FIVE Years In…
wait, five years?!
It feels unbelievably surreal to be writing a ministry update titled, 'Five Years In.' There are some of you that have been ministry partners with City Parish since long before we even had a name or a complete vision — some as far back as 2012! Others of you have come on board along the way, but no matter where you jumped on the crazy train of partnering with a church plant, we hope you see and feel the enormity of the Lord's working in/through your prayers and support in sustaining, providing, and equipping City Parish to make it five years! This year has been one of the most amazing years of our young church—especially the last half of the year. There are so many evidences of his grace, but we wanted to highlight a few of them for you!
BAPTISMS
In just the last 6 months we have seen 4 professions of faith and baptized 3 of those people. We have at least 3 more slated for the beginning of 2024. Every single one of those new believers came from faithful, long-term discipling relationships.
ELDERS
After 5 years of City Parish being led by one elder (Daniel), we installed our second elder, Joe Button, in September of this year. Joe and his wife, Amy, along with their 3 kiddos have been a blessing amongst blessings to City Parish. To have a co-pastor for Daniel who shares the honor, burden, and accountability of shepherding the souls of City Parish is a gift beyond comprehension.
NEW GATHERING LOCATION
City Parish has always desired to take spiritual, social, and cultural responsibility for our city (something we grew a passion for while a part of City Life). For the first 3 ½ years, that value was lived out and we saw amazing things happen at Meadow Elementary. But as a new administration came in, we were met with less excitement about that partnership and more ambivalence to us meeting there in general. We began to pray for a new space and the Lord answered our prayers in a way that was truly and abundantly more than we could’ve ever asked or thought. We moved into McDowell Elementary in August of this year and it has blossomed into a relationship and partnership that has been the epitome of life-giving. We love this school and the administration, staff, students, and families that make it up.
STAFF
We're heading into 2024 with a stellar staff team. Kristen Hennings, who rocked it as our inaugural Deacon of Administration, is passing the baton off to Liz Jones who has hit the ground running. Jadon, who has a Master's in Applied Behavioral Analysis and a background working with children, is completely overhauling our City Kids ministry and he's crushing it. These part-time roles are an invaluable asset to our church and our full-time elder, Daniel.
Missional communties
We launched our third MC in September. Mike and Hanni Friesen have rocked it starting, serving, and leading and we're so excited to have an MC back on the Southwest side of Petaluma again. Our Northeast Petaluma MC is nearing multiplication again and we're hopeful to have our fourth and fifth MCs launched next year (if not more)!
MATCHING GRANT
This is the fourth year that City Parish has been awarded a matching grant. These grants have been a blessing of blessings in that they've provided a way for us to remain financially viable as we seek to continue being a gospel-centered family practicing the way of Jesus for the renewal of our cities. Many of you have helped us meet these matching grants over the last three years and we'd be humbled and grateful if you'd consider helping us meet it again. You can read more of the details at the link, but we're hoping/praying that we can raise $21,500 from outside of City Parish (i.e. you all)!
Stories of God’s Grace
We already mentioned that many of us look at long articles/emails and they simply turn into TL;DR. But there's something about diving deeper into stories about God's grace. For those that are able, we'd love to encourage you to read some of those from some family members of City Parish.
Logan & McKenzie are some of the most joy-filled, let’s get-it-done, humble folks we know. Their authenticity and humility are contagious and we’re so thankful to God for sending them to our church family.
Josh von Damm represents so much that excites us about Gen Z. His faith is fresh, real, humble, and committed. He’s an eager learner and quick to serve. We’re so thankful he’s a part of the family of City Parish.
Daniel and Jessica, along with their three kids and a core team, planted City Parish 5 years ago. It’s been a joy-filled, painstaking, worthwhile journey—and this year feels especially important given all that it signifies.