both locations? When they outgrow a location, do all the members move to the new location or do half of the members go to the new and half remain with the old?

I guess I am not certain how the expansion of the mega church works.

omahastylee459 · Post by **omahastylee459** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 1:24 pm

one thing i dont really understand is why people would want to cram themselves into the large churches. I am not really talking about the omaha ones, because those only pale in comparison to those you see on television, the ones in places like Texas with like 50,000+ people under one roof. I guess because I grew up in a tight knit catholic church it kind of baffles me.

TechnicalDisaster · Post by **TechnicalDisaster** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 1:32 pm

I guess I am not certain how the expansion of the mega church works.

Depends on the church and religon.

When St. Stephen the Martyr Parish was created (The Largest Catholic parish in Omaha) the priest that would eventually lead that church visited other Catholic parishes and informed members of the new worship space. Members where able to switch if they wanted, and only have to inform thier current priest they were moving (to transfer baptisim records, personal records, etc.)

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints attend the ward they are geographically located near. They get no choice on which ward they attend. When a new ward opens near your house, you are mandated to switch churches.

Churches like Trinity and King of Kings emphasize that a church is like your second family. Rather then open more churches and split congregations, they build larger churches to house more people. They believe that if their one building can no longer hold any more people and turn people away, they are literally telling people to "go to heck."

Bob from Omaha · Post by **Bob from Omaha** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 1:49 pm

jhuston wrote:The Westside site is pretty old news... they've had their windstorm toppled steeple sitting up there for (how many years has it been?) some time now.

That's the first I've heard of the Trinity property however.

Scary... watch Walmart buy their old property.

Trinity's current location used to be a snowmobile factory.

I used to live near the current Trinity location. We had to plan our Sundays carefully, so as to avoid being caught in the traffic when they got out.

The Westside location would make for a nice condo development, and the Trinity location lends itself to commercial development. In my opinion...

As an aside, years ago when Trinity was growing, there were some condos built east of their property. The condos weren't even a year old when Trinity bought all of them and tore them down for more parking.

loyalomahan · Post by **loyalomahan** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 1:56 pm

Actually they -moved- those condos, although I don't know where to.

MTO · Post by **MTO** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 2:00 pm

As of recently me and my fiancé are looking for a church to marry in. She is a member of king of kings but I am Roman Catholic. We went out to visit her church and there is no way in heck’ I want to marry in that wal*mart church and that little fake church they have won’t cut it. Thankfully there are still gorgeous GORGIOUS churches in east Omaha. Point is these mega churches take a way the beauty of marriage and etc IMO. I guess I just really appreciate the old schoolish architecture.

omahapropertymanager · Tue Dec 20, 2005 3:19 pm

pkiphd wrote:As of recently me and my fiancé are looking for a church to marry in. She is a member of king of kings but I am Roman Catholic. We went out to visit her church and there is no way in heck’ I want to marry in that wal*mart church and that little fake church they have won’t cut it. Thankfully there are still gorgeous GORGIOUS churches in east Omaha. Point is these mega churches take a way the beauty of marriage and etc IMO. I guess I just really appreciate the old schoolish architecture.

I just got married at King of Kings about a month ago, and I agree with you that it's not a beautiful Church, but if you're going to judge whether your wedding was a sucess or not by what the Church looked like then you're really missing the meaning of getting married in the first place. I would have loved to get married in one of Omaha's beautiful Catholic Churches in Omaha, but the important thing for us was finding a Church that belived in the values that we belive in and having a pastor that we enjoyed do the service and we found that at KOK.

omahapropertymanager · Tue Dec 20, 2005 3:29 pm

omahastylee459 wrote:one thing i dont really understand is why people would want to cram themselves into the large churches. I am not really talking about the omaha ones, because those only pale in comparison to those you see on television, the ones in places like Texas with like 50,000+ people under one roof. I guess because I grew up in a tight knit catholic church it kind of baffles me.

