City Church Proposal

Wilmington has a diverse population of approximately 73,000. As Delaware‟s largest city, Wilmington serves as the business and cultural hub of the region. Pro-business legislation enables the city to attract corporations from around the world. A growing arts community is led by a variety of theaters, museums, and galleries as well as by the expanding Delaware College of Art and Design and city art loop. Riverfront development and other downtown projects have created a buzz for a city seeking to reinvent itself. New businesses, coffee shops, and restaurants are emerging. The historic Queen Theater will soon be restored into a music venue that will “engage diverse populations” with quality entertainment through the nationally recognized World Café Live. The LOMA (Lower Market) district has been designed as a magnet for the creative community. A diversity of designers, architects, retailers, and artists are being attracted to the city with the hope of redefining it. The future looks promising. In fact, Wilmington was recently named one of the top five North American micro-cities of the future by Foreign Direct Investment Magazine. The story of a city bursting with hope, however, is not the whole story. For many, the future does not look so promising. Like every urban center, Wilmington is a tale of two cities; it is a small city with big city problems. Its proximity to four major cities on the Northeast corridor makes it particularly vulnerable to drug trafficking. Crime is a significant problem, evidenced by the record number of homicides in 2008. The gap between rich and poor is alarming. Almost half of Delaware‟s AIDS cases are in Wilmington, contributing to an AIDS rate in Delaware that far exceeds the national rate. Greed, poverty, sexual brokenness, crime, racism, lack of education and other injustices have vandalized God‟s intentions of peace and wholeness for the city of Wilmington.

With our words and our lives, City Church will tell God‟s story – the story of Jesus coming to rescue us from sin and renew our broken world. We want to humbly join the conversation about our city‟s future, commending this story as the ultimate resource for urban renewal. Our vision, therefore, is to see God’s story of redemption shape the story of our lives, our church, and our city. We dream of a gospel-driven movement that cultivates diverse followers of Jesus who experience and extend God‟s grace, demonstrating to our city that God is really among us. We dream of a movement where…

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Jason Sica was born in Wilmington and raised just outside the city. He attended elementary school in Wilmington, and his first exposure to urban ministry came in this city as a high school student. During college breaks he participated in outreach efforts in Wilmington with All Nations Fellowship, a multiethnic church plant of the Heritage Presbytery. Jason holds a Master of Divinity from Covenant Theological Seminary, with a concentration in urban ministry and contemporary culture. As a seminary student, he worked as the Senior High Youth Director at Grace and Peace Fellowship in urban Saint Louis. After graduating, he returned home to Delaware where he served for a summer as a pastoral intern with All Nations Fellowship. He now serves as Assistant Pastor for Outreach and College and Career Ministry at Faith Presbyterian Church in North Wilmington, where he has been on staff for four years. He has continued to involve himself in urban ministry in Wilmington during this time. Jason‟s wife, Katie, was raised in Western Pennsylvania. She graduated from Geneva College with a degree in communication disorders before working as a speech therapist in the Saint Louis city schools for two years. Katie is now a photographer and enjoys tutoring at Urban Promise in Wilmington. Jason and Katie have been married for seven years; they have two young girls, Kylie (age 4 ½) and Naomi (age 3). The Sicas love cities and have been captured by the diversity, vibrancy, and need of Wilmington‟s urban landscape. Jason and Katie have been approved for church planting by the Acts 29 Network. In addition to going through the Acts 29 boot camp and assessment, they have also participated in Global Church Advancement‟s church planting training.

Our denominational affiliation is with the Presbyterian Church in America. Oversight will be provided by a provisional session (advisory team) consisting of elders from the Heritage Presbytery. Jason will be coached by a seasoned church planting coach who is a Teaching Elder in the Philadelphia Presbytery. We are also connected to the Acts 29 Network, the liberti church movement, and the Mosaix Global Network. Acts 29 exists to start churches that plant churches. Mosaix is a network committed to inspiring unity and diversity through the development of Christ-centered multiethnic churches. Liberti is a multiplying church movement in the city of Philadelphia.

