CityChurch is a brand new church plant which has come out of St Mary’s, in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. It is led by Al Hardy, who both worshipped and worked at St Mary’s for many years. The church was formed out of a long standing relationship between a group of families in Charlotte and John Peters – this led to the idea of establishing a church based on the same model as St Mary’s. Charlotte is deep in America’s so-called Bible Belt, and church is a way of life for the majority. However, many have never heard the message of grace, or understood the person of the Holy Spirit. There is much ‘church damage’, but also a lot of faith, and CityChurch is just one of a number of new churches springing up in Charlotte.

Well, we made it! The long pregnancy is over. Birth!

CityChurch Charlotte was born on January 21st 2007, a crisp, but sunny winter day - the latest addition to the St Mary’s family.

The baby weighed about 120 people, and was satisfyingly noisy.

Midwife Al Hardy, who later admitted to harbouring a certain anxiety about the unwillingness of the child to arrive, expressed beautifully the sentiments of all:
“It’s a church!” he cried.

It had clearly been an exhausting birth, as a semi conscious Pastor Hardy muttered for half an hour to those gathered about an ‘improbable God, who is able to achieve the most unlikely things’… like starting a new church, CityChurch, in Charlotte, the city of a thousand, thousand churches.

Hardy was carted out horizontal but still smiling, while the rest of the gathered assembly enjoyed lunch together.

And CityChurch is already proving to be a precocious child.

This month alone sees the launch of the Life Course, the start of New ID (a course for people struggling with eating disorders) and the addition of an evening service. CityChurch also hosted the launch of the ‘Justice Project’, a cross church, city wide social justice project. And we will be starting a CityKidz outreach on one of Charlotte’s toughest estates. And we expect even greater things for the future!

A big welcome to the world to CityChurch Charlotte!

Prayer requests:
CityChurch is currently using a building on loan, and is looking for a more permanent home. Growth has been steady but slow. Most of our congregation are busy families. This month we are beginning an evening service with a handful of young people. We continue to pray that we will be able to form a genuine community here, find our place in the city of Charlotte and adapt to the needs of this culture.

Find out more about CityChurch by visiting www.citychurchcharlotte.com