Leadership Philosophy

The City Church seeks to follow the Bible’s teaching and example on church leadership structure. First, the Bible describes the church as a family, where everyone must play a part to function correctly. It’s a body, where every part must cooperate for the good of the whole. Everyone in the church is a Spirit-led, gifted member of the body of Christ. As believers in Christ, every one of us belongs to a “priesthood of all believers,” and are called to mission and ministry. There’s no such thing in the Bible as “clergy” and “lay people,” as if some folks are workers for the church and others are not. In this sense, you’re as much a part of serving and leading the church as anyone else.

On an official level of leadership, the Bible first describes Christ as the head of his church. The church exists through Christ, and for the mission of Christ in the world today. Any other leadership must first and foremost be seeking Christ, and pray for God’s direction and leadership in decisions, direction, and carrying out of ministry roles.

The only two official titles given to church leadership in the Bible are the offices of Pastor-Elder and Deacon.

Pastor-Elders (the terms are used interchangeably in the Bible) are a plurality of biblically-qualified men who lead the church as co-equals, submitting to Christ and each other as they carry a weighty responsibility. Pastor-Elders humbly serve as examples to the church, submitting to Christ as they (a) oversee the direction of the church, (b) protect the church by teaching sound biblical doctrine, and (c) shepherd the church in individual and corporate spiritual growth.

Deacons (also called “servants” or “ministers” in the Bible) are biblically-qualified men and women who carry out specific roles in the church, or lead specific ministries, delegated to them by the Pastor-Elders and under the oversight of the Pastor-Elders. These servant-leaders are charged with various tasks as needed.

A “church staff” then, is made up of some Pastor-Elders and Deacons, who serve the church just like everyone else in the church, and who have been freed up to devote more time to the practical reality of carrying out The City Church’s day-to-day functioning. In The City Church, some Pastor-Elders will serve on staff; some will not. Some Deacons might serve on staff; others will not. But in our identity as missionaries, none of our church staff will be devoted “full-time” work in the church. Those who are paid are required to live on mission, devoting several hours each week to work in a “non-church’ environment, just like everyone else in the church.

Our Current Leadership

In these earliest days of The City Church’s history, we are following the biblical mandate to be slow and cautious as we test and approve men and women for official leadership roles (1 Tim 3, 5). On April 18, 2010, we announced our first candidates for Pastor-Elder and Deacon; each one is going through a training process for several months. God willing, our aim is to install Deacons in late 2010 and ordain Pastor-Elders in early 2011. Each candidate's name, contact info, and profile is listed below, along with the leadership role they're serving. We're asking our entire church family to get to know them as we follow the Bible's teaching to 'test and approve' them well together.

>> In addition to getting to know our candiates, read about our Pastor-Elder and Deacon candidacy process here.

As leadership is being established, our first Pastor-Elder is Ben Connelly, who was tested and approved by the Acts 29 church planting network and serves as planting pastor in The City Church. Ben serves alongside two other men on an interim Board of Directors, consisting of Matthew Hudson and Dennis Connelly, to carry out day-to-day leadership of the church. The Board of Directors will dissolve upon the installment of multiple Pastor-Elders, and serves under an Advisory Board of select Acts 29 pastors, for accountability and guidance. Great folks lead on the "front line" of our ministry as Village leaders.

>> In addition to Village leaders, please contact the folks below for questions regarding various elements of life in The City Church.

	Name	Role	Email	Facebook	Twitter
	Ben Connelly	Planting Pastor-Elder	ben [at] fwcitychurch [dot] org	Facebook Page	Twitter Page
	Dennis Connelly	Pastor-Elder Candidate; Board of Directors	connellydg [at] gmail [dot] com	Facebook Page
	Luke Byford	Deacon Candidate for Media & Logistics	luke [dot] byford [at] gmail [dot] com	Facebook Page	Twitter Page
	Matthew Hudson	Pastor-Elder Candidate; Board of Directors	matthew [at] matthewhudson [dot] org	Facebook Page	Twitter Page
	Nicole Tatum	Deacon Candidate for KidCity	nicole [dot] tatum [at] gmail [dot] com	Facebook Page
	Paul Hoffman	Church Planting Pastor-Elder Resident	paul [dot] movement [at] gmail [dot] com	Facebook Page	Twitter Page
	Steve Teng	Deacon Candidate for Villages	steng915 [at] yahoo [dot] com	Facebook Page	Twitter Page
	Tyler Turner	Deacon Candidate for Music	turner [dot] tyler [at] gmail [dot] com	Facebook Page	Twitter Page