City Church will be a congregation not simply for ourselves, but for our friends and neighbors who do not yet know Christ. While we desire to see the gospel unite the diversity of Wilmington, our hearts are especially burdened for those who are presently disconnected from Jesus and the life of His church. We long to see our spiritually disillusioned friends and neighbors find deep belonging in a community of grace where the gospel is proclaimed and demonstrated. A post-Christian climate is emerging in Wilmington. Although there are many churches dotting the city‟s landscape, few are evangelical and missional. A growing number of congregations are closing their doors each year due to an inability to bring in new members. Many people today are disinclined toward the church. Some have never ventured into the doors of a church, confident that Christianity has nothing relevant to say to their lives. Others have been exposed to church, but want nothing further to do with it because of the hypocrisy, religiosity, and coldness they encountered. We desire to start a congregation that is accessible to these kinds of people – the unchurched and dechurched. We want to be a church where the skeptical, the burned-out, and the broken encounter the welcome of Jesus in the context of authentic relationships. Many members of the creative community that the city is seeking to draw downtown fall into this category of unchurched and dechurched. These individuals desire to be part of a larger effort to bring about change in the city. Generally speaking, they are ethnically diverse, progressive in their thinking and lifestyle, and spiritually distant from the truths of Christianity. They are open to new ideas, however, and are also the future leaders of the city. If the gospel is to take root and change the fabric of Wilmington for God‟s glory, these emerging leaders and shapers of culture must be reached and brought into the life of the church. Many of them are unreached in the sense that they have never heard a credible proclamation of the gospel (a clear message of grace) nor ever seen a credible demonstration of the gospel (grace embodied authentically). As part of our overall mission to seek the good of the city we believe it is strategic to reach members of this creative community with the gospel so that they in turn will commit themselves to bringing God‟s Kingdom to life in the city. Imagine what God could do through these individuals if their lives were permeated with the gospel and they used their creativity and influence to help make the city of Wilmington a place increasingly characterized by mercy, justice, and righteousness.

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We will achieve our mission by being gospel-centric, multi-cultural, and city-focused.

 Gospel-centric - The gospel will be the central, unifying reality for our congregation. The gospel (good news) is the story of how God has entered into human history to rescue and redeem His broken creation from sin through Jesus Christ. This good news of rescue will be the guiding priority for everything we do as a church. Gospel centrality is ultimately what makes a diverse church “work” since Christ alone has the power to unite people from a multiplicity of backgrounds. The gospel puts us all on equal footing as we come to terms with our spiritual poverty and the fact that we all need Jesus just the same. When we build our identity on race or class, we tend to look down on those who are different from us. When we build our identity on the person and work of Jesus, we are humbled and empowered to embrace others. The gospel therefore provides a unifying identity in Christ and enables people to turn from the idolatries of self, tribe, and race. Out of such personal and congregational renewal, urban renewal flows as God‟s people participate with him in mending the brokenness around them and restoring wholeness. With this in mind, we will stress both the personal and social impact of the gospel. The gospel is the power of God to rescue and transform individuals, but it is also the power of God to restore all of creation. 

Multi-cultural - We will embrace and celebrate the cultural diversity of our city and seek to enhance one another through our God-given differences. We want to reflect the diversity of Wilmington while enjoying Christ-centered unity. We believe this will serve as a provocative witness to God‟s story of redemption. In an increasingly diverse society like the one in which we live, multi-cultural churches are needed to bear witness to the power and relevancy of the gospel in a world that is skeptical of truth claims. We plan to work towards the formation of a multi-cultural church in three primary ways: 1. By establishing a diverse launch team 2. By raising up diverse leaders to serve in the new church 3. By seeking a unifying sound in our music that is born out of the diversity of our lives

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City-focused – Our mission is not just the building of a great church, but the building of a great city. We intend to gather followers of Jesus from around the metropolitan area and deploy them on a mission to serve Wilmington in a city-directed movement. We will be a resource church for the city, calling people to sacrificially invest their lives and resources for the good of the city. We will equip people to live out the implications of the gospel in the arts, in business, in education, in urban planning and community development. We will also be citypositive, viewing Wilmington with hope as the gospel changes our attitudes and actions toward the city and its residents. We will equip and encourage one another to share the gospel and make disciples in their spheres of influence. We will be advocates of human restoration by embodying Christ‟s ministry of bringing dignity to race, gender, and culture. We will challenge each other to act with justice, integrity, and mercy in our various vocations. We will work to train and mentor men and women for ministry that addresses the social and economic needs of our community. We will call people to love their neighbors through civic responsibility.

