Overlake Christian Church is a non-denominational, evangelical megachurch in Redmond, Washington. It is among the largest churches in the state of Washington.
Founded in 1968, Overlake Christian Church was initially a small congregation of fewer than a hundred people, located in a residential neighborhood of Kirkland, Washington. After Bob Moorehead took over its leadership in 1970, it grew over the course of nearly 30 years to become one of the most attended churches on the Eastside. Overlake ultimately established seven "daughter churches" in other suburban Seattle cities. After several years of trying to get expansion plans approved in Kirkland, Overlake ultimately purchased 27 acres of land in Redmond's Sammamish Valley, alongside what was to become the Willows Run Golf Club, and built a 250,000-square-foot facility with the largest indoor seating capacity on the Eastside. Seating expanded from 1,400 to more than 5,100 with a total building capacity of more than 10,000 people. Overlake moved to the new Redmond location in 1997 and held its first service there on Thanksgiving Eve. [[1]]
Overlake is one of the most influential churches in the Northwest, based in part on its size and the personalities of its leadership. Many of Overlake's ministries are locally and nationally-recognized for their excellence. The second longest running Christmas production in Seattle, after the Pacific Northwest Ballet's Nutcracker is Overlake's annual Living Christmas Tree stage musical, which is now in its 27th year and draws more than 20,000 people to its performances. Produced and created by Overlake staff members, the cast of more than 300 dancers, singers, actors and instrumentalists is comprised almost entirely of volunteers.
Overlake's Junior High ministry is the home of M80, a high-energy outreach event to junior high students using games, music, inflatables, and more to bring more than 300 junior highers together. M80 has been featured in various news articles and publications as a relevant and exciting way to connect this age group to church. Special Delivery, Overlake's outreach to unwed mothers, has been in existence since 1987 and has helped hundreds of mothers choose to keep their babies or give them up for adoption as an alternative to abortion. Overlake's Reach ministry has been part of the global missions movement since the church's inception and continues impacting lives "around the corner and around the world," by impacting national churches, equipping local pastors through training and development, and touching on social issues like the sex trade in Thailand and other parts of Southeast Asia.
After leading the church for nearly 30 years, Bob Moorehead resigned as senior pastor in May 1998 amid accusations that he inappropriately touched several young men in the congregation during the 1970s. The allegations followed news of Moorehead's 1996 arrest in Florida for indecent exposure. The Florida charges were dropped, and Moorehead denied the accusations against him. He resigned stating that his credibility had been damaged. Church elders launched an independent investigation and concluded they could not substantiate the charges at that time because there were not multiple eyewitnesses to any single charge. In 1999, Overlake leaders informed church attendees they'd received corroboration related to at least some of the allegations. Rick Kingham, a former executive of Promise Keepers, ultimately replaced Moorehead as senior pastor, serving first as Interim Pastor, then asked as the new Senior Pastor on Sunday, November 15, 1998.
Overlake's various ministries and services continued to have impact on a national and international level, although attendance fell after Moorehead's resignation. Kingham's warm personality helped the church through a lengthy healing process, and for awhile the church seemed to be poised for growth. Because of this, various initiatives and ministry plans were put into place, including participation in 40 Days of Purpose, in which more than 1000 small groups were started within the church body, and the philosophy of lifE3, which was a catchy way of encapsulizing the church's three main focuses (on Enaging, Equipping, and Expressing).
In 2003, Overlake's Children & Family Ministry made significant changes to its ministry and philosophy, choosing to find ways to help parents better equip their children to live in today's culture. The most visible evidence of this change in philosophy was the start of KIDstuf, a weekly variety show for families which takes place between the Sunday morning services. Using comedy sketches, music, video, and a Bible story, KIDstuf engages the family by bringing the generations together under one roof for a shared experience. This shared experience helps parents know what the kids have just learned in Sunday School and gives them a variety of tools to help reinforce what the children have just learned. Enjoyed by hundreds of children and parents each week, KIDstuf was not originally received favorably by some of Overlake's families, but in the years since, has become a drawing factor for many families who wouldn't otherwise attend a church service.
As the church went through changes during Kingham's tenure, many attempts were made at reaching a generation disastisfied with Overlake's normal service style, and with church in general. The most significant one until 2004 was a Sunday evening service called The Altar, which blended a Passion movement-style worship with moody lighting, emphasis on community and interaction, and teaching on lifestyle Christianity. Gary Gonzales, who had been on staff with Kingham at Promise Keepers and later went to Timberlake Fellowship in Redmond, was a significant force behind finding ways to help Overlake connect across the generations. While The Altar met with some success, resistence from Overlake's leaders to fully embrace its style on a grander scale led to its demise.
Realizing that it was still unable to connect with the emerging generations, Overlake's leadership pursued a relationsip with Mike Howerton, the college pastor at Saddleback Church in Orange County, California. After many months of negotiations, Howerton joined Overlake's staff as the teaching pastor for a "next-gen" service. This service, called Illuminate, started in January 2005. Quickly attracting more than just its focus audience of disenchanted twenty-somethings, the service grew because of Howerton's engaging style and in-depth study of Scripture, as well the more intimate setting in Overlake's smaller venue. The original service style, now called Celebration, and Illuminate, ran concurrently on Sunday mornings. Between the two services, as well KIDstuf and other Sunday morning ministries, Sunday morning attendance was averaging nearly 4,000 people. More than 7,000 people came to one of Overlake's seven services on East Sunday, 2006. However, by the end of 2006, Illuminate was attracting more people than the traditional service.
At the beginning of January 2007, Kingham was asked to take a month-long sabbatical by the eldership to consider his future, the future of the church, and his future involvement in ministry. [[2]] On February 11, 2007, Kingham announced his resignation to the church in a combined service. [[3]] Kingham's last message at Overlake will be given on February 25, 2007. No announcements have been made about future leadership, although it has been told to church staff and key volunteer leaders that the Celebration service will combine from two services into one, and Illuminate will also combine its two services. Both of these services will take place in Overlake's main auditorium, although there are plans to continue the Sunday night Illuminate service in the smaller venue.
References
Miletich, Steve and Heath Foster. "Moorehead resigns as pastor". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. May 18, 1998: A1.