CityLife Church
| CityLife Church | |
|---|---|
| File:City Life Church, Australia Logo.png | |
 | |
| Address | 1248 High Street Rd Wantirna South VIC 3152 (main site) |
| Country |  Australia |
| Denomination | Non-denominational (Pentecostal) |
| Website | citylife.church |
| History | |
| Founded | 1967 as Waverley Christian Fellowship |
| Clergy | |
| Senior pastor(s) | Mark Conner |
CityLife Church is a multi-site, Pentecostal megachurch located in Melbourne, Australia, with weekly services in the municipalities of Knox, Casey, Manningham and Whittlesea. 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 small groups. Its leadership team is headed by Senior Minister, Mark Conner.
History
The church was established as Waverley Christian Fellowship in 1967 by Richard Holland. In 1983, Parkmore Full Gospel Church and its Christian school (now Waverley Christian College) merged with Waverley Christian Fellowship. 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.[2]
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 10 services across Melbourne at Knox, Casey, Manningham and Whittlesea. Major building works are due to start at the Knox campus in 2016 and the new Casey building is almost completed.
Ministries
CityLife has a children's church program (CityLife Kids), a youth ministry, (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]
Other information
Along with some other large and growing churches in Melbourne, CityLife Church has drawn media attention,[1] in part because of its non-traditional style.[5]
References
- ^ a b The Hallelujah chorus The Age, 24 December 2004
- ^ CityLife Church History
- ^ CityLife Community Care
- ^ Waverley Christian College website
- ^ Songs and a message The Age, 27 March 2005