There is something sacred about gathering together on a Sunday morning. Whether it is the quiet expectancy, the shared songs, or the reminder that faith was never meant to be lived alone, Sunday worship is more than a weekly routine. It is a spiritual reunion that re-centers our hearts toward God and reminds us that we belong in his Kingdom. As we pause from the noise of everyday life to enter God’s presence together, gathering for worship becomes a shared journey of hope, unity, and faith.
A Typical Sunday Morning at Lakeland Community Church
When you join us for worship in Lee’s Summit, you can expect a welcoming atmosphere and an inspiring message. Every service also includes our weekly tradition of coming together for Communion.
Our gatherings focus on authentic connection, grounded in our core values of Courage, Compassion, Curiosity, Contemplation, and Community. To keep that focus, we use giving boxes and the Church Center app instead of passing a traditional offering plate.
Interview with Worship Arts Director, Jacob Cullum
Jacob Cullum started at Lakeland Community Church in February 2026. With nearly a decade of experience working in churches, he brings joy and energy on Sunday mornings and is a creative and spiritual leader to the community at Lakeland Community Church in Lee’s Summit.
Finding Space to Breathe in a Loud World
Q: In a world that is increasingly loud and chaotic, how does the Sunday morning service serve as a re-centering of the soul?
A: There is something to the rhythm of meeting once a week and lifting each other up. It reminds us that there is hope. We’re working together toward a goal of making Heaven come on Earth—doing God’s will.
I think it’s a chance for us to take a deep breath together. I think now, more than ever, for myself but I also think for others, that people who are yearning for something, this is a breath of fresh air and something to be anchored in.
Q: How do you balance the need for new songs with the deep spiritual comfort of familiar hymns?
A: I love that I have the permission to try new things and do new music. It’s always a balance even more so like service to service overall. How do I do what feels right to me? How do I do what I know people are going to know? So it’s a tricky balance, but I think it’s just week to week working with and knowing where we’re going. Working with the [Pastors] to know where the teaching is going. Some weeks will lead into hymns more than others, some weeks will be more newness and creativity and I think that ebbs and flows.
I do have to say that there is something beautiful about singing an old song that you know, even if you’re not a Christian or haven’t been to worship recently, maybe you know in your bones somewhere Oh, I know this part and start singing it.
The Role of Liturgy, Art, and Silence in Worship
Q: Beyond the music, how do elements like lighting, visual arts, or even moments of silence contribute to the spiritual atmosphere?
A: I have loved playing with the lighting here at Lakeland. You don’t want to overdo it, but it’s one of those things that is important to the atmosphere—the vibe—and you want to make people feel comfortable and not like it’s a performance. I think what lighting does is paint the picture well and allows us to focus on certain places, whether it’s certain places on the stage or to bring focus to the screen.
I think all of those elements play into making it not feel like it’s the same every week but also being true to who we are here at Lakeland. With contemplation being one of our core values, I love the idea of implementing “corporate silence” together where we can take a breath together; I think that’s incredibly important.
Q: What steps do you take to invite the congregation to become active participants in the liturgy?
A: I am someone who likes to sing and smile and be joyful. With singing, I try to invite people in. Naturally, I am just a physical worship leader. I’ll lift my hands, say ‘let’s clap,’ and invite everyone into the rhythmic lifting of our voices. Some of my favorite pieces have become the parts where we are doing even a call and response—I’ll invite people into a call and response litany.
And again these moments of silence where we’re not doing a whole lot, maybe I’m inviting people into a breath prayer where we’re saying something on the in breath, saying something on the out breath just to ourselves, in our silent moment of prayer, but knowing that we are all doing that together can be really beautiful.
Outside the moments of music, the litanies—the calls and responses, the corporate prayers, prayers of confession. Anytime there’s something that is structured for us to share in doing together—I didn’t grow up with that in my Christian upbringing so some of these liturgical things have become really cool anchors for me.
Some people visiting may not know what to do and others may be really familiar with it. I think both people, on either side of their journey, can feel like they are engaging with what’s going on if we give them a clear way to participate.
I like to get people involved, not only in the singing aspect, which is incredibly important and kind of natural to me, but to also be like, “Hey we’re gonna pray this prayer together… We’re gonna say this call and response together… We’re going to do this breath prayer together…” all those things.
Behind the Scenes of Worship
Q: As the Worship Arts Director, what does a successful worship service look like?
A: There’s times when I feel good about how a Sunday went and I will hear no feedback. And there are other times when I feel that I need more fingers to count all of the mistakes or things that felt like a miss. And then those same Sundays, people will come up to me and say “Oh, that was just exactly what I needed.” It’s so weird how that happens sometimes.
I think a lot of it, you just have to trust that the Spirit is at work, God is working in the planning and in the preparation, and also in the execution. Even when I’m feeling that it’s not going fantastic or successful in this way. The faithfulness and the trust that God’s handling it and pointing people to his goodness and beauty and truth.
Success is a hard one when you’re talking about a spiritual experience, talking about approaching the mystery. I think it’s successful when we gather—when people show up, it’s successful.
Q: What is one thing about the Worship Arts ministry that the average person may be surprised to learn?
A: Having many different worship leaders is really cool, and new to me, even after a decade of working in different churches. So I’m the Worship Arts Director and yet we have four other worship leaders that lead and pour into our team. There are many more people here that are capable of doing what I do and so a lot of my job is building them up and getting to help mentor and lead them and encourage them.
Between tech and music, there are about 30 people [on the Worship Arts team] that we rotate between. It takes about 8 to 12 people on a Sunday morning to make it all happen. That’s special.
We also have songwriters within our community on the Worship team that are writing these original songs that are coming out of our community which is just really cool that we’re singing [these songs]. We sing so much music here at Lakeland sometimes we don’t know when a worship leader is singing an original song.
Looking Back and Dreaming Forward at Lakeland
Q: You’ve only been at Lakeland for a few months. What has been your favorite event or experience so far?
A: I really loved getting to do the Good Friday Experience. Pastor Vernon and Pastor Alex really trusted me to take it and run with it. So I got to do this cool Good Friday monologue experience and that was a blast to put that together and dream up creatively how it was going to look and feel.
The other event that pops up in my head is Ash Wednesday, and that was super cool because it was my first experience even leading music here. We were completely unplugged; people circled up and did the call-and-response liturgy right out of the handout. I just loved the authenticity and how everyone was circled up and kneeling at one point. It just felt different, but also real and raw in a way. We didn’t turn the lights on or anything like that. So that left a really big impression on me.
Q: What are you most looking forward to in the months and years to come at Lakeland?
A: Being a songwriter myself, I’m excited to gather up with others as time goes on and write from the heart within Lakeland, with other worship leaders and other people who are serving on the teams. Maybe a Lakeland Worship album will even be in the works later down the road.
I’m really excited about experiencing Advent here and getting to beautify the Sanctuary. Christmas is always something you can count on every year being beautiful, meaningful, and we revisit the familiar hymns.
I’m still getting to know people and plugging into groups here and there and I”m looking forward to building relationships that are important and feel real. I’m excited to be in community with people who seem to authentically hunger for the presence of God and are approaching the great mystery really humbly. It honestly feels that way and is so palpable here so I’m excited to go on that journey with people who are of the same mind.
You’re Invited
Join us Sunday mornings at 10:30a as we gather in worship, grow in faith, and experience the encouragement of community together.
Whether you’ve been part of a church for years or are simply searching for a place to belong, there is a seat for you here. We would love to worship alongside you.