City Church | St. Louis, MO

• Mike Werkheiser
• Feb 18, 2010
• Series: Church Profiles

Planter Profile:

Briefly describe your story of your call to plant a church.

I graduated from Covenant Theological Seminary in 2005 and went to work in ministry with college and young adults at a Presbyterian church here in Saint Louis (Greentree Community Church). In 2006 my wife and I began to think and talk about church planting in the city and, over time, God began to put the pieces together until all of the ingredients were in place for us to begin moving forward with it by the end of 2007.

What were the biggest challenges you faced in planting your church (and/or currently facing)?

Pride, the temptation to stay within my comfort zone, time management.

How did you become involved with Acts 29? What have been the biggest benefits of being in the network?

Word of mouth (being in close proximity to The Journey)

Biggest benefits? Relationships with other planters and the Quarterlies.

What advice do you have for men who are wrestling with the decision to plant?

Be assessed by several organizations, not just one.

How do you pastor your family?

Regular conversations about the Word, theology, and the church. Regular prayer. Lots of laughter. Tons of hugs and kisses.

How can we pray for you?

That I would be a better husband to my wife and father to my daughter. The rest will flow from there.

Church Profile: City Church
Launch Date: April, 2009
Location: St Louis, Missouri  

Mission, Vision, Values of Church

Vision Statement:

To see the gospel of Jesus Christ shape lives of the city for the city.

Mission Statement:

By embracing God’s love for the city, City Church is committed to seeing the gospel bring renewal to Saint Louis through a movement of churches by which hurting people experience hope, skeptics find answers, religious people lose their religion, and all find a home in gospel-centered community.

Core Values:

Gospel
The gospel is the highest value from which all others emanate. The gospel is the good news that the love and power of God has penetrated history in the person and work of Jesus Christ in order to redeem and renew the world. It is the work and record of Jesus (rather than our own) that makes possible our relationship with God. His power releases us from the trap of religion (the misconception that we can’t be acceptable unless we perform) and from the trap of irreligion (the misconception that we can be happy apart from God).

City
God loves the city. It is the center of cultural, social, economic, and spiritual engagement. It is both a place of refuge and a hub of diversity. The city is a place where religion and irreligion collide, a place where God is at work providing shelter for the weak and different, advancing cultural and human development, and cultivating spiritual searching. Therefore, our vision is that the city would become a better, richer, more hospitable place because of City Church’s commitment to the gospel in all things.

Story
For every story there is a storyteller. God is telling a grand story – a story that encompasses all of history, the city of Saint Louis, and each one of us. City Church is a place that celebrates the power and purpose of the story God is telling. It is a narrative that includes brokenness and healing, death and life, people and place. The gospel calls us to be a church where we acknowledge our place within this great story, each of us having a part to play in being restored and in bringing restoration.

Renewal
We all want to see the best for Saint Louis and her future. At City Church, we believe it is the gospel that best addresses the renewal and progress of the city in every way (business, government, education, arts, etc.) and it is in the renewal of all things that we find the heart of God. Renewal comes by way of the gospel being applied to all spheres of life as Christians engage society and culture in vital and healthy ways. Our goal is not to simply encourage deeper faith, but promote civility in all of life.

Community
The gospel is relationship-building and life-promoting. It causes classes of people to love one another who would not otherwise associate without its healing power. It causes us to embrace and learn from generations, people-groups, ethnicities, and ideologies different than our own. It fosters honesty in relationships by creating a safe environment. It builds personal accountability, freeing us to correct each other lovingly (because we value each other’s welfare), and to receive correction graciously (because it helps us grow). Since the city can be both an opportunity and an obstacle to genuine community, City Church aims to apply the gospel to our lives in such a way that our relationships are not simply broadened, but deepened.

Pleasure
God is the author of pleasure. As human beings created in His image, we are pleasure-seekers by nature. We long to be satisfied in all things - in our relationships, in our work, in our play, and in our sexuality. Part of the human story, however, tells us that our appetite for pleasure does not always lead us down healthy paths. Though we all harbor a self-serving impulse to pursue personal happiness - at times even at great cost - the gospel of Jesus Christ provides us with the true paradigm for joy and satisfaction. Rather than being a lesson in asceticism, the gospel, by contrast, is a storehouse of pleasure. Therefore, the vision of City Church is to be a community of people characterized by true joy, genuine satisfaction, and a God-honoring appetite for pleasure.

What is your philosophy of community in your church and what does that look like practically in your church? Of evangelism?

We do our best to inculcate a biblical missiology in our people in all that we say and do. We are a side-door church and we consistently teach our people to see their block, their workplace, their gym, etc. as THE mission field to which God has called them to be salt and light. We throw a lot of parties and try to live life-on-life as much as possible.

What are some examples of God's grace that you have seen in your life and/or the life of your church?

The fact that I get to plant a church with my best friend (Phil Woods); the fact that we are so financially stable in the current economic climate; the fact that we have an amazing place in which to worship at the 9th Street Abbey