Who We Are

Who We Are

Christ Church New York City

Learn about our Gospel-Centered Anglican Church

We are a community of Christians committed to glorifying God, glorying in God, and serving the city through our worship, our life together, and our gospel mission.

Going to church may be a new experience for you. Or you may be a regular church-attendee looking for a new Christian community. Or maybe you want to simply find out more about Christianity. Whatever your reasons, we invite you to come and find out more.

Vision

The plan to develop Christ Church New York City began in 2001 as a gospel vision to reach out to New York City with the good news of Jesus Christ.

The mission is to make disciples of Jesus who make disciples of Jesus for the glory of God. (Matthew 28:18-20)

The message we proclaim is not first and foremost about morality but Christ-centered transformation—a whole new way of life, with a new focus of worship. It is about people being individually renewed by God, forming new communities (churches), and lovingly serving those in need.

The method of Christ Church is to touch and transform lives through the plain message of God’s Word, the Bible. We do this formally on Sundays in the context of our public gatherings; we do this less formally in small groups or individual discussion.

Today, our congregation comprises professionals as well as those seeking work; students, artists, retirees, and families from all five boroughs of New York City, and beyond. We reflect the breadth of Anglicanism worldwide with more than a dozen nationalities represented in our church family. Our prayer is that more people will glorify God, glory in God, and serve our city through Christ Church. Please join us in this gospel endeavor!

History

Christ Church New York City had its origin in the gospel need to reach people in cities and centers where mainline churches had moved away from the Christian faith ‘once delivered’. In January 2001, at the invitation of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, John Mason, an Anglican minister from Sydney Australia, moved to Manhattan with his wife Judith, to set up a new (Anglican) church with a view to including people in the city whom Redeemer was not reaching.

The catalyst in the formation of Christ Church NYC was a gospel response to the events of September 11, 2001. Indeed, because of 9/11, the start of the new church was brought forward some two years. With Redeemer’s support, an evening service began in late October 2001 with the express purpose of gathering a community to form the new congregation.

Out of the small beginnings of around twenty-five committed people at the end of 2001, the congregation began to form and grow. Central to the growth was a focused ministry of teaching and preaching grounded in God’s Word – Sunday services, evening Bible classes, mid-week Bible talks, one-to-one meetings, and welcome events hosted by the Masons. At the end of 2003, by God’s grace, the new community had enjoyed significant growth in number and Christian maturity.

On January 26, 2004, Christ Church New York City was formally incorporated as an independent church in the Anglican tradition under New York State law. In September 2004, a Morning Church started in a larger space and, after several moves, the Church rented long-term space at Church of the Advent Hope, at 111 East 87 th Street, where it continues to meet.

In February 2010, an opportunity arose to hold services once more in lower Manhattan, at the Manhattan Seventh Day Adventist Church, 232 W. 11th Street, and services began there and continue to this day as Emmanuel Church.

Over the years, by God’s grace, Christ Church benefitted from growing numbers of God’s people linking up with the church – some transferring from other cities, others seeing that they could better serve at Christ Church. Alongside this ‘transfer growth,’ we also experienced a continuous stream of men and women coming to a genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Despite the numerous challenges, the Lord prospered his work – for Christ Church is his church. This is one of the main reasons it is called ‘Christ Church’.

From the outset, the work of Christ Church has drawn people of all ages, from all walks of life in the city to faith in Christ through the ministry of God’s Word – building up God’s people in their faith and their everyday walk with Christ. Christ Church is the story of a wonderful God who has done some amazing things through a team of imperfect but forgiven people who have been willing to trust him to provide what has been needed along the way – places to meet, funding, and people with the necessary gifts at the right time.

The life and ministry of Christ Church New York City is to the glory of God alone.

Anglicanism

Our values reflect those of historic, evangelical Anglicanism.

Christ Church is a member of the vibrant worldwide Anglican Church movement: Anglicanism, the third largest association of Christian churches in the world, has its heritage in the Church of England. Features of this heritage include being:

  • Biblical—it holds to the unique authority of the Bible as “God’s Word written”
  • Creedal—it upholds the teachings of the classic Christian creeds
  • Confessional—it subscribes to the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Anglican Church
  • Liturgical—it uses forms of service that are consistent with the teaching and practice of the Book of Common Prayer (1662)
  • Missional—it is committed to communicating God’s good news to the world.

As part of the wider Anglican Communion, Christ Church is pleased to have Bishop Felix Orji of the Anglican Diocese of the West (Church of Nigeria North American Mission) as our bishop.

What We Believe

God’s Word defines what Christ Church NYC believes and does, and so we as a community of believers seek to consistently be humble before God and his Word, as we joyfully dedicate ourselves to studying it and applying it to our lives.

Therefore we, along with Anglicans around the world, affirm our belief in historic Christianity as revealed in the Bible and summarized in three creeds: The Apostles‘, Nicene and Athanasian Creeds. We further subscribe to the 39 Articles of Religion from the Book of Common Prayer, which express the central beliefs of the Anglican Communion. Finally, as a renewed declaration of historic gospel-centered Anglicanism affirmed by contemporary Anglican leaders around the world, we likewise affirm the Jerusalem Declaration (2008) as a concise summary of the beliefs to which we hold.

We invite you to look through these ancient and modern statements of the Christian faith. We further invite you to contact us if you have any questions or concerns about these statements.

“Christ Church, New York, aims to be a biblically faithful, discipling, equipping, outreaching, self-reproducing Anglican community. If I lived in New York, I should want to join it. As it is, I heartily applaud and commend it. This is the sort of Anglicanism that the world needs. God prosper Christ Church!”

– Dr. J.I. Packer, Professor of Theology and author of the book, “Knowing God”