The Biblical Story: There is a drama that sweeps across the pages of the Bible. This drama is the true story of the world – the narrative of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and New Creation. The unifying theme of this narrative is the gospel – the good news of what God has done in Jesus to redeem people from every culture and renew our broken world. This story of good news is our story; it transforms who we are (identity) and what we do (practice). We will seek to view everything – God, people, and place through the lens of this story. We will be a church that celebrates the power and purpose of the story God is telling, helping people to find their unique place and role in it.

Community: Living the biblical story as our own re-orients us toward people. The Christian journey is a community project, not to be lived in isolation from others. In fact, God Himself is a relational being, a community of three persons (Trinity). As those made in His image, we are designed for relationship with others. Freedom in Christ overcomes our fundamental slavery which separates us from God and people, making us less than human. This freedom leads to a new love for God and for others, and therefore, a new community in which God is making us truly human.

Mission: Living the biblical story as our own launches us into mission with God. We are compelled to testify to the reality and presence of God‟s Kingdom in our city. Our community will be one that welcomes the spiritually disillusioned. We will not retreat from the brokenness of the city, but will enter into it redemptively with the hope of the gospel. We will extend mercy and promote justice on behalf of the poor and marginalized. We desire to ignite a movement by empowering Christians to live as missionaries with the resource of the whole gospel for the whole person and city.

Authenticity: Living the biblical story as our own sets us free from the need to “fake it” by pretending to be something we‟re not. We will be upfront about our brokenness and the fact that we don‟t have it all together. We will seek to be a community known for honesty, transparency, and vulnerability as we pursue a humble reliance on Jesus and His rescuing grace. We will strive to create a culture of grace where honest questions can be asked and real life struggles can be admitted.

Diversity : Living the biblical story as our own enables us to embrace those who are different from us. God loves diversity. As the Master Artist, He created the world with a variety of peoples and cultures. We will celebrate this diversity and seek to unite it in the gospel. We will encourage people to value their God-given uniqueness while also appreciating people from other cultures. We desire to see God form a new humanity that is unified in diversity.

Creativity: Living the biblical story as our own compels us to make culture and to bring God‟s Kingdom to life around us. We will value artistic expression and encourage creative endeavor in the life of our church. Our desire is to see gospel saturated imagination and creativity unleashed in service to God and neighbor. We will celebrate the diversity of God‟s creativity and rejoice in the unique gifts He has given each of us to tell His story of redemption. We will promote the arts as they have the power to unify people from diverse cultural backgrounds.

Our strategy will be incarnational rather than attractional. An attractional church grows mainly through the front door as people ordinarily come into the church because they are drawn to the programs that are offered. Such an approach works well in more “churchy” contexts where people are attracted to what the church has to offer. An incarnational church like the one we plan to start grows primarily through the side door. People come in through relationships that are established outside the walls of the church. In fact, most of the ministry happens outside the church building. We want to be known more as a movement than a place. The church is not a building we go to, but a people who go. Our efforts will be concentrated on getting people to live as missionaries with gospel intentionality within their relational networks. We must go to where the people are and engage them „on their turf‟. We plan to be a center-city church with inner-city concerns. We will work from the inside-out, extending our influence outward from the city-center as we grow and expand. An emphasis will be placed on serving and meeting needs. We will involve ourselves in ministries and organizations that do mercy and pursue justice for those on the margins of society. A hit and run approach to ministry will not work. We believe that God is calling us put down roots and love this place. Credible gospel living in the context of authentic relationships will be the primary influence in drawing people into our church community. We do not pretend to be the city‟s savior. We want to approach the city from a posture of humility. God is already at work in Wilmington. We simply want to get in on what he is doing.

