Finding quality, ready-to-use ministry resources can drain a church's budget and a pastor's time — especially for smaller congregations without dedicated creative teams. Life.Church Open Network exists to solve that problem by giving away everything: sermon videos, transcripts, kids and youth curriculum, original worship music, editable graphics, small group studies, and operational tools — all completely free, no strings attached.^1
Since 2006, Open Network has served over a million pastors, church planters, and leaders worldwide.^2 The library houses over 100,000 resources spanning every area of church ministry — from Craig Groeschel's full sermon series (available the same weekend they're preached at Life.Church) to complete preschool-through-high-school curriculum, worship setlists, and even architectural plans and HR templates.^3 Churches can "walk in step" with Life.Church by receiving weekly message videos via Dropbox and aligning their teaching calendar, or simply browse the library and download whatever serves their congregation.^4
What makes Open Network remarkable isn't just the volume — it's the philosophy behind it. When Life.Church faced financial challenges in 2006, they had the opportunity to sell their resources. Instead, they chose what they call "irrational generosity," giving everything away for free. Bobby Gruenewald, Life.Church's innovation pastor, explained: "We don't see other churches as competitors in what we're doing. We've done the best we can to try to lead with generosity."^5 That posture has attracted over 40 content partners — including Elevation Church, The Bible Project, Awesome Marriage, Financial Peace University, Hillsong, NewSpring, Fresh Life Church, and River Valley Network — who also contribute free resources through the platform.^6
Beyond downloads, Open Network provides in-depth training videos covering leadership development, guest experience, communications, children's ministry, and more — drawing on Life.Church's 30 years of ministry experience.^2 The platform also connects church leaders through an online community where they can ask questions, share wins, and encourage one another. And several free apps round out the ecosystem: Church Online Platform (used by 93,000+ churches to stream services), Church Metrics for tracking attendance, and YouVersion for church Bible engagement profiles.^7
Why Church Leaders Love Open Network: Influence Magazine called it "hands down one of the best online resources for churches and leaders."^8 One pastor from Westside Family Church in Kansas City shared how his 10-year-old son used the free Church Online Platform to lead a man from Saudi Arabia through the plan of salvation — the kind of story that shows the ripple effect of generosity.^5 Brandon Donaldson, Life.Church's Pastor of Church to Church, captured the heart behind it all: "We believe in you and in the local church, and we know that we can do infinitely more together than apart."^7
Open Network also partners with the Association of Related Churches (ARC) as a resource partner, providing specialized church planting resources and children's ministry curriculum to the ARC family of churches.^7
Platform: Web (open.life.church) Pricing: Free (no dues, no fees, no required attribution)
