The Thursday Update

OCTOBER 2, 2025

Lakeshore Friends,

Since Lakeshore reopened on July 12, 2020 (after the 17 week shutdown from the COVID crisis) we’ve been growing. At first, it took time for people to come back but it was to be expected that we would keep growing at least until we returned to our previous attendance level before the shutdown. But over the past year, we have reached Sunday attendance levels that have exceeded what we have ever seen in our history.

People leaving Rochester? It doesn’t matter as far as our attendance. People dropping off from regularly attending? Still hasn’t mattered. Culture turning against Christians like we’ve never seen before in our nation? We still keep growing. We’re reaching people who have indeed given up on church, but not on God. We’ll be baptizing people for consecutive Sundays later this month as a result.

As I shared at Vision Night a couple of weeks ago, we are now in the top 4% of churches in America in terms of our size. And if we keep growing, in time we will need to think about adding a third service.

We’re sending out a direct mail piece to about 54,000 homes next week to promote our next series, “Heaven, Hell, And Everything In Between”. We’re trusting God to use it to reach more people.

I want to thank those of you who invite people to church. I keep hearing stories of guests who tell me that a friend invited them to check our church out. I also want to thank all of you who pray for Lakeshore to reach people, especially the regulars at Saturday Synergy Prayer times. But more than anyone, I thank God that He is answering our prayers. After all, growth is impossible without Him as 1 Corinthians 3:6-9 reminds us:

I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

Thank you, Lord, for helping Lakeshore grow. And thank you to all of you for inviting and being a part of the “planting and watering” process of church growth.

God will reward us according to our labor and efforts to invite people.

Warmly,

Vince
Senior Pastor