Central to City Church‟s philosophy of ministry is the belief that evangelism at its best is a community project. The unchurched and dechurched need multiple opportunities to observe the gospel as it works itself out among those who have been transformed by Jesus. Our task then is to create a culture of grace in which the spiritually disillusioned can process the gospel and “try it on.” Our hope is that the gospel proclaimed from our mouths will be intelligible and compelling because of the gospel demonstrated through our lives. The logic here is that transformed lives are both the greatest argument for and the greatest explanation of the gospel. Christian living that authenticates the gospel message in this way is a persuasive apologetic in an increasingly post-Christian setting like ours. Those outside the church need regular contact with authentically human ambassadors of the gospel. Evangelism will not be a separate department of ministry, but rather something that shapes the whole of our life together as a congregation. The most natural way for people to be introduced to City Church will be through friends and neighbors inviting them. For this to be effective, the worship service and overall church environment has to be one in which regular attenders are comfortable and enthusiastic about bringing their unbelieving friends. We will work hard to cultivate a “bringer” mentality among City Church people. We will communicate the gospel with clarity, seeking to be comprehensible to the unchurched and dechurched among us. We want City Church members to always be strategizing about bringing their non-Christian friends, knowing that they will hear the gospel in meaningful ways, but also be treated with dignity and respect at the same time. City Church will be safe place for people to express their questions and doubts as they investigate what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

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. Doxological – To be fully human in the biblical sense is to experience the freedom of worshiping the living God in contrast to the idols that enslave us. Our goal, therefore, is to engage in an authentic worship of God in our corporate worship that is characterized by gospel centrality, celebration, and freedom. We believe this doxological focus will enable us to be relevant to both believer and unbeliever alike. We will seek to make what we do in worship accessible and comprehensible to everyone. We will explain theological terms and the rationale behind what we do in worship. We want believers to say, “This is just the place for me to bring my unbelieving friend in order to expose them to the gospel in meaningful ways.” Our expectation is that non-Christians will be present at every event we hold so we will work hard to create an environment that is welcoming to them. The goal is not to be seeker driven but seeker comprehensible. Our aim is provocative worship like what Paul outlines in 1 Corinthians 14. Our prayer is that unbelievers would sense the reality of God‟s presence among His people and exclaim “God is really among you!” (v.25).

Diverse - Our worship style will be contextually relevant for Wilmington, reflecting the diversity of our cosmopolitan environment. Practically, apart from choice of music, this means that our worship team will be multiethnic. We will strive for an eclectic, urban sound that unites the diversity of our city around the worship of God. We envision this sound being a fusion of jazz, gospel and rock. The music will be mostly contemporary even as we take more traditional hymns and “jazz” them up. We will pursue excellence in the quality of our music as an expression of our commitment to the arts, but most importantly as an acknowledgement of God‟s worth.

Dialogical - Our worship service will be liturgical, yet informal and contemporary. When we use the term liturgy we are talking about the structure, not the style or music of the service. The service will follow a Christ-centered narrative movement as the good news of Jesus is rehearsed and re-presented each week. This narrative movement will follow a dialogical or conversational pattern whereby God speaks through His Word and we respond in praise as His people. Liturgy will serve to carry a gospel “storyline” that expresses the drama of redemption throughout the movement and flow of the service. Liturgies will be crafted with creativity so as to proclaim the gospel afresh each week, building bridges from the biblical story to the everyday stories of the gathered worshipers. Practical, grace-centered preaching will do the same. Creeds and prayers from around the world will be used to promote the diversity of God‟s global church. The service as a whole will represent a drama that works towards a climax in the celebration of the Lord‟s Supper. The liturgy leading up to communion will be anticipatory, pointing towards our experience of God‟s grace in the sacrament. We will celebrate the Lord‟s Supper weekly, emphasizing our constant, ongoing need for Christ and His transforming grace. Communion will be a unifying reality for us as a congregation, demonstrating Christ‟s reconciling work. What we all share in common, regardless of race or status, is our desperate need to receive God‟s grace. As believers from diverse backgrounds come to the Table each week because of the welcome of Christ, the gospel will be beautifully displayed for all to see. The gospel will be proclaimed in word throughout the service with communion serving as a tangible picture of the gospel. The dialogical nature of receiving God‟s grace through His Word and responding in praise will conclude with God‟s people being sent out into the world to engage in all of life worship. As we re-orient ourselves to God‟s grace during corporate worship, we then move into the world to extend grace to our neighbors and live for God‟s glory. We will stress that worship involves both adoration and action. There is a fluid relationship between worship on the Lord‟s Day and the activity that takes place throughout the rest of the week.

