CityChurch

Grace CityChurch is a network of churches - a church of churches.  We subscribe to the Acts 13 model of church Leadership and Network development.  

We are composed of simple home-based churches in neigborhoods throughout Clifton, Paterson, Passaic and the surrounding areas. Each of these churches meet on Sunday evenings in homes for a meal, fellowship and a time of teaching and sharing what the Lord is teaching us throughout the week. Leaders who help shepherd and strengthen these simple churches are appointed by the Sodal Leadership of our CityChurch.

All of our simple churches across North Jersey are networked together so that we can contribute with one-minded devotion to the progress of the gospel.  We meet together at our City Center monthly for a church-wide equipping time, and engage in other events throughout the year, both in partnership with other churches in the area, as well as to engage our neighbors and cities.

We plan, pray and partner together to see simple churches spontaneously spread across North Jersey, through the Spirit's work and our commited lives devoted to one another and to seeking the welfare of those in our neighborhoods and cities.

 

The first principles of Christ

The first principles of Christ (Col 2:6-8) are a set of community habits built around a distinct way of thinking and living, which Jesus delivered to the churches through his Apostles (Eph. 3:7-11). This new way of thinking allows churches to do theology in culture, solving real problems in their cultural situation in fully biblical, but creative, innovative and daring ways. These new habits are part of renewing our minds, freeing up God's Spirit to continue His work in us and through us, as we intentionally reshape our households and churches, so that they are transformed into thriving Jesus communities (Rom 12:1-2). Any strategy that fails to include these elements is unlikely to create mature churches.

“First-principles thinking is one of the best ways to reverse-engineer complicated problems and unleash creative possibility. Sometimes called “reasoning from first principles,” the idea is to break down complicated problems into basic elements and then reassemble them from the ground up. It’s one of the best ways to learn to think for yourself, unlock your creative potential, and move from linear to non-linear results.” [https://fs.blog]

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The way of Christ and His Apostles

This term is meant to describe how Christ empowered His Apostles by His Spirit to carry the Gospel throughout the ancient world, and the methods they employed in the establishment of local churches and expansion of networks of churches across the ancient world.  There are four components that make up the Way of Christ and His Apostles.

• The Pauline Cycle which Paul consistently repeated throughout His ministry, of Evangelizing Strategic Cities, Establishing Local Churches and Entrusting them to Qualified Leaders

• That Paul's Early, Middle and Later letters are actually the tools he used to establish churches, and they represent the progress of Paul's work from establishing new churches in the gospel, strengthening churches in the mission & vision of the church, all the way to establishing mature households & entrusting key leaders for the work for future generations

• The Didache as sound doctrine... the teaching... the deposit... around which believers and families should shape their lives: reformed conduct, virtues, household order, true community (love), conduct toward outsiders, submitting to governing authorities and responsible living.

• The Paul / Timothy Model. Both modality and sodality leaders are to be recognized and trained up within the life and context of the local church, especially those who early on show proven character, obvious gifts and fruit, teachability and loyalty... and who grow into mature leaders who keep the faith, avoid distraction over silly theological controversies, and are accurate, consistent and hardworking carriers of the deposit, who show obvious growth and keep an undefiled conscience.

 

Grand Strategy

This is the best translation of the term Paul uses in Ephesians 3:10 when he states that one of his two job descriptions is to bring to light Christ's administration or plan for the kingdom, which is the Church; the best translation for this Greek term (a word combining house and law) is His plan, but the passage clearly refers to His big, grand plan - His grand strategy for unfolding His kingdom.

[from Paul's Middle Letters Glossary, in the Comprehensive Assessment of Complex Networks by BILD International]

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