From the beginning, The City Church had a vision of being “a city within a city.” They saw themselves as a community of believers gathered in the city for the city. They sought to be a place of refuge for people of all races, ages and economic levels, “preaching a message of good news and building a church for the 21st century.” Pastor Wendell stated his vision this way: “Our vision is to see a New Testament local church proclaiming the good news about Jesus Christ to young and old, rich and poor, red and yellow, black and white. Extending the kingdom of God by building people, families, and leaders—first in our city and then in the ends of the earth.”
They defined themselves as “a multi-denominational congregation,” an “evangelical charismatic church,” identified by Dr. C. Peter Wagner as a “new apostolic church.” They have maintained an apostolic relationship with ministries outside of the congregation and are governed internally by a body of elders. Their historical roots are in the holiness movement, the Pentecostal heritage and the evangelical tradition.
Their openness to every community in Seattle resulted in rapid growth. One month after their first public service they had to move to larger facilities, renting space in an office complex. By their first anniversary, their number had grown to 300 people from every background. By 1997 they were serving 1200 believers in their weekend services and purchased the campus of Overlake Church in Kirkland.
One of the works of the Holy Spirit among them was a powerful youth revival in 1996. Having been youth pastors for many years, Wendell and Gini had a clear vision for reaching young people. Their son and daughter along with other anointed youth ministers saw a significant harvest among the youth of Seattle and the birth of Generation Church. But that was just the beginning of their “city within a city vision.” Ultimately they wanted to serve and impact their community in a variety of ways, including youth and children’s outreaches, food and clothing distribution, ministry to the needy, facilities for compassionate care, training, education, recreation, and a daily ministry to people in need from all walks of life.
As a result of their “multi-denominational” identity, The City Church and Pastor Wendell have been able to actively engage in fellowship with a variety of churches in the Seattle area, including pastors from the Church of the Nazarene, the Assemblies of God, the Foursquare Church, Baptist churches, Open Bible churches, Presbyterian, Church of God In Christ, and many others. Their functional ecumenism has enabled them to effectively network throughout the city in the process of serving the city.
This overarching vision for the city resulted in the birth of City Ministries. At a certain time a couple in the congregation began distributing food to the needy in their area. Their goal was very simple: to provide immediate help to those in need, and to form relationships based around Christ-centered values. At first they distributed food from the back of a pick-up truck. Before long they were serving literally hundreds of people. It soon became apparent that they had identified a clear need that required the expanded involvement of more people in the congregation—and City Ministries was born.
As it developed City Ministries was committed to supporting people in need from every social and ethnic background. They began distributing food and clothing to low-income apartment complexes, retirement homes, homeless shelters and missions. Eventually their distribution included day care centers, grade schools and other local churches. Partnerships were formed with companies such as Associated Grocers, Safeway, Rite Aid, Top Foods, QFC, Starbucks, Cannon Fish, Toys for Tots, and others. Every day volunteers collected and distributed bread, pastries, produce, dairy products, and non-perishable food items from over 35 vendors. Within a fairly short time they were operating three refrigerated trucks, employing five staff members coordinating 80 volunteers, distributing 2.2 million pounds of food per year out of a 10,000 square foot warehouse located in Redmond. Over 20,000 people in the Seattle area were being fed every week.
According to Director of Operations, Joel Pike, City Ministries has developed a three-fold strategy: 1) Distributing to individuals and families, personally touching lives; 2) Networking and partnering with area churches with a common mission to help the community; and 3) Training other organizations to establish practical community outreach. “This threefold strategy . . . serves as a platform for the power of God to transform lives, communities, cities and nations.”
The stated mission of City Ministries includes:
Encouraging growth in unprecedented and previously unexplored ways as God directs, reinventing themselves and adapting quickly to change.
Recognizing that God’s enablement is expressed through partnerships with other people, resulting in a high priority being placed on relationships.
Showing spiritual and practical support for people in need characterized by dignity and respect.
Facilitating ongoing discipleship and training of volunteers in the various areas of ministry.
Working to build trust and unity with other local churches and ministries.
Pastor Gini Smith sees serving the community as salt and light to be essential kingdom ministry. “Reform in the American welfare system, threats of natural disasters, and social and political upheaval give the church an unprecedented opportunity go serve the natural needs of people through the demonstration of the power of God and good works.” Demonstrating the love of God in the midst of a sick world is the only thing that can bring healing and transformation. As Gini testifies, “The ministry endeavors of the local church are a means of demonstrating the love of God to individual lives for the purpose of redemption.” However, the essential task of preaching the gospel is never far from view. “In the pursuit of good works, we must never lose sight of the goal that people know Christ, the real answer to all their needs. As Spirit-filled believers we not only embrace the means to meet people’s immediate need for food, clothing, and shelter, but also know the power of God which is able to bring deliverance to their lives.”
Perhaps one of the most significant ramifications of the work of City Ministries has been the need to network with area churches. The work grew so quickly it was impossible for any one congregation to provide enough resources and volunteers to meet the need. The City Church quickly realized the need to facilitate cooperation among other congregations. As a result, a network of 150 churches in the greater Puget Sound area came together to extend the work of City Ministries. Forty of the churches received direct distributions from the Redmond warehouse. Eighteen of these churches served as ministry hubs in their city. Three clothing and home furnishing distribution centers have also been opened. It seems as though the shared vision of serving their communities has served to unite the local congregations in visible and effective ways.
In fact, the growing unity of the churches has become central to the vision of The City Church and City Ministries. The vision to serve their “ministry partners” has grown to a clear commitment:
They are committed to supporting their partners with prayer, encouragement and practical training.
They are committed to working to empower their partners to take active responsibility for the welfare of their communities.
They are committed to encouraging their partners to further extend the network by forming working partnerships with other congregations and ministries.
The vision for an effective network of local congregations serving their communities has become their passion. Pastor Gini explains it this way: “Reaching a city requires a comprehensive biblical strategy and the cooperation of networking churches. A single church with limited resources cannot meet all the needs of a city. As a local church we are only one expression of the Body of Christ, with a limited ability to serve a community. In unity, networked together with other churches, we multiply our capacity to attain the common goal—people reconciled to Jesus Christ and established in a local church. Unity enables us to truly be effectual in reaching our city.” In this way, the work of transformation not only touches a city but also a region, a nation, and beyond.
No comments:
Post a Comment