. The gospel is not something Christians have and others need, but something everyone needs all the time. As a result, we will preach the gospel not only as the means for conversion, but also as the means for growth. There will be a Christ-centered, grace orientation to our approach to spiritual formation since the gospel is more about identity transformation than behavior modification. Our approach will also be holistic as we look to move beyond just teaching information to creating environments to experience the gospel and put it into practice. We want our city to have a foretaste of redemption as outsiders witness God working in and through us. We believe a transformational community like this will attract people and create opportunities to invite them into God‟s story. Our expectation is that the gospel renewal in our lives will spill over into the streets and neighborhoods of our city, resulting in urban renewal. Lastly, we are committed to developing gospel-driven, missional leaders who will serve as pacesetters in the church. These leaders will be trained in the art of applying the gospel to themselves and in the skill of engaging the culture around them with the gospel.

. We believe this is where “church” really happens. Here people come together to experience God‟s presence in community with others. These groups are safe places for people to journey in the hope of Christ together through Bible study, discussion, prayer, fellowship, and service. These groups will meet in neighborhoods and establishments throughout metro Wilmington. They will serve a two-fold purpose: 1) To provide community in which those who are already followers of Christ are nurtured and challenged to live in the gospel and to live out its implications. 2) To provide community in which those who are not yet followers of Christ are welcomed and invited to process and discover the gospel. Most unchurched and dechurched people come to faith in Christ through a process (a series of minidecisions rather than one “big” decision made on the spot). They need multiple exposures to the gospel. Often conversion to community precedes conversion to Christ. Aware of these dynamics, we will work to create space and freedom for people to observe and be in process. Community groups represent the “Front-lines” of discipleship where the gospel gets pressed more deeply into our lives.

. The gospel shapes a new culture, a whole new city as God‟s people create and cultivate the city with the dual aim to glorify God and bless their neighbors. We intend to engage the city by thoughtfully applying the gospel to our urban context. Retreat and separation on the one hand, and accommodation and syncretism on the other, are not options for us. We plan to equip followers of Jesus to understand the culture of our city and to live distinctly public lives as disciples in the neighborhood and in

the workplace. Underlying our approach to cultural engagement will be the belief that because the biblical story is true, it has something meaningful to contribute to every aspect of life. We will celebrate the arts, music, sexuality, literature, and seek to serve God with all of our gifts, abilities, and opportunities. All of these things are often exploited and used selfishly, and yet all can be used to love God and people and serve effectively in this world. We desire to do all things with excellence for God‟s pleasure. One way we plan to impact our city is by training people to view their work through the lens of God‟s story. We will be intentional about equipping people for service in their vocations, helping them to connect their faith to the whole of life. We want people to have a biblical vision that sees every aspect of life as valuable and “spiritual.” Another way we will engage our city is by implementing a ministry called provocations. The goal will be for provocations: provoking conversation at the intersection of faith, life, and culture to give us the opportunity to converse with our diverse neighbors in public venues such as:

City forums – There are few places in our culture where we can come together for reflection and thoughtful conversation on the issues of our day. City forums will be an effort to fill that void. The purpose will be to offer engaging presentations and discussions on current cultural topics from a Christian perspective (possibly incorporated into the city art loop).

Film/book discussions – We will have thoughtful discussion about the worldview presented in the film/book and how that view aligns with our own personal view and that of the biblical story. We will also discuss the artistic quality of the film/book.

Arts Outreach – As a church that promotes creative endeavor, we will celebrate and engage the arts in a variety of ways. Participation in the monthly art loop will be one possible vehicle for doing this. We will actively seek to create community for artists in our city.

