Cheryl Anderson: Keeping Jesus alive at the core of new church
The Core will hold its first official service at 5:30 p.m. Sunday. But some 150 people already have been flocking to the new church since it signed a one-year lease and took over the former Big Picture Theater of Adventure and Discover in Appleton in early February.
"I think you have a lot of hurting people who especially in these economic times and what's going on are looking for their savior," said the Rev. Jim "Ski" Skorzewski, pastor of the 300-seat Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod church. "They're looking for answers. When things tend to get tough, they come back to the church. We work really hard to have an environment set up where Jesus is alive and active."
The idea behind The Core is that Jesus is at the core of everything they do as a church. Its mission is to strengthen the inner and spiritual core of those who attend.
Although the downtown church targets the 18- to 35-year-old age group, weekly attendance has seen all age groups, from infant to elderly.
"You've got people who have two incomes with kids to single people to just married and no kids to homeless people," Skorzewski said. "It's a place, I believe, where everyone is welcome."
A one-year lease was signed Feb. 3 to turn the Big Picture, which had been closed for more than two years, into The Core, an outreach ministry of St. Peter Lutheran Church in Freedom. The $5.1 million Big Picture opened in March 2005. It closed in October 2006 and has remained vacant since.
In August, Skorzewski, formerly with St. Marcus Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, received a call from St. Peter's pastor, the Rev. Tim Glende, to start the new ministry.
"We believe Jesus is our lord and savior, and that's the focus of everything we do," Skorzewski said. "We just bring it in a way that has different music and language that's maybe more conversational. We work really hard to use and apply God's word in a way that hits people just right where they are.
"We share Jesus in a way that affects people's life. That's what his word does."
Cheryl Anderson: 920-993-1000, ext. 249, or canderson@postcrescent.com
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Ski Articulates the Vision":
Ski gives the impression that the CORE is being faithful when other churches aren't. Comments like "We work really hard to have an environment set up where Jesus is alive and active" and "We share Jesus in a way that affects people's life" implies that others aren't "doing" enough when they simply preach the Word and administer the Sacraments.
His statements disguise the CORE's intent to tell people only what they want to hear in the way that they want to hear it. We understand from Scripture that faith without works is dead, of course (James 2:26). But based on a quick listen to the Groeschel sermons, Ski's message will put works before faith - he will talk about things I can do to live a better life, be a better Christian, in effect, be "saved". Faith will be in the background, if mentioned at all.
And citing numbers of people in worship is classic CG speak.
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." (2 Tim. 4:3-4, KJV)
+Martinus
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Ski Articulates the Vision":
Remember: Let me eat the apple. You get the CORE.
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Ski Articulates the Vision":
I totally agree with Martinus in the previous post. Ski certainly gives me the impression that he thinks he has something to offer that no other WELS church in the area could does. Well maybe they they do. It's been awhile since I've had MY inner and spiritual "core" strengthened...whatever THAT means. They are proud of those numbers though, aren't they?