I'm not sure how the so called "stadium Churches" do it, but I know that in a lot of the bit Churches in Omaha it's small groups that help to get people involved in the Church. I would compare it to a big college class where you have a big lecture (I wouldn't really consider it a lecture, but that would be your Sunday service), and then you have your rececitation (your small groups) which is where you get more of the fellowship. I know I sound like a walking advertisement for King of Kings but I belive we currently have something like 200 active small groups in our Church and when you break it down on that level it really does build a tight knit Church.

omahapropertymanager · Tue Dec 20, 2005 3:37 pm

FatGuy wrote:Is there a reason they can't have services at both locations? When they outgrow a location, do all the members move to the new location or do half of the members go to the new and half remain with the old?

I guess I am not certain how the expansion of the mega church works.

They absolutely could, and some may continue to have services at both locations. Just because these Churches own the land does not necessarily mean that they will build on it. It just means that an opportunity came around for the Church to buy some land for possible future expansion and they took it. In the case of Westside where they actually have a sign up that says "future home of" those plans may materialize, while others may not, and the Churches could end up selling the land.

Post by **Brad** » Sat Jun 28, 2014 1:15 am

9 years later....

Apparently Lifegate (formerly Trinity Chruch) is not moving. They appear to have a large remodeling project under way.

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Sat Jun 28, 2014 7:38 am

Brad wrote:9 years later....

Apparently Lifegate (formerly Trinity Chruch) is not moving. They appear to have a large remodeling project under way.

$2.5 m addition, 2k sq. ft.

jessep28 · Post by **jessep28** » Sat Jun 28, 2014 8:10 pm

Doesn't surprise me. Land is probably too expensive out west where a congregation would likely go.

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Sat Jun 28, 2014 8:16 pm

Doesn't Westside own acres off 192nd & Maple?

Stargazer · Post by **Stargazer** » Sun Jun 29, 2014 11:04 pm

I don't know about today, but you'll recall they once had their old, wind blown steeple propped up out there with a 'coming soon' sign.

Here I thought LifeGate was going to sponsor a fireworks booth... but I guess it must be for their congregation while construction is going on, huh?

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Mon Jun 30, 2014 8:08 am

I don't know what that tent is for either. I also thought it was for fireworks.

iamjacobm · Post by **iamjacobm** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 10:11 pm

Coyote wrote:
Brad wrote:9 years later....

Apparently Lifegate (formerly Trinity Chruch) is not moving. They appear to have a large remodeling project under way.
$2.5 m addition, 2k sq. ft.

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 10:26 pm

That must be looking SW from Dodge....

iamjacobm · Post by **iamjacobm** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 10:28 pm

Yeah. They have the whole corner of that structure torn up.

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 10:46 pm

Well, yeah... It looks that that monster SUV just ripped right past it...

bigredmed · Post by **bigredmed** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 8:51 am

It looks like Lifegate Church bought the old Presbyterian church on Leavenworth. Maybe they have decided to look towards eastern expansion?

Jeff · Post by **Jeff** » Fri Sep 26, 2014 11:31 am

bigredmed wrote:It looks like Lifegate Church bought the old Presbyterian church on Leavenworth. Maybe they have decided to look towards eastern expansion?

Satellite church. It's the trendy thing to do these days.

Post by **Brad** » Fri Sep 26, 2014 11:35 am

Jeff wrote:
bigredmed wrote:It looks like Lifegate Church bought the old Presbyterian church on Leavenworth. Maybe they have decided to look towards eastern expansion?
Satellite church. It's the trendy thing to do these days.

They opened a Papillion location on 72nd street last year.

skinzfan23 · Post by **skinzfan23** » Fri Sep 26, 2014 1:14 pm

I have seen that Lifegate church near 72nd and Cornhusker. I was wondering if it was associated with the main one.

Jeff · Post by **Jeff** » Sun Oct 12, 2014 9:55 pm

skinzfan23 wrote:I have seen that Lifegate church near 72nd and Cornhusker. I was wondering if it was associated with the main one.

No doubt.

These West Omaha mega-churches don't open "satellite" church in poverty-stricken areas. They're going to try to expand where there are people and big money.

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