. We want to have a visible presence in the city. God calls us to contribute to the overall good of our community by living out the implications of His grace. This grace makes us outward in our focus, giving us hearts intent on meeting the needs of others. We will work to restore wholeness in our communities by serving in practical ways alongside churches, organizations, and ministries. City Church people will be challenged to serve in a variety of ways – in shelters, as mentors and tutors, and as active members of neighborhood associations to name a few. The gospel frees us from our own personal dramas, empowering us to serve others from a place of mutual brokenness. We do not serve in order to relieve guilt or earn God‟s favor. We enter into broken lives because Jesus has done so for us. We will treat the hurting with dignity and respect, as those who bear the image of God, not as problems to solve. The biblical story calls us to seek the peace and prosperity of the city in which God has placed us. We want to be stewards and caretakers of creation in ways that honor God and lead to human flourishing.

The importance of place will be talked about frequently - particularly how God, people, and place intersect. It is on this particular patch of land called Wilmington that God calls us to put down roots and demonstrate to others that His redemption has come to our lives. We plan to live in city neighborhoods, eat in city restaurants, and do life in general among our city neighbors. With the size and dynamics of Wilmington being what they are, there is tremendous opportunity for the gospel to bring about the personal, social and cultural renewal that we envision. We don‟t just love Wilmington for what it is now, but for what God is going to make it through the power of the gospel.

. God is always moving His people forward, taking the gospel into new places and neighborhoods. We want to ignite a movement. One church alone cannot change the city. Our dream is to multiply and plant future churches in and around metropolitan Wilmington. With this in mind, recruiting and training future church planters will be a priority for us. We would love to have apprenticeships for church planters, regularly having men in the “chute” ready to go out and plant, even if it is outside of Wilmington. Honoring our commitment as a member of the Acts 29 Network, ten percent of our annual budget will be set aside for church planting once we start meeting weekly for worship.

. We believe that reaching out to college students and including them in our community is a big part of our calling and identity as a church. We want to be a church that includes college students – not just as wallpaper, but as active participants and leaders in our community. It is important for students to get plugged in and meaningfully involved in the life of a local church. Colleges are some of the most missionally significant places as people gather from a diversity of places, worldviews, and lifestyles. We will focus our efforts on the Delaware College of Art and Design and the Delaware Technical and Community College. Our hope is that a number of students would catch a vision for the city and put down roots as they seek to live for its good as students and possibly even beyond. Our vision is to eventually have communities established on these campuses through which students can investigate Christianity and be plugged into the life of the church.

Below are a few things that will determine whether or not City Church is fulfilling its vision…      

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are people coming to Christ for the first time (conversion growth) are people being renewed in their faith (apprehending God‟s grace) is increasing diversity within the congregation are gospel-centered, reproducing disciples being made is a zeal within the congregation to love and serve the city in practical ways is a growing belief that our presence in the city makes it a better place

NOTE: Dates are suggested as target dates and are subject to change…

October 2009 Regular launch team meetings will begin for prayer, planning, and preparation

January 2010 Jason will start full-time, provided the necessary funds are raised

Easter 2010 Weekly public worship will launch, provided God has gathered 40 or more people

For all our strategizing and preparation, City Church cannot succeed without the Spirit of God driving the mission. Your prayers are vital to this work. We are seeking prayer partners who will commit to a season of prayer for this project. Despite our brokenness and weakness, we believe God will use His people as we depend on Him daily for all of our needs. You can sponsor this church plant financially. Our budget for three years is approximately $415,000. In addition to church expenses, this covers compensation for the full-time church planter, a part-time music director, and a part-time administrator. Your support can be in any amount. We prefer 3-year pledge commitments but are also seeking one-time gifts. All funds are being raised under the Heritage Presbytery during this phase of the project. A more detailed financial document is available upon request. Checks should be made payable to Heritage Presbytery. PLEASE MEMO EVERY GIFT: “City Church.” Your tax deductible contributions may be sent to: Heritage Presbytery Treasurer 2312 Lighthouse Lane Wilmington, DE 19810

Please email [email protected] if you are interested in partnering with us.