We were lucky to catch up with Cedric Hardimon recently and have shared our conversation below.

Cedric, appreciate you joining us today. Is there a heartwarming story from your career that you look back on?

I love sharing the story of Richard and Carleen. They drive one hour each way every Sunday to attend services at Life.Church East Kansas City. They first visited our church last year to support a friend who was getting baptized. They had already noticed a difference in him since he had been attending our church, but when their friend rose up out of the water, they saw a joy on his face they had not seen before. They wanted what he had. They re-dedicated their lives to Christ and began attending services and serving in the church every week.

Even though they have made a huge difference at the church, one of the most impactful things they have done may not have been “at” the church but “as” the church. About half a mile away from the church, there is a bus stop without any seating. After a few weeks of driving by on the way to church and noticing the need, Richard took it upon himself to build benches for the community, free of charge. Richard and Carleen’s generosity was contagious, and another group of people from the church gave away free Thanksgiving meals to people from those same benches.

Stories like this warm my heart. Stories of people who not only love going to church but love “being” the church in our community. I’m grateful for our people. We have only been gathering as a church family for one year, and I can’t wait to see what God continues to do as we love people in our community for the years to come.

Cedric, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

What I love about Life.Church is that it’s a place where anyone can belong, no matter where they’ve been or what they’re currently walking through.

Our location, Life.Church East Kansas City, opened in October 2021 as the fourth location in the Kansas City metro, following Life.Church Overland Park, Life.Church Northland, and Life.Church Lenexa. Our worship draws people in, the message every weekend has real-life application, and we’re watching people grow in the community. We have something for every age, birth through adulthood. Our children’s ministry, LifeKids, and youth ministry, Switch, are led by pastors and volunteer leaders who are passionate about leading the next generation to become fully devoted followers of Christ.

We also have LifeGroups for adults who are looking for community. I always encourage people to find a LifeGroup because it’s the people you laugh, cry, and grow with. Here at Life.Church East Kansas City, we also have LifeGroups who are passionate about serving in our community.

I know that as our church continues to grow, we’ll see an even greater impact in our community. Not only do we want to lead people to Jesus, but we also want to help them grow spiritually so that their lives are better and the lives of those around them are better.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

As a leader and a pastor, I have always strived to be all things to all people. I would do everything I could to make people happy, even if it meant me working myself to the bone. Though I was working extremely hard to make a difference, I realized I wasn’t as effective as I could be. The lesson I had to unlearn was that I don’t have to be the best at everything. As a matter of fact, I will never be the best at everything. The good news is, I don’t have to be. I saw a quote the other day that said, “Great leaders are not the best at everything. They find people who are the best at different things and get them all on the same team.” I get a chance to do exactly that by empowering the team around me, along with different people in our church who are extremely talented and love to serve and give to others.

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

I would do the same thing, 100 percent. If anything, I would have joined Life.Church sooner. I was running from the calling God had on my life, but I’m glad I finally stopped fighting it. I love the fact that Life.Church is a place where anyone can belong, no matter where they’ve been or what they’re currently walking through. Our Senior Pastor, Craig Groeschel, and his wife, Amy, felt passionate about creating that environment for anyone attending church, which led them to opening the first Life.Church location in Edmond, OK in 1996. Their hearts and vision for leading people to know Christ have grown our church over the years so that we now have 44 locations across 12 states, and I’m so grateful to be a part of what God is doing through this church in East Kansas City.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.life.church/eastkansascity
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifechurcheastkansascity/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/life.church.eastkansascity