Citizens Monthly: February 2025
Welcome to Citizens Monthly
Welcome to the first ever Citizens Church Monthly! We will be sending these out during the first week of every month to keep you in the loop on all things Citizens (what God is up to, upcoming events, needs in the church, financial updates, etc.). The goal here is informative and brief (and, if you know me at all, you know how hard that second part will be for me, but I’m going to do my best!). As this is the first Monthly, I expect that it will evolve over time, and I always welcome any suggestions you have about content for future updates. Here goes!
New Year, New Location
2025 saw us move our community from homes, parks, and coffee shops to a beautiful chapel on the campus of Vanguard University. Since January 12, we’ve been meeting in Needham Chapel, and our new location has already been an amazing gift to our church. Our church started meeting in very informal places, and this has built a strong foundation of intimate community that will always be a part of our DNA. Now, moving to a more traditional sanctuary has added a much needed and missed element of reverence and liturgy, without taking away from the intimacy of our gatherings. It’s been wonderful to be in our new space, and we look forward to seeing what God does there in the weeks ahead. Join us every Sunday evening from 4:30-6 PM in Needham Chapel at Vanguard University (55 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626).
New Sermon Series: The First Gospel
The New Year also came with a new sermon series at Citizens. Our new sermon series is titled, The First Gospel, and it is a year-long journey through the Old Testament to see that the goodness of God has been the story from the beginning of time. He has quite literally written Good News into creation from the first moments, and he has never stopped. Our hope in this series is to show the beauty and relevance of the Old Testament and to learn to read, study, and apply it to our lives as the Good News that it is. You can watch or listen to the first four messages of our sermon series here.
Financial Update
We started the year with a basic budget designed to help get our church off the ground while keeping operational costs low. For June 1, 2024 – February 1,2025, we projected a gross revenue of $47,000, and during that time we raised $69,000. This surplus has enabled us to keep roughly $20,000 reserve in the bank in anticipation of future expenses.
In addition, during the year-end giving season, we launched a Seed Fund campaign aimed at raising funds for increasing operational expenses (due to the new space, new equipment needs, and other startup costs). Our goal for the Seed Fund was $25,000, and we raised $17,525. While we didn’t fully meet our goal, the money that was raised has been extremely helpful in covering new expenses that have arisen as we continue on this church planting journey.
I would like to thank everyone who has given to our church and who continues to give. Citizens wouldn’t exist without your generosity. As I think about and pray for you all, Paul’s words come to mind:
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:3-5)
As we continue to grow, so will our financial needs. If you would like to be a part of meeting those needs, you can give a one-time or recurring gift here. Thank you again for your generosity and partnership.
First Fruits Fund
Related to our financial update, I just wanted to remind you that 20% of the funds that come into Citizens go immediately into our First Fruits Fund. The purpose of this fund is to meet the needs of people in our community and around the world. All First Fruits money must be spent outside Citizens Church. If you know of any needs in our community or beyond that we can meet, please let us know.
New Logo
After about six months of trial and error, we’ve finally landed on a logo that we believe is a visual expression of our mission statement:
Citizens Church is a community built on the kingship of Jesus, and we exist to love, obey, and represent our King.
Special thanks to Kaleb Tapp for all his help in designing the logo. What do you think (see above)?
Worship Leaders Needed
If you’ve been to a Citizens gathering, you know that one of our biggest challenges/needs is in the area of worship. We have a church that loves to worship, but we have no worship leaders in our community. As a result, we are on the lookout for people who can help lead worship on a semi-regular basis. If you know someone who might be willing to help us, please send them my way. We have set aside budget for a small honorarium for worship leaders who are willing to invest in our community.
Prayer Team
Last Sunday, our very own Tommy Maxwell launched our Citizens Prayer Team. God put it on Tommy’s heart to start this team to “serve as the muscle for our church.” I couldn’t agree more! Anything good that happens in our church will happen through prayer, and I’m so grateful to Tommy for leading the charge and to everyone who showed up for the first meeting. The prayer team will be meeting at 3:30 PM ever Sunday, an hour before the service, to pray for the service, our community, and our world. Meetings will take place in the Needham Chapel Forrest Room. We’d love to see you there.
