Our Story

IMAGINE ... a Christian community that stretches beyond itself, reaching out in contextually and spiritually dynamic ways - imagine a community of ministers that have laid their own desires down to reach a hurting world because of their undying love for Christ. Imagine a local congregation that desires nothing more than to continuously expand God's kingdom through church planting and re-sourcing the church around the world. That is our dream.

As an eighteen year old I would travel to Canberra and joke about planting a church. I would even point to a specific location. Often you find God has slipped his desires under our radar and this is certainly what God has done in my own life.

Our desire is not to simply see a church planted. It is to see a seed planted that will continue to be transplanted across the world in the form of new dynamic, relevant and spiritually powerful churches. LifeCity Church is simply the first seed planted in this specific vision and it too is simply a seed planted out of the hearts of our home church. To be the manifestation of God's love to this hurting world.

The mission of LifeCity Church is 'to build a dynamic City Church with Global Reach.' In our hearts from day one is that this desire comes to fruition. We imagine a day when hundreds of churches around the world can link their spiritual heritage to a church called 'Life City Church' - a church that wanted nothing more than to reach beyond itself and bless a world in need of a Saviour.

A dream can pull you into the future, and we believe that this dream is birthed from the heart of God and we invite you to join us in seeing God's dream fulfilled.

Look beyond,

Josh, Ange and the LifeCity Crew

Our DNA - Our Values

The Harvest - Global Reach

We will always have the 'prime directive' being the 'Great Commission' (Matthew 28:18-20) and "Great Vision' (Revelations 7:9) at heart. We intensely value the 'harvest of the world'; we are built on the premise that we are to go to the 'ends of the earth' spreading the gospel. Many churches become maintenance churches; LCC will always be about the harvest. We are about mission.

Dynamic Spirituality

So often the church becomes 'excellent' in its presentation but nominal in its spiritual vitality and dependence on God, his gifts, prayer and worship. We desire to create an environment of relevance to people, coupled with dynamic spirituality in every sphere of life.

Excellence of spirit and craft

We seek first to have an excellent spirit (Daniel 6) and have excellence as our continual goal - and from this let everything we do grow. It is better to do a limited amount of things well, and grow rather then many things badly, and implode.

Authenticity

Often the church has become a place of fantastic plastic people. God is into integrity. It is amazing how powerful communities of faith are, when people are real, honest, and genuine and do not cloak themselves in a thin veneer of fake respectability. We seek to cultivate a community of believers that are real in life, are 'real' as people and know God as He is and not as they would sometimes have him be.

Creativity

We serve a creative God and are made in his image. We seek to relate the Bible's message in modern creative ways, allowing it to be easily understood and applied. We also seek to present the life and culture of the church in every facet from corporate services, small groups and outreach, in creative, original, and expressive ways.

The Word of God

The importance of God's word can not be understated. It guides us, reveals the heart and will of God and cuts down to the very heart and motives of man. In an age of increased information accessibility, biblical illiteracy is high, as is the attack on the word. (Psalms 119:105, Hebrews 4:12, 1 Timothy 4:13 -16)

Body Ministry

We value the dynamic potential in every person. God has gifted each uniquely as part of the body of Christ. As such this affects also our leadership in its prime function to act as 'equippers' rather than exclusively the 'ministers' (Ephesians 4)

Community

We value 'koinonia', true fellowship, we are built on relationship, with God, his church and the world. The church is firstly the family of God. We wish to see people identify Life City Church as unique in that it will clearly look like a family even from the outside not simply a structure holding Christians. We seek to change the impression of Christians in the general world view from irrelevant people of a bygone era to passionate, powerful, and caring people of God that impact the world.

Why a new church in Canberra

I was asked to answer this question and initially I thought of the 'pat' answers such as, God said go into 'all' the world, and most Canberrans don't go to church so we want to give them a relevant church etc.

BORING ANSWER!!! ( ... that was God speaking in my heart by the way)

I found in my heart, as I thought of the 'right' answers, dissatisfaction. God has not called us to this for just those reasons. He has called us for this season.

Today we look upon churches in Australia like Hillsong Church under Brian Houston, and CCC Oxford Falls under Phil Pringle, and sit back and wonder. We look further a field and see the 'Willow Creeks', the 'Saddleback Churches' and see a specific season of God's intentions being worked out in the world. Churches that were predominantly planted in the 1980's that were to start leading the wider church in the 90's and further flourishing as the churches became 'successful'.

Today is a new day.

Today is a day for a new breed of young men and women that will rise to the challenge to plant the churches, become the men and women that will lead the church in ten years and twenty years. Not just men and women who have inherited 'successful' churches but those that have trodden new ground, learnt to express the church in different, relevant, and spiritually dynamic ways. Not young men that simply want a 'career ministry', to be 'on staff' but prophetic and apostolic young men and women that will shape the future.

As a young church Hillsong Church had a destiny of God to influence - so too does LifeCity Church. It is not a destiny to wait for, but one to take. If there is to be a generation of world changing and influencing churches in ten and twenty years they must be planted now and by young, relatively inexperienced men and women that want to hear where God wants to take his church. This is not about ignoring the past, or demeaning past achievements but standing of the shoulders of giants, on the shoulders of great churches, on the shoulders of great men and women.

As a leader of a church I am young (a little like the age of Brian Houston or Rick Warren when they planted actually) but God is not planting us for now but for the future, God wants to change the future of humanity and thus he must work with those that will lead into that.

It might sound arrogant, but Godly faith can sound a bit like that. We believe that we have been called to plant a new church, a globally focused church that sees that world as it is now. A tightly networked, shrinking world that is within reach of winning. We believe we must plant because the near future will need churches like LifeCity Church. If we do not - who will? We can never risk disobedience or rebellion.

Our dream is large, our abilities small, our focus is clear, though our experience limited. Our faith is small, but our God is greater. We simply come offering our King what is akin to 5 loaves and fish, very little - but with what is placed in His hands he can do miracles.

When we obey, God makes a way (tacky cliché but true). We plant because he has called us to this place, in this time to do his will.

Our Leadership

Our Lead Pastors / Equippers, Josh and Ange Reading, have come to Canberra from Cooma in the Snowy Mountains with a background as the Youth and Kids Pastors of NRG Ministries. As a couple they have a particular passion to see people released into their God given calls, to see people love the Church and Kingdom of God as Christ does and to see the church on earth as it is seen in Revelations 7:9-12 - a church of diversity, passion, and unity.

With two young boys (so far), Joel and Isaiah and a background in youth and kids Ministry it is also on their hearts to see a Church where young people are not simply 'the Church of tomorrow' but the church of today.

Our Beliefs

As a Church in fellowship with the Assemblies of God in Australia and the Australian Christian Churches we are in agreement with the doctrinal statements of our movement of churches.

Visit the Assemblies of God in Australia's website for more information.

www.aog.org.au

web design by www.humanbillboards.com.au