Movie Theater Church Gets Sunday Sneak Preview

COON RAPIDS, Minn. (AP) - There's a special sneak preview this weekend of services at a new evangelical church in Coon Rapids that's setting up shop in a movie theater.

Northstar Community Church holds the special service Sunday at 10 a.m. at the AMC Showplace Theater. The official grand opening is the following Sunday, and everyone who attends the 10 a.m. service gets a free bag of popcorn.

The new church is coming together through a process known as "church planting." That's when pastors move to a new community to start their own church.

Pastors John and Shannon Velsor were working as youth pastors in Chicago but decided to return to Shannon's home state to plant a church. They say they chose a movie theater to demonstrate a non-traditional approach and appeal to young families.

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