Our Story
The dream for Community City Church began over ten years ago, when I (Edwin) was inviting friends, neighbors, and colleagues with questions about God’s role in their lives to come to church with me – about an hour’s drive away! That’s a long way to travel to connect with God and keep exploring faith. Instead of bringing people to a church that was so far away, I wondered what it would look like to bring a healthy, transformational church to them! It was then that I felt God calling me to plant a church that could help all kinds of people in the community find hope and new life in Christ.
In Fall of 2018, my wife, Kelsey, and I came to Malden with a team of people who also wanted to be a part of what God wanted to do in this city of Malden. Our desire is to build a church that can provide environments where all people can come to in order to hear and experience the life-changing truths that Jesus is for them, that He died for them, and that He came to give them new life and purpose. A church where people can find warmth, hospitality, and authentic relationships. A place where people can put love into action as they transform the community that they live in. A place where people can ask questions about God and a community that helps them to follow Jesus, follow Jesus with others, and help others to follow Jesus.
Our Vision
Our vision is to be a church where Real People can experience a Real God and do Real Life together. (Real People. Real God. Real Life.)
Our Mission
Our mission is drawn from Matthew 28:18-20, to help people find new life in Christ as we help them to walk in that life.
Our Values
Worship
God created us to long for someone eternal and everlasting. Since He was the one who created us this way, only His love and connection can really fill us and only His purposes can really satisfy us. Worship is acknowledging who God really is, enjoying His love, and loving Him back with all of ourselves and all that we have. We strive to learn how to live in a way where He becomes the center of our lives as we reorder our lives around Him. It is learning to make the daily choice to give all of me over to all of Him. (Luke 10:27)
Community
Life was never meant to be done alone because we are always better together. So it is inviting all our neighbors to do life together as we do life with Jesus in community. Our hope is that when we do this, we not only mature in our faith, but also experience spiritual friendships that are meaningful, life-giving, and authentic. (Hebrews 10:24-25)
Discipleship
We want to learn how to follow Jesus here on Earth as we allow our faith to influence the way we live and love. Maturing in the Christian life and becoming more Christ-like is a daily surrender of our wills as we become more sensitive as to how God may want to lead us instead. However, it is not just about us being personally transformed. We are called to help others to follow Jesus, as we allow our faith to bless people and change the world. We aim to follow Jesus, to follow Jesus with others, and to help others to follow Jesus. (Luke 9:23)
Ministry
Ministry is seen as service to God and to other people in Jesus’ Name. The reason why we serve is because Jesus provided the pattern for Christian ministry by coming to Earth not to be served but to serve. God never created us to just be consumed with living for ourselves, but He created us to make a difference with our lives by serving others in need of His love. To do this, we gather together as a church community to be equipped and then scatter to serve and live out God’s purposes wherever we go because we each have a purpose and role to fulfill. (Romans 12:4-5, Ephesians 2:10)
Mission (Evangelism & Biblical Justice)
We are compelled by Christ’s compassion and commands to leverage the faith that we have to bring love, hope, healing, reconciliation, and restoration to a broken world. We do this through word and deeds in ways that are practical, personal, prayerful, relevant, and respectful. We long to lovingly build bridges with those who are estranged from God and the church. God created and called each of us to partner with Him as He continues His work to make things right in the lives of those around us and in this world. We want to simply bless our neighbors and to be the hands and feet of Jesus both locally and globally (2 Corinthians 5:18-20)
Celebration
What Jesus has done for us is worthy of a party, therefore we strive to be a community that often celebrates what God is doing in our lives and in the lives of each other. (Philippians 4:4)
Our Logo
Our logo is a combination of three elements:
- A city where the buildings are facing each other in community: It is only in community that we learn how to better love, serve, pray, resolve conflict, forgive, and heal as we learn to live and love like Jesus.
- A road that is leading into and out of the city: The road symbolizes that anyone is welcome to come find new life in Christ and community here. The road leads back out so that once people gather, they can scatter into their homes, workplaces, neighborhoods, and be a light for Christ wherever they go.
- A river flowing through the city: The road can also look like a river, representing two things. First is the Malden River which flows right through the city of Malden. The second is that in Psalm 46, the Psalmist writes that the river of God flows into the city that gives it life. We want the Holy Spirit to flow in, through, and around this community as we reflect His love and bless the people of this city.