Lynn Darnell said his church started in a basement, moved to a barn, and now it’s in a bar.

“The building we’re in used to be HotRods Bar & Grill,” said Lynn, pastor of LifeChurch in Boaz. “We’ve had a family or two come and say, ‘We used to party here; we want to see what’s going on now.’”

Lynn planted LifeChurch in 2022 after feeling drawn back to meet that need in his hometown.

“He’s a driving visionary with the heart of a pastor, and he has connected with people very well,” said Brian Harper, lead church planting strategist for the State Board of Missions. “His goal is to reach people who are lost, not churched.”

The church is out in the community often, serving popsicles in summer, doing blanket drives in winter and many other things in between. Lynn said their aim is to be a church the community would miss if they were gone. Today, they run about 225 in worship on Sundays.

He said training provided by funds from the Myers-Mallory State Missions Offering has been “phenomenal.” The State Board of Missions has “a lot of great resources, it’s just a tremendous help,” Lynn said.