Word of Life changes name to Reach Church
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Word of Life Church in Sand Springs announced Sunday that they will be formally changing their name to “Reach Church” after 37 years under the former monicker.
Word of Life Fellowship was founded at 619 North 10th Street in 1981 by Senior Pastor David and Sharon Emigh. The church relocated to its current location at 1402 North 81st West Avenue soon after and the church has been pressing onward ever since.
Following Emigh’s passing in 2011, Associate Pastor Chad Stewart took the reigns and ushered the nondenominational church toward a more contemporary feel with modern music, stylish decor, a coffee shop, and a fresh new energy and mission.
At its core, not much has changed. Under Emigh’s leadership Word of Life founded more than a hundred satellite churches in third world countries around the globe. Word Of Life International still supports many of these churches to this day. The church has always participated in local outreaches as well, but in Stewart’s tenure they have had a larger focus on impacting the schools, city, and Sand Springs community.
Officially, the church will still be registered as Word Of Life Inc. due to its large network of affiliate churches in Burma, Namibia, and the Philippines. The Sand Springs headquarters will simply be “doing business as” Reach Church, aligning itself with the official motto of the church.
“We exist to reach people,” has been the official vision statement of Word of Life for several years now.
Sandites both within and outside of the church have felt their reach through community serve days, participation in the Sand Springs Ministerial Alliance, a free community carnival, a backpack lunch program, and more.
“We want people to understand that it’s not just the people at the pulpit that are called to reach people, but it’s all of us,” said Executive Pastor Linda Scott in a previous interview with Sandite Pride. “Whether it’s inviting people to church, or handing someone a ‘bless you’ card because you bought their McDonald’s, or whatever. Just showing that love to people.”
Reach Church has a thriving Sunday morning children’s ministry under Children’s Pastor Alexis Glaze, with separate classrooms for birth through 18 months, 18-36 months, Kindergarten, and Elementary students. The Reach Youth Ministry is led by Chad Ketcher on Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m. for grades 6-12.
Accompanying the name change, the church also announced the hiring of Michael and Baylee Wilson as the Missions Pastors for the church, the promotion of Church Administrator Linda Scott to the new position of Executive Pastor, and the hiring of Administrative Assistant Stephanie Faulkner.
Reach Church
1402 N 81st West Ave
Sand Springs, Oklahoma 74063
(918) 245-0262
Service: Sunday 10:00 a.m.
Office Hours: Monday – Thursday 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Facebook: @Wordoflifess
Instagram: @Wordoflifess
*Disclosure: Word of Life is the home church for three shareholders at Sandite Pride News, LLC including Editor-in-Chief Scott Emigh.
