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A New Church...in San Francisco?

Reflections on 15*

 

"This place is a graveyard for church planters," an experienced church-planting strategist in the area warned me. That was encouraging! Others repeatedly told me how many times a church planter had grandiose ideas of starting a church in San Francisco, only to see it fail within a year or so. Other pastors told me that while they were barely surviving, the city was obviously very hostile to their efforts, and they felt the need to entrench themselves and fight back, create a fortress mentality. "We'll be here when all the weirdos are gone," one of the pastors told me in my first few weeks of living in SF. There was a handful of churches growing and thriving, but they were few and far between.

 

The group that became our "launch team" in early 1997 prayed for the success not only of City Church, but also of all churches and church start-ups in San Francisco. I remember the words of our prayer, a phrase I've used often since that time, that San Francisco would "become a place where Jesus Christ is known, honored, and served." We knew we needed to pray for a multitude of churches and ministries of all shapes and sizes to begin to see that happen. (Truth be told, I think the "known, honored, served" phrase was from a church start-up going on in Greenwich Village at the time; their church planter was some guy named Scot Sherman.)

 

As City Church grew steadily over the years, I recall a conversation with Tim Keller, the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. He said that one benefit of a church growing larger in a place like New York or San Francisco is that it will inspire other church-planting networks to see that you can plant a church in urban locations that actually grow and thrive. "It will embolden them to try it themselves," he said. I saw this beginning to happen in SF around 5 or 6 years ago when I received emails from men and women of various church-planting networks around the country telling me that "planting a church in San Francisco might be in my future plans." One told me, "We listen to the podcast and sense God calling us to the City."

 

It has happened. Over the past 2 years I would venture there are more new church and ministry initiatives than anytime in my 15 years in SF. Churches are being started, and they are growing. To be sure, some of this growth is transfer growth from one church to another. That's not a new dynamic in San Francisco, as any pastor in our city will attest. What is new is the conversion and renewal growth they are experiencing as they proclaim the gospel to our City. And on many occasions they are saying this to me and to others on our staff: "We are here because of your story and what God is doing with City Church."

 

Friends, this is really exciting. Many of these church planters, representing new church start-ups in San Francisco and the urban Bay Area, gathered at City Church in the spring to pray, troubleshoot, and talk philosophy of ministry. We'll have more of these meetings. Church planters are looking to us for ideas, lessons we've learned, and best practices . . . but mind you, it's a two-way street. We are learning and listening as well, as they engage our City with the gospel of grace. God is up to something large in San Francisco. More than ever, let us pray fervently that San Francisco will indeed, more and more, be a place where Jesus Christ is known, honored, and served!

 

*Reflections on 15 (an occasional series during our 15th year of ministry)


City Church celebrates its birth as a church on two calendar dates. The first is my arrival on August 5, 1996—shortly thereafter, a small group began in our living room. Ministry was taking place throughout that fall, so I think that earlier date should count! However, we had our first official worship service in February 1997, so we've typically celebrated this milestone in the spring. Either way, we are in our 15th year of ministry in San Francisco, and I have reflections on these years that I'd like to share periodically.

Rev. Fred Harrell

Founding Pastor
The Rev. Fred O. Harrell is a native of Central Florida and is a graduate of the University of...

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