Southland Christian Church, Lexington, Kentucky - History

History

The church started in 1956 as a mission of Broadway Christian Church in Lexington. The founding pastor, Wayne Smith, came from Unity Christian Church (near Cynthiana, Kentucky), and held the first service with 172 people in attendance. The church was originally located on Hill 'N Dale Drive (near Southland Drive) in Lexington, Kentucky. In 1981, the church had grown substantially and relocated to a 20-acre (81,000 m2) site across the county line in neighboring Jessamine County. It has since expanded its property to 115 acres (0.47 km2).

The founding Senior Pastor, Wayne Smith, announced in 1995 that he would retire. At the time of his retirement, average church attendance was in the thousands. A pastor search committee was formed, and steps were taken to find a replacement for Wayne Smith.

However, after Smith announced his retirement and in the midst of the search, Mike Breaux, pastor of Canyon Ridge Christian Church in Las Vegas, Nevada, was invited to preach one weekend. Soon after that weekend, the pastor search committee suspended the search process and hired Mike Breaux as Senior Pastor. He then became the church's second senior pastor. During his tenure the church grew to an attendance of more than 7,000 persons a week. Jon Weece joined Southland as a teaching pastor in 2000, sharing in the responsibilities of a church with six weekend services. After a building program that reduced the weekend services from six to five, Breaux moved to Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, in 2003. In 2009, Mike Breaux became and is currently still a teaching pastor at Heartland Community Church in Rockford IL. He also serves on the churches Leadership Team.

Weece, a former missionary to Haiti, became the third senior pastor on September 1, 2003. Still in his twenties at the time, he was one of the youngest megachurch senior pastors in the United States. He initially shared teaching responsibilities with Jim Burgen, formerly of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville. Burgen has since left for Flatirons Community Church in Colorado and Weece now shares preaching responsibilities with regular guest, Mike Breaux. Under Weece's leadership, the Southland services have grown to an attendance of around 10,000 each weekend.

In 2009, Southland opened its first satellite campus in Danville, KY. An additional satellite campus is planned for the former Lexington Mall site on Richmond Road in Lexington.

In 2010, Southland purchased the former Lexington Mall to begin construction on a new campus "Richmond Road" campus with a hopeful opening to services in 2013.