How it began...
In March of 2015, a group of 9 individuals who knew that God had called them to go in a different direction and start a church came together with loving the community and sharing the love of Jesus as a top priority. The name “The LOFT” comes from Matthew 25:40 where Jesus says, “Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the Least OF These my brothers, you did it to me.” Our mission statement is to challenge, encourage, equip, and empower our members to be devoted followers of Christ. On March 8, 2015, The Loft Church began in a living room. With no money for equipment, rent or to pay a staff, this group knew that God would provide. Matt Johnson was named as Senior Pastor and the search began for a location.
Our first service was held on April 19, 2015 at the Ashmore Inn and Suites in their meeting room. Not having any idea of how many people to expect, we split the room into 2 rooms leaving room for the children to meet. We set up all 180 chairs the hotel gave us and waited for the service to begin at 10:30am. As the time arrived, people came and overwhelmed us in both number and spirit and when the service started it was standing room only with 215 people in attendance. It became obvious very quickly that although we loved the people at the Ashmore, we had outgrown the space from day one and would only meet there for 6 weeks.
We immediately began exploring other options and were blessed to find the cafeteria at Ascension Academy where we would spend the next 5 months. Although the location wasn’t conveniently located hidden just west of 45th and Soncy, The Loft continued to grow not only in number but in spirit and the people were more and more eager to serve the community. Ministry and outreach included raising money and collecting food for Snack Pak 4 Kids, collecting backpacks and school supplies for over 100 kids at Coronado Elementary school, providing food for Life Challenge Ministry, we began the Amarillo A21 Walk for Freedom to bring awareness to human trafficking, collecting items for the No Boundaries ministry and more. People were excited to help and we continued to grow.
Setting up and tearing down our services each week in a school cafeteria became increasingly laborious and our leadership was eager for a place to call our own. In late summer 2015, we signed a 3 year lease at the Coronado Shopping Center for 2 spaces totaling about 6700 square feet. The people of the church came together and over the next couple of months we constructed a new home and 34th and Georgia where we remained for a little over 3 years. The sanctuary had seating for 250 people and we often exceeded our capacity with standing room only. In March 2016 we began having 2 services on Sunday mornings to help alleviate the overcrowded services. On Easter 2017, we decided to have 3 services to make sure we could have room for everyone and had a record 724 in attendance. In March 2018, we made the 3 services each Sunday morning permanent and continued to grow. It became evident that we had outgrown our space yet again and we were constantly on the lookout for a larger facility.
God always provided for us through his timing and in 2018, we purchased a 33,000 sf building at the corner of 45th Avenue and Georgia. For many years, the building had been one of the largest nightclubs in the Texas Panhandle known as The Midnight Rodeo. A story of redemption was happening even in the building that our church family would call home. We took a step of faith, borrowed money through a local bank and began construction. We could only afford to finish out the essentials which included the Sanctuary, foyer, restrooms, and part of the Children’s area totaling approximately 21,000 square feet. The people of the church pulled together helping with demolition and cleanup helping to save funds for construction and furnishings. On September 8, 2019, we had our first service in our new home with over 1000 people in attendance for the 2 services.
Throughout the short history of our church, regardless of our attendance or location, our mission and passion has remained the same. Each week we are reminded that it’s not about us, it’s about a Savior named Jesus and we are to share His love with our community. We have always said that regardless of our location or how long God chooses to leave us there, we want to have made such an impact on the area that the people are sad to see us go when and if that time comes.
During our time at the Coronado Shopping Center, we began a relationship with Coronado Elementary School and it has been a blessing for both. Our ministry to Coronado includes backpacks and school supplies, Thanksgiving meals for families in need, an Angel Tree ministry to provide Christmas gifts to over 200 students, meals for teachers, and our after-school program called the Joy Squad. The Joy Squad is an after school ministry every Monday where we would bring from 60-75 students to our church and feed them a meal and share the love of Jesus with them. Our relationship with Coronado Elementary has been a blessing to us as we have met many amazing families and have formed relationships with them that would not have otherwise happened.
We are in awe as we look at our history and see what God has done and are so excited as we look to the future. We believe He has great plans for us if we stay obedient and keep our eyes focused on Him.
