Kyle Lake

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Kyle Lake (b. 1972, d. October 30, 2005) was a pastor and author and part of the Emerging Church movement.

Jeffery Kyle Lake was born June 12, 1972 in the East Texas Town of Tyler Texas to David and Shirley Lake. He attended Andy Woods Elementary and graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in 1990 where he was co-captain of the state runner-up Lee Soccer Team. On May 30, 1998, he was united in marriage to Jennifer Gornto of Clear Lake Texas. Lake earned a Bachelor’s degree in Speech Communications and Religion from Baylor University in 1994 before receiving a Master of Divinity degree from Truett Seminary in 1997. Two years later, he became pastor of University Baptist Church

Kyle was killed in a freak accident while performing a baptism on Sunday morning October 30, 2005, leaving behind his wife and three children. The shocking and tragic events surrounding his death made news across the world.

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[edit] University Baptist Church

Kyle Lake was pastor of University Baptist Church in Waco, Texas. University Baptist Church was founded in 1995 by Chris Seay and Christian recording artist David Crowder, who is a main worship leader in the collegiate Passion movement.

Lake would always close his sermons with the phrase "Love God, Embrace Beauty, and Live Life to the Fullest."

Lake had an amazing ability to reach out to younger audiences such as the college-age crowd. Many students said they were drawn to his ability to preach the gospel in a way young people could understand and easily relate to their own lives.

[edit] The Accident

Kyle was electrocuted as he stepped into baptismal waters and reached out to adjust a microphone which produced an electric shock, during the Sunday morning service Oct. 30. More than 800 people were present when the tragedy occurred during homecoming weekend at nearby Baylor University. Several doctors in the congregation rushed to Lake when he collapsed, but efforts to revive him were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center around 11:30 a.m. The woman Lake was set to baptize also was rushed to the hospital, but she was not seriously injured and it is believed that she had not yet stepped into the water when the electrocution happened. “At first, there was definitely confusion just because everyone was trying to figure out what was going on,” Ben Dudley, community pastor at University Baptist, told the Waco Tribune-Herald. “Everyone just immediately started praying.”

At a remembrance attended by about 1,000 people that night at First Baptist Church Waco, Dudley told the UBC congregation that they would move forward as a church. “I don't know how, when, why, where or what's going to happen, but we will continue as a church in the community because that is what Kyle would have wanted.”

Lake was a big fan of the movies Garden State and Phone Booth, and yearly did a sermon series called "God in the Movies."

On the morning of his death, Lake intended on preaching on the movie Garden State as part of his "God in the Movies" series.

In the spring of 2006, Several Baylor University students who were friends of Kyle created a short film based on his last sermon titled "Kyle's Film". David Crowder Band and Robbie Seay Band provided the music for the film, which features a montage of artistic images narrated to Lake's last sermon.

[edit] Published works

  • Image:reprayer.gif (RE)Understanding Prayer: A Fresh Approach to Conversation With God, 2005 (RELEVANT Books)
  • Image:godswill.gif Understanding God's Will: How To Hack The Equation Without Formulas, 2004 (RELEVANT Books)

[edit] External links

[edit] See also

Emerging Church