CHURCH PROFILE | Who We Are…Ever Becoming
Christ City Church is a faith family located in east Dallas. Founded in 2013 by current lead pastor Jeremy Pace, Christ City Church desires to be a people who proclaim Christ in the everyday, until he cannot be ignored. Our vision is more than a tagline. Through its formation, the Spirit compelled us to begin a new work in “the land of 1000 churches,” a place where the name of Jesus is not unfamiliar, though admittedly, the person and presence of Jesus are all too easily ignored. As a faith family, our:
“Mission” is to Proclaim Christ: In our words and deeds, we want people to not only know of Jesus but to experience Jesus in us and with us…and so recognize that He is for and with them. We aim to be “a signpost” of life with God.
“Philosophy of Ministry” is In The Everyday: We believe the amplest and most fertile soil for experiencing and participating in life with God (i.e., His “Kingdom”) is our everyday roles and relationships as spouses & friends, parents & children, employees & employers, and in the sharing of life with others following Jesus. Everything we do, and don’t do, is done to help us follow Jesus here, in the ordinary places of daily living.
“Commitment” is Until He Cannot Be Ignored: For the sake of one another and neighbors, we aim to live whole and holy, maturing into the fullness of who we are made to be in Jesus together until we cannot be known apart from Him and until His presence with us is undeniable all across our city. We believe that raising up and multiplying communities of people following Jesus in the ordinary places is how our city will be transformed from the inside out.
The vision of a people who together proclaim Christ in our everyday roles and relationships until Jesus’ person and presence for us and with us cannot be ignored (even if not always embraced) is where we started ten years ago and is our aim for the decades to come.
With a weekly Gathering average attendance of around 60, Christ City Church is a small but healthy faith family striving to mature into who we desire to be and slowly growing in depth and width. We may be small, but we think that gives us, and you, an advantage in growing as “equippers of the saints”! KEEP READING TO FIND OUT WHY!
WHY A “NORMAL CHURCH” RESIDENCY MATTERS
We are a “small church,” evidentially and by definition. And yet, that means we are a “normal church.” Lifeway Research labels churches with an average Sunday attendance of 100 or less as “small.” We fit that label, but that also means we are a part of the majority of churches in the U.S. The same research group determined that 70% of all churches in America have a weekly attendance of less than 100, with 50% of all churches having under 65 in their weekly gathered worship.[1]
The general consensus is that church attendance in America is shrinking, especially with less-than-expected post-pandemic returns. While every size of church has felt the pressure of the evolving religious landscape, the narrative assumes that the smaller, ordinary churches have suffered a decline at a quicker rate. However, the same study concluded that the smaller church shrinks slower than the mid and large churches, with mid-size churches (between 101-250 weekly attendees) shrinking faster than the national average. Large churches (greater than 250 in weekly attendance), which make up only 10% of all churches in the U.S., shrink at the average rate, yet also see participation in the life of church shrink much faster.[2]
Of course, statistics only paint a general and partial picture, and exceptions can always be found, but these findings shed light on a relatively untapped opportunity for leadership development. Most pastoral church-based residency programs occur in larger churches or “mega” churches, meaning that most future leaders are being developed in the minority church environment for jobs in the minority of churches, while the majority church, and potentially the majority of church jobs (and certainly need), are underdeveloped and served.
Having been developed (both systematically and organically) in the large church (FBC Wichita Falls, Prestonwood Baptist Church, The Village Church, and Mars Hill Church) and having worked in the mid-size church (The Crowded House) and para-church leadership development (The Porterbrook Network and Acts 29 Network), I (Jeremy) can personally attest to the many benefits and continued necessity of structured leadership development in these contexts. However, I can also testify to the reality that such development does not always scale down.
The demands and nuances of leadership in smaller, normal church contexts (even in the mid-size range) require a considerably different attitude and approach than the context and culture of (most) large church programs prepare leaders for. We believe that this is part of the reason why the mid-size church is the fastest shrinking group, considering that most of their leadership has been developed in the context of larger churches, whether in residencies, church-planting programs, or previous employment. They have the organizational leadership of the large, but the foundational elements of leading small are missing. So, the pressures of the changing religious landscape meet a group without the deep roots of the smaller church or the deeper resources of the larger church[4] , and they succumb.
Leading a small church is not the goal nor the ideal, but it is the starting point for leading a healthy and lasting church family. At least, we believe so! While development doesn’t always scale down, it has limitations in scaling up as well. However, there is an ever-increasing plethora of aids to assist emerging leaders in leading up, but few for leading down. We believe that for the U.S. church now and in the future, we need more leaders developed to lead thriving and growing normal churches, and we believe we can be a part of meeting that need, but only with help. Help in the form of those with the wisdom and patience to walk with us along the journey to figure out how to do this (probably not as unique as we think) thing with excellence, and those willing to contribute the resources we lack. That’s why our program partners with organizations like Made to Flourish, for example.
The self-sustainability of a normal church is relative to its vision and values. If small is the goal and value, then, as the Lifeway Research indicates, a small church can self-sustain a building and a pastor. Yet, if the goal is neither to stay small or become large, but instead be a part of something larger than itself, a healthy, normal church will need outside resources and perhaps need them throughout its existence. Christ City Church is a good example of this.
We are self-sustaining in that we have no debt, have a place to meet, and can afford to pay the lead pastor's salary (and a part-time associate salary), plus cover the monthly and yearly expenses of being a church body in a large city. Yet, for us to do “more,” we have always needed outside resources, whether in the form of support/donations or other income streams (like part-time jobs) or mutual partnerships—and usually a mixture of all three. Because of God’s grace instilling in us a vision and value of being a smaller church that is a part of something larger, and His grace through the relationships and support beyond just our congregation, we have been able to have a Kingdom influence well beyond our limitations. So, being self-sustaining for us has and perhaps will always mean an interdependent existence. We believe the same will be true for the residency program and our residents. And that is where our Pastoral Residency is unique!
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[1] According to the 2022 Lifeway Research accessed here.
[2] According ot the 2021 Lifeway Research accessed here.
[4] We are not making a value claim in this statement. We are not saying deep roots is somehow more righteous than deep resources. We are simply pointing out what he statistics show and our experiences have demonstrated, that mid-size is the most impacted by our current state.