Southeast Christian Church is an

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

multi-site

megachurch A megachurch is a church with a very large membership that also offers a variety of educational and social activities. Most megachurches are Evangelical, although the term denotes a type of organization, not a denomination. A megachurch draws 2 ...

based in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. It is a part of the

Restoration Movement The Restoration Movement (also known as the American Restoration Movement or the Stone–Campbell Movement, and pejoratively as Campbellism) is a Christian movement that began on the American frontier during the Second Great Awakening (1790–1 ...

, and its denomination Independent

Christian Churches and Churches of Christ The group of churches known as the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ is a fellowship of congregations within the Restoration Movement (also known as the Stone–Campbell Movement and the Reformation of the 19th Century) that have no form ...

. , it is the eleventh-largest church in the United States by average weekend attendance. On March 10, 2019, longtime Teaching Pastor, Kyle Idleman assumed senior leadership.

History

The church was established on July 1, 1962, as 53 members of the ''South Louisville Christian Church'' started a new church in the Hikes Point area. By 1998, the church had relocated to – and outgrown – numerous buildings until reaching its current location at 920 Blankenbaker Parkway in Louisville. Four years later, in 1996, the church hired their first senior minister, Bob Russell. He retired in 2006 after 40 years of service. He was succeeded as senior minister by Dave Stone, the longtime preaching associate at Southeast. The church is commonly known as "Six Flags over Jesus" to local residents, a satirical reference to the large size of the church building. In February 2007, Southeast Christian officially released an announcement that it would establish a satellite church in

Clark County, Indiana Clark County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Indiana, located directly across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 121,093. The county seat is Jeffer ...

. With the establishment of a second location, Southeast became a

multi-site church A multi-site church is a specific church congregation which holds services at multiple geographical locations, either within a specific metropolitan area or, increasingly, several such areas. Characteristic A multisite church is a local church tha ...

. The breaking of the ground, by

I-65 Interstate 65 (I-65) is a major north–south interstate highway in the central United States. As with most primary interstates ending in 5, it is a major crosscountry, north–south route, connecting between the Great Lakes and the Gulf ...

Exit 4 in

Jeffersonville, Indiana Jeffersonville is a city and the county seat of Clark County, Indiana, Clark County, Indiana, United States, situated along the Ohio River. Locally, the city is often referred to by the abbreviated name Jeff. It lies directly across the Ohio Riv ...

, took place on August 12, 2007, and the church officially opened on April 12, 2009. On February 8, 2009, the church announced the plans for its third location. The Oldham County Campus, in

Crestwood, Kentucky Crestwood is a home rule-class city in Oldham County, Kentucky, United States just outside Louisville's Northeast End. The population was 6,183 as of the 2020 census. CNN listed it as the 52nd best place to live in America in 2005. The area ...

, held its first service in January 2011. In 2009, Southeast also opened up a new youth building called "The Block". On the weekend of June 30/July 1, 2012, the church announced that it would develop a fourth campus in southwest Jefferson County, near

Dixie Highway Dixie Highway was a United States auto trail first planned in 1914 to connect the Midwest with the South. It was part of a system and was expanded from an earlier Miami to Montreal highway. The final system is better understood as a network o ...

( US 31W) and adjacent to the southwestern campus of

Christian Academy of Louisville Christian Academy of Louisville (a.k.a. "CAL") is a private Christian school system in Louisville, Kentucky. It is composed of several schools in the Louisville metropolitan area, the largest of which is CAL-English Station on the city's east sid ...

. This site was originally expected to open in fall 2013, but groundbreaking was delayed until February 2013; the new campus opened in time for Easter 2014. The next satellite campus was found in an old movie theatre in LaGrange, Kentucky in January 2017, making this the 5th campus to launch. In 2017, a satellite campus opened in

Elizabethtown, Kentucky Elizabethtown is a home rule-class city in Hardin County, Kentucky, United States, and its county seat. The population was 31,394 at the 2020 census, making it the ninth-most populous city in the state. It is the principal city of the Elizab ...

. The church also opened a campus in

Prospect, Kentucky Prospect is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city in Jefferson County, Kentucky, Jefferson and Oldham County, Kentucky, Oldham counties in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The Jefferson County portion is a part of the Louisville Metro govern ...

in 2019. In November 2018,

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...

listed Southeast Christian Church as the 12th largest megachurch in the United States with about 21,764 weekly visitors. In September 2019, the church announced a campus in

Shelby County, Kentucky Shelby County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 48,065. Its county seat is Shelbyville. The county was established in 1792 and named for Isaac Shelby, the first Governor of Kentuck ...

would be built, and in January 2020, the church announced a campus in

Bullitt County, Kentucky Bullitt County is a county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 82,217. Its county seat is Shepherdsville. The county was founded in 1796. Located just south of the cit ...

would be built. In May 2021, the South Louisville campus launched. According to a church census released in 2023, it claimed a weekly attendance of 25,917 people and 14

campuses A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls. By extension, a corp ...

in different cities.Outreach Magazine
Southeast Christian Church
outreach100.com, USA, retrieved November 2, 2023

References

External links

*
Southeast TV

''The Southeast Outlook''
weekly newspaper published by Southeast Christian Church {{Authority control Christian churches and churches of Christ congregations Churches in Louisville, Kentucky Churches in Oldham County, Kentucky Churches in Clark County, Indiana Evangelical churches in Kentucky Evangelical megachurches in the United States Middletown, Kentucky 1962 establishments in Kentucky Christian organizations established in 1962 Megachurches in Kentucky Non-denominational Evangelical multisite churches in the United States

History

See also

References

External links