CityLife Church

Last updated

CityLife Church
CityLife Church Australia Logo.png
CityLife Church
LocationWantirna South, Victoria
(Knox - main campus)
Country Australia
Denomination Pentecostal
Website citylife.church
History
Former name(s)Waverley Mission, Waverley Christian Fellowship
Founded1967
Founder(s)Richard J Holland
Clergy
Senior pastor(s) Andrew Chisholm
Pastor(s) Paul Molyneux
(Knox Campus)

James Thompson
(Casey Campus)

Godwin Shim
(Manningham Campus)

Christian Bullen
(Melbourne City Campus)

Sam Grimshaw
(Whittlesea Campus)

Brisita Rojas Ryan
(Online Campus)

Ken Loy
(Language Congregations)

CityLife Church is a multi-site, Pentecostal Megachurch located in Melbourne, Australia, with weekly services at their campus locations in the localities of Knox, Casey, Manningham, Melbourne CBD and Whittlesea and on their Online Campus. Weekly services are also held in Mandarin and Cantonese at the Knox site. CityLife is the largest church in Melbourne and second-largest in Australia. [1] It has a strong emphasis on gathering in small groups called life groups. Its leadership team is headed by Senior Minister, Andrew Chisholm.

Contents

History

The church was established as Waverley Mission in 1967 by Richard Holland. In 1981, the church name was changed to Waverley Christian Fellowship and the following year, Parkmore Full Gospel Church and its Christian school (now Waverley Christian College) merged with it. In 1986, Kevin Conner became Senior Minister of the church (then about 600 members). Then in 1995, Mark Conner, Kevin's son, was appointed Senior Minister, and during his time as Senior Minister, the Church grew to over 10,000 congregants. In February 2017, Mark Conner handed over the senior minister role to Andrew Hill. [2] In April 2019, Andrew Hill resigned as Senior Minister and Andrew Chisholm now serves as Senior Minister.

In April 2006, CityLife Church Casey was established, followed in March 2008 by CityLife Church Manningham. On 18 November 2013, Open House Christian Fellowship in Whittlesea joined with CityLife to become CityLife Church Whittlesea.

Today, CityLife is a multisite strong church. CityLife plays host to over 6 services across Melbourne at Knox, Casey, Manningham and Whittlesea.

Ministries

CityLife has a children's church program (CityLife Kids), a youth ministry every Friday, (EPIC Youth), and a Young Adults ministry.

CityLife Church also runs CityLife Community Care which provides a range of community services including counselling services, health-related services, emergency accommodation and other courses and support programs. [3]

The church runs Waverley Christian College, a Christian school with over 1700 students at campuses in Wantirna South and Narre Warren South. [4]

Controversy

In 2015, CityLife apologised for distributing leaflets to students at a local public high school. Images of the leaflets obtained by The Daily Mail contained assertions as "If a woman becomes physically close and hugs a guy for 20 seconds it will trigger the bonding process, creating a desire to be near him" and "the more partners you have, [sic] the harder it is to bond to the next". [5]

In 2018, it was reported that CityLife-operated counseling centres had facilitated gay conversion therapists. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rowville, Victoria</span> Suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Rowville is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 27 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Knox local government area. Rowville recorded a population of 33,571 at the 2021 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cranbourne, Victoria</span> Suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Cranbourne is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 43 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Casey local government area. Cranbourne recorded a population of 21,281 at the 2021 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epping, Victoria</span> Suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Epping is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 18 km (11 mi) north of Melbourne's central business district, located within the City of Whittlesea local government area. Epping recorded a population of 33,489 at the 2021 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glen Waverley, Victoria</span> Suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Glen Waverley is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 19 km (12 mi) south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Monash local government area. Glen Waverley recorded a population of 42,642 at the 2021 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presbyterian Church of Australia</span>

The Presbyterian Church of Australia (PCA), founded in 1901, is the largest Presbyterian denomination in Australia. The larger Uniting Church in Australia incorporated about 70% of the PCA in 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wesley College (Victoria)</span> Independent school in Victoria, Australia

Wesley College is a co-educational, open-entry private school in Melbourne, Australia. Established in 1866, the college is the only school in Victoria to offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) from early childhood to Year 12.

The Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students (AFES) is an evangelical Christian parachurch organisation that aims to encourage university students to believe in and follow Jesus Christ. It is affiliated with, and in 1947 was a founding member of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Knox School (Australia)</span> School in Wantirna South, Victoria, Australia

The Knox School is an independent, co-educational, non-denominational day school, located in the eastern Melbourne suburb of Wantirna South, Victoria, Australia. The school is a member of the Eastern Independent Schools of Melbourne association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christianity in Australia</span>

Christianity is the largest religion in Australia, with a total of 43.9% of the nation-wide population identifying with a Christian denomination in the 2021 census. The first presence of Christianity in Australia coincided with the colonial invasion and beginning of the frontier wars in what came to be known as New South Wales in 1788.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waverley Christian College</span> Christian school in Victoria, Australia

Waverley Christian College is a co-educational independent Christian school with two campuses – Wantirna South and Narre Warren South. The College offers Christian education to pre-school, primary, and secondary students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Conner</span> Australian Pentecostal theologian (1927–2019)

Kevin J. Conner was a Pentecostal theologian who was formerly the senior minister of Waverley Christian Fellowship in Melbourne, Australia. Conner is the author of nearly 60 books and has taught nationally and internationally at many churches, conferences and bible colleges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elim Bible Institute and College</span>

Elim Bible Institute and College is a private Christian college in Lima, New York. It awards bachelor's degrees, associate degree, and one-year certificates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holmesglen Institute of TAFE</span>

Holmesglen Institute is a vocational education and higher education institute situated primarily in the South-Eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manningham United Blues FC</span> Association football club in Templestowe, Victoria, Australia

Manningham United Blues Football Club is an Australian soccer club from Templestowe, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. The club was formed in 1999 by local residents and was known as Manningham Juniors Soccer Club.

Numerous proposals have been made for improvements to the Melbourne tram network, the largest such network in the world. Nearly all of these have been for track extensions of existing lines to connect with nearby railway station or to service new areas and suburbs.

References

  1. The Hallelujah chorus The Age, 24 December 2004
  2. CityLife Church History
  3. CityLife Community Care
  4. Waverley Christian College website
  5. "Melbourne church CityLife apologises for warning students not to hug". TheGuardian.com . 3 July 2015.
  6. "'I am profoundly unsettled': Inside the hidden world of gay conversion therapy". 9 March 2018.