If one listens carefully, there is a joyous anthem beckoning to the 68 thousand residents of Layton, Utah. It is a sacred song of praise, and it heralds the promise of freedom for those who would join in and embrace it as their personal theme. 

A catchy, unassuming tune, it humbly rings through Layton’s 247 miles of streets from one of the modest city’s premier churches, the Christian Life Center. The bourgeoning church strives to mix timeless Biblical principles with contemporary innovation and create deep personal relationships with the people of Layton, incorporated in 1920, through discipleship, friendship, outreach, and worship.

The Rev. Dr. Myke Crowder, with 35 years in Christian service, has led the congregation some 20 years with hundreds coming to Christ through the ministries of the Christian Life Center. 

"We believe we are a family," he explains. "At Christian Life Center, we believe that church is not a place that you go to but also a family you belong to. We preach and we teach truth at Christian Life Center, but truth must be presented with love." 

That love has created a big family of 1,500 members, and that has led to the kind of problems every pastor loves: where to put them all. Thus, plans are underway for a 2,200-seat sanctuary, a building program that is part of the fellowship’s five-year plan to manage its remarkable growth. 

Additionally, Layton Christian Academy, the church’s school that serves students through the 12th grade, is slated for significant improvements to enhance its academic facilities and better prepare its 650 students for post high school pursuits.

In a unique spiritual thrust, the Christian Life Center also desires to send interested parishioners on annual missionary trips, and has integrated this program into its five-year strategic plan in order to enhance God’s work in global communities. The Christian Life Center supports both foreign and home missions along with an annual liturgical service specifically designed to raise awareness, interest, and money for the Great Commission. 

One of the missionary endeavors the Christian Life Center supports is Faith and Action. "Rob Schenck is one of our favorite missionaries," declares the Rev. Dr. Myke Crowder. "I simply do not know of a ministry more important to our nation than what Rob Schenck is doing today. The results of his work are staggering and certainly confirm God’s hand upon him."

Crowder met Rev. Schenck in 1988 and was instantly drawn to the itinerant preacher. "From the moment we met I could see Rev. Schenck was an incredibly called and gifted man," Crowder noted. "Rev. Schenck was obviously intellectual and articulate with a purpose and a proven ministry. I don’t know anyone who does it better than he does." 

The feeling is mutual, and Rob, noting the undeniable gifts at work in his colleague, Myke Crowder, has benefited greatly through Crowder’s service as a charter board member of The National Clergy Council (NCC). The NCC, which Rev. Rob Schenck serves as president, is an informal network of conservative and traditional clergy, members of religious entities, and journalists who share a common concern about the moral integrity of our American culture.

The Christian Life Center is a thriving spiritual organism that is every bit the family Pastor Crowder hopes it to be. "As an interdenominational church, our family is made up of all kinds of people," he declares. 

"Our parishioners come from all different kinds of backgrounds, colors, languages, races, shapes, and traditions. We're an exciting, diverse, blended family! While we are all individually unique and come from different religious and church backgrounds, our common statement of faith draws us all together."