Our Story
In one sense the story of City Church-Corpus Christi isn’t long at all, but in another sense it is. City Church has only been around since the summer/fall of 2008 but some of our members have been gathering together and worshipping as a community of believers for many years now. City Church was birthed out of a community called Church of the King. Church of the King opened its doors back in the mid 1980′s but our story doesn’t even begin there. Some of that community had been gathering together and worshipping as early as the 1970′s when they were called Disciplehouse.
To understand the history of City Church, one has to first go back and become familiar with the original vision of Disciplehouse that began nearly 35 years ago! Back in the early 1970′s, during the Jesus movement, a local pastor named Jack Carter began a weekly Bible study taking seekers, skeptics and sinners through the basics of the Bible. This weekly Bible study eventually turned into a local church called Disciplehouse. The purpose of Disciplehouse was to disciple and train up young Christians and for the next many years they were true to their vision. Eventually Disciplehouse fulfilled her purpose and her founder, Jack Carter moved his family North
It wasn’t until the mid 1980′s that Pastor Carter returned to Corpus Christi to re-plant his original vision of discipling young believers in the Christian faith. Disciplehouse became known as Church of the King and the second stage of our history began looking to build on the already established foundation of discipling up young believers in the tenets of Christianity. Since 1989 Church of the King has discipled young believers in the Christian faith by stressing three truths: Unity in the essentials of the Christian faith, Liberty in the non-essentials of the Christianfaith and charity to all!
In 2006, Church of the King went through her first pastoral transition ever. Rev. Jack Carter stepped out of the Senior Pastor role and Rev. Dave Lescalleet was asked to lead this local congregation into her third stage. This third stage is City Church.
City Church-Corpus Christi wasn’t started to just serve as another “option” for church in Corpus Christi, but rather out of the belief that the grace of God can change anyone and anything including our city! It started with the purpose of being an inwardly-growing and outwardly-facing community of believers. City Church is captured by the vision of a community of believers which respectfully engages the sincere questions of skeptics, seeking to be authentic, which does not define itself by any political or denominational identity, a community which strives to integrate faith and vocation, and lastly a community which is committed to the physical needs of Corpus Christi—not using the city, but serving it. We hope that this is just the beginning.