Restorative Work

The elders’ full statement regarding the failure in leadership last fall was sent to the congregation on October 29, 2024 and remains available to those of the CityChurch community upon request.

We are working together to foster healing and reconciliation for those in our church body affected by these events, to continue the ministry of the gospel in our community, and to guard against future failures among church leadership and staff.

While this sin itself initially caused significant hurt within the body of the church, our efforts to heal and move forward from it have uncovered preexisting differences of understanding about our identity and direction as a church that had been previously unrealized. As these differences have arisen, the work of plotting steps forward has proven more difficult than we first realized, and yet it also provides us the opportunity grow together in our understanding of who we are as a church and what God is calling us do in our community. We recognize the difficulty this work will entail as it requires us to be gracious and patient, to deny ourselves as we submit to one another in love. And yet at the same time we are hopeful and excited for the ways God will use this work to glorify Jesus among his church and advance the mission of his Kingdom here in our city.

Work with IBL

In February and March of 2025, CityChurch partnered with the Institute of Biblical Leadership to conduct a congregational survey to help aid in our restorative work following the moral failure within church leadership. The survey sought to identify shared values, diverse perspectives, areas of strength, and areas of concern in order to aid us as we seek a path forward for CityChurch into the future.

The full report of the data from the survey is available to the church through the link below. IBL presented these findings along with suggested next steps for CityChurch in a congregational meeting on May 17, 2025. A recording of the meeting can be viewed through the link below along with a PDF of the presentation slides. In order to keep these items amongst the CityChurch community, a ChurchCenter login is required to access them.

We are grateful to Joel and Dave and the team at IBL for their help in ministering to our church in this way, and we are excited for the ways the Lord will use their work to help us to facilitate communication, reach mutual understanding, and foster unity among our congregation as we seek his will and mission for our church.

  • When you click the link above, on a smartphone, it may open in the ChurchCenter app. If you are not already logged into ChurchCenter, you will need to do so before you can access the report and meeting files.

    If you have not downloaded the ChurchCenter app, or if you are accessing the link on a desktop or tablet, the link will open in a web browser. In the web browser, click the button that says log in in the top right corner. On a mobile device, the log in button may be inside a dropdown menu represented by the three horizontal lines.

    You can log in to ChurchCenter using either a phone number or email address. Rather than a password you have to remember, ChurchCenter will send you a temporary confirmation code.

    If you create a new ChurchCenter account, you will not be able to immediately access the links.

    If you have any trouble logging in or accessing these items, contact Taylor or send us a quick message using the link below, and we’ll help as soon as possible.

Steps Forward

From their insights gained from the survey, IBL has outlined recommended actions for us take as we continue to pursue healing and unity and discern together the identity and mission God desires for CityChurch. Here are the steps as IBL presented them at the congregational meeting on May 17:

  1. Reconciliation: Each of us must engage in self-reflection to see the ways we each have contributed to the present conflict, confessing to God in repentance, and confessing to those we have offended, asking their forgiveness.

  2. Elder Communication Plan: The elders must over-communicate with the congregation, establishing an ongoing strategy for two-way engagement and speaking broadly on all matters where confidentiality is not explicitly needed, especially regarding these recommendations, decisions concerning them, their ongoing status or implementation, and any similar strategic matters.

  3. Vision and Values: CityChurch needs to be able to identify who we are? What and who is God leading us to be. The church leadership should gather a group of leaders and seek to determine what is the vision (purpose) and what are the values (character) of City Church.

  4. Ecclesiastical Identity: Based upon these values and vision, we should then be able to identify and partner with an ecclesiastical group with which we align in theology and values in order to accomplish our mission.

  5. Elder Training: It is necessary that the elders of City Church engage in ongoing training/coaching in order to know how to effectively lead the church including practical aspects of eldership as well as team norms and practices on how to lead the team. This training could also extend to other leadership such as deacons and other ministry leaders.

  6. Organizational Leadership Planning: This will help to identify the organizational structure of CityChurch and ensure that the right people are in the right places. This will then allow the church to have clearer communication with one another and a better understanding of who is responsible for what actions.

  7. Strategic Initiatives: Based on the vision and values that God leads us to have during the vision and values exercise, CityChurch needs to be able to identify what we are going to do. What will be the impact of the church moving forward?

We are currently evaluating these steps in prayerfully consideration of how to best implement them including the possibility of continuing to utilize IBL’s assistance in the future. We ask you to join us in prayer for this work as we seek God’s will and mission for our congregation.

As we work out a timeline for many of these steps, we are already working to carry out the reconciliation and communication of steps 1 and 2. We invite you to join us in this, seeking reconciliation together as the Holy Spirit reveals where it is needed. This page serves as part of our effort to facilitate communication among our body, and we will keep it up to date as this restorative work progresses. But we need your help to facilitate ongoing, two-way communication in order to foster harmony and unity as we navigate this work together. The elders desire to be available to any and all who have questions or concerns in these matters, so please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Leadership

In the fall of 2024, the elders called Taylor Whitson to the role of interim pastor. Taylor has since been affirmed by the congregation and ordained to the office of elder. As Taylor continues to lead and assist our musicians in the work of leading worship and planning liturgy, we are grateful for the opportunity for others from within our congregation and from other churches to share periodically in the work of preaching and teaching

We recognize CityChurch’s need for leaders of more diverse experience and stages of life, and we continue to seek additional candidates for eldership accordingly. With the help of materials from other churches and sessions, we are working to create a clear process for identified elder candidates to be trained and equipped for the work of leadership and ministry.

As we engage in the work of discerning God’s mission and vision for our congregation, we expect that the specific needs for pastoral positions and other church staffing will become clear along the way.