Mike & Hanni
A church that balances faith, truth, and love…
We were no strangers to church. Michael and I were both practically born into bible believing churches, raised in Christian households, met at a Christian college, and got married. Over the past 20 years we often found ourselves more at church than at home, serving in almost every position you could think of. We joked about how much and how often we found ourselves at church. But a few years ago we found ourselves becoming dissatisfied with where we were. We felt spiritually empty. We felt lost. We found ourselves discouraged and disheartened, betrayed, confused and alone. We were completely burned out and realized we needed a change.
And yet even then God was directing us. My copier rep for the church contacted me about renewing our contract. She mentioned City Parish, and her love for Christ and his church was infectious. I was intrigued and tucked that information away. Six months later we were standing in the rain outside City Parish’s doors. We had listened to many hours of the church’s podcast and felt like this church had a balance of faith, truth, and love that we had felt a lack of. We held our breath and walked inside. Instantly we were surrounded with people who were glad we were there, and felt the love of Christ reflecting back on us.
It’s been nearly a year and we haven’t looked back. We sold our home in Novato so we could live in Petaluma near our new church family.
This church not only preaches from the Bible, it lives it in a very tangible way. We went from discipleship being a book study to a daily rhythm in our lives. Sunday mornings are a time to come together, learning, and being challenged and encouraged.
Church stuff has become a joy again instead of duty. We have been in the process of healing and we look forward to seeing how God can use us and work through us. We love our new church family at City Parish!