The CORE is the daughter congregation of St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church in Freedom, WI; and is located in the former Big Picture movie theater in downtown Appleton. The CORE holds its services on Sunday nights at 5:30 pm.
After their services, The CORE asks attendees what they learned from the service, and then posts a video of select responses on the internet. For example, here are responses to the question, “Why do you come to The CORE?”
(EnCORE episode 9):
This church just is totally alive, and you can feel that it’s blessed by God. And like the sign up here says … “To reach people no one else is reaching, we must do things no one else is doing.” And how Pastor Ski … will do anything short of sin to reach people.
Here are some responses to the question, “What does being a Dangerous Church mean to you?”
(EnCORE episode 10):
The idea of getting real and talking about the issues that really matter. There are so many people that are struggling, and they don’t know where to go; and God is there, he wants to help us, he is just waiting for us to cry out to him.
Here are some responses to The CORE dressing up like an airport.
(EnCORE episode 11):
It was so awesome when I walked in, and I heard the airport sound effects going. The whole atrium was set up to look like an airport, and we got to pick up our tickets. It was just so much fun.
The whole concept of “Baggage,” and being able to deliver that to Jesus is just fantastic.
The CORE by the Numbers:
The CORE held its grand opening on April 19, 2009.
- $250,000 spent
- 200 average weekly attendance since the grand opening
- 15 members
The information for the above attendance numbers was gathered at St. Peter’s open forum on June 16, 2009 A.D., and the above numbers are current as of that date.
As of this week, the week of July 15, 2009, The CORE has yet to serve the Lord’s Supper, and is waiting until special hand made communion-ware is manufactured. According to Pastor Glende, most new congregations do not serve the Lord’s Supper for several months. Once The CORE begins to serve communion, then they will have a better idea of how many of its attendees are members of other area WELS congregations.
