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About Our Values and Beliefs

Outdoor Worship Center

WORSHIP WITH US IN THE BEAUTY OF GOD’S CREATION

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Our Outdoor Worship Center overlooks a protected wetlands area and our Meditation Garden and features a natural limestone altar and chancel area, limestone seating for 150 and a dramatic 20 foot illuminated cross.  The Center is an ideal setting for worship services during the summer months, for meditation during the evening hours and for weddings of our members and other special events.  We hold our worship services in the Center regularly on Thursday evenings (and on some Sundays) all summer long.

The Lord Will Provide . . .

A Little History in the Building of the St. Luke Outdoor Worship Center

St_Luke_Outdoor_Worship_Story.pdf

Some Interesting Facts about the St. Luke Outdoor Worship Area

  • The Limestone used for the Outdoor Worship Area came from a quarry in Alpena, Michigan and weighs over 350 thousand pounds!
  • The Altar is 10 ft. wide by 3 ft. deep and weighs 9,032 pounds!
  • The chancel flooring measures 23 ft. by 20 ft. and weighs over 75,000 pounds!
  • The Outdoor Worship Area was totally built by St. Luke volunteers.  Over 50 individuals donated their time and expertise totally over 2,000 hours!
  • There are 116 seating stones – capacity for 232 people.
  • The smallest seating stone is less that 2 feet wide (weighing about 800 lbs.) and the longest is over 5 feet wide (weighing over 3,000 lbs.)
  • There are 8 rows of seating.  For an amphitheater effect, each row is 6 inches higher than the previous row except for the last two rows; they are only 3 inches higher.
  • The stones have a lot of character.  Many have fossils, seashells, Petoskey stones, and pyrite (also known as fool’s gold).  Can you find the stone with the most fossils?
  • The heavy-duty tow straps used to lift the stone into place had a capacity of lifting 10,000 lbs.  We wore out 6 of them!
  • One stone has a dynamite hole with a golf ball stuck in it.  Can you find the stone?
  • There is a cross embedded in the chancel flooring.  Can you find it?
  • The most difficult stone took over 2 hours to set; the easiest took only 15 minutes to set.
  • Deer have constantly visited our Outdoor Worship Area.  Tracks have been seen almost daily, up and down the aisles and even up on the chancel flooring. 
  • In 2003, a 20 foot tall cross was added behind the altar. It weighs over 800 pounds and is anchored in a cement casing designed by one of our volunteer structural engineers. The cross illuminated all year provides an inspirational view.