City Church desires to be and make disciples of Jesus Christ. The missions committee shapes that desire in the international sphere by informing, engaging, and encouraging the congregation about God's global Kingdom. Look through our Missions tabs for more information about why we have a committee, how we work, who we are, who we support, and resources to learn more about God's heart for the nations.
City Church Missions FAQ
1. How does City Church define missions?
The term “missions” at City Church is generally reserved for international ministry. The line can get fuzzy, but for the purposes of the missions committee, this is any direct effort to reach the nations with the gospel. Evangelism and local ministries fall under our “community engagement” team. It is also worth noting that the primary goal of our committee is caring for the spiritual needs of the unreached, but is often done through caring for physical needs.
2. Where does the money go that is designated for missions?
Money that is given with the “missions” designation is put into our missions budget. This goes to supporting our long-term partners overseas, short-term missionaries sent from our church, funding international projects, or hosting events at City Church to engage our congregation in what God is doing globally.
3. How does City Church determine who to partner with?
City Church generally supports missionaries who are aligned with our three core focus areas; Unreached People Groups, Bible Translation, and Church Planting. When considering long-term partnerships, we look for partners who are willing to build a meaningful relationship with us, or as much as is possible when living and working overseas. For short-term trips we generally support members or regular attenders of our church or those who are working directly in one of our three core focus areas, as previously stated. We generally ask that those short-term people share their experience with the congregation upon return.
4. What is City Church’s stance on short-term missions trips?
City Church recognizes that short-term missions trips can often hurt more than they help, and for that reason we tend to be selective on what type of short-term trips we support. We do feel that short-term trips are very important and extremely effective for God’s mission when done well. We support short-term trips during which 1) the team is working directly with a long-term missionary or a local church to facilitate ministry than cannot be done by locals at that time or 2) Provide skills and services to peoples that can improve either their quality of life or access to the gospel without taking away opportunities for growth in that community. If you have further questions about this, please email our missions committee chair directly (missions@citychurchgnv.com) as we would love to dialogue about this with you!
5. Does City Church recommend any sources to learn more about God’s heart for the nations and the biblical basis for missions?
There is a spreadsheet available under the 'Missions Resources' tab with a list of books, articles, workshops, etc. for further information on God’s global kingdom.
6. How can I indicate interest in being part of the missions committee or learning of other ways to serve God’s global kingdom more directly here in Gainesville?
Email our missions committee at missions@citychurchgnv.com. We would love to meet you!