LifeSpring began in 1993 when Fran and Linda Leeman (see Staff page) came to the Plainfield area with ten friends with a fresh vision for a different kind of church. About thirty people attended the first worship gatherings. Over these years, LifeSpring has grown to a community of over 400 adults and children. We continue to grow, and are making plans to construct the first building of our very own.

In many ways, what LifeSpring is today has arisen from the best of our own leaders’ past church experiences. Fran and Linda, for example, have been part of four significantly different kinds of churches throughout their lives. From those experiences, they have learned what it means for a church to be alive and healthy, and they’ve learned what kind of church can help the people of our culture really connect with God. Our leaders look at their own journeys as a preparation for the great adventure of leading LifeSpring.

Because of our unique blend of things, LifeSpring includes people from all kinds of church backgrounds, as well as people who didn’t grow up doing "the church thing" at all. We are intentionally building a church that crosses all lines of church traditions, race, type of occupation, etc. We are a community with a common journey, not clones.

At first glance we may look like the new church down the street (biblical teaching, contemporary music, and emphasis on a relationship with God). In many ways we are similar to other new churches. But in many ways we are different. The most notable difference is that we are very clear that the Christian journey is not just about church or a set of rules or living an outwardly "Christian" lifestyle. Rather, the Christian journey is about the level of our heart’s connection with God. People in our culture have been duped into thinking that life is merely about the next experience or product that’s going to chase away the emptiness—they don’t need a journey that merely says, "Be a Christian and be good." They need a journey that helps them get their heart back and enter the wonder who the author of the story is, and who he made them to be. We sometimes say it this way: "The Christian journey is less about religion and more about coming back to life". So at LifeSpring we define our community’s mission very simply: LifeSpring exists to help people recover their hearts through an authentic relationship with Jesus and the experience of real community. And if you look around at LifeSpring, both the laughter and tears will tell you that hearts are coming to life and the friendships are real.

We started a church so that God could breathe through it and bring people home to Himself and show them how to really live. The journey starts now and continues in eternity. We started this church for you.