We desire to see our communities look more like heaven, so that every person has a relationship with Jesus, i.e., In Guelph as it is in Heaven.

Church of the City is made up of small communities called missional communities (MC for short).  MC’s are a family of Jesus followers who learn to make disciples in the everyday stuff of life and it is where we learn to fulfill Jesus’ mission of being disciples who make disciples. MC’s are a central environment for us to be the church and they meet throughout the week in every corner of the city.

Every Sunday we gather for something we call Reunion. We gather to be taught, spend time in community and be reminded of how much we are loved by Jesus.  These gatherings happen at 10am at 75 Norfolk Street. Click here to learn more.

We are a family of missionary disciples. 

• Family – We are adopted into the Father’s family.
  Our aim is to live as a family. We hope to love one another as imperfect brothers and sisters in everything we do as we gather and scatter in communities of different lived experiences (age, ability, life stage, race, religion, colour, culture, class, gender, sex or sexual orientation). (Mark 3v35, Acts 2v42-47, 4v32-35, Romans 8v14-17, Ephesians 1v5, 3v15, Philippians 4v1)
• Missionionaries – We are sent by the Spirit.
  Our aim is to live as missionaries, followers of the missionary God, both around the world, and right here in Guelph, empowered by the Holy Spirit. We hope to join in God’s mission to put the world back into the shape he intended. (Matthew 28v18-20, John 20v21, Acts 1v8)
• Disciples – We are followers of Jesus.
  Our aim is to live as followers of Jesus. To learn his teachings so we know the truth about Him and His Kingdom and live accordingly. We hope to become like Him and to carry on His Kingdom vision for the world. (Mark 1v17, 8v34-37, Acts 2v14-41, Ephesians 1v20-23, Colossians 1v15-20)

As God’s adopted children, we long for daily, tangible encounters with Him.

• Prayer – Our aim is to be a people who pray. We believe that prayer changes reality by moving the hand of God and so we pray for his will to be done here “as it is in heaven.” We hope to see God’s will done in our communities as we pray to know his will and call upon His powerful hand to renew all things.
  • Matthew 6v9-10, Acts 1v12-14, 4v23-31, Ephesians 6v18-20, 1 Thessalonians 5v17

• Worship – Our aim is to offer the whole of our being to God in worship. While singing and song is one way to worship, we believe we are invited to worship God in every aspect of our lives.
  • Romans 12v1

• Communities – Our aim is to live life-on-life and life-in-community, encountering God with and through one another. This is what Jesus modelled to us and it is how we were created.

As disciples of Jesus we desire to be with him, become like him and learn from him, in order to do what he did.

• Learning (Shaping) – Our aim is to be a people formed by the scriptures, learning and unlearning what it means to do like Jesus. We want to be challenged by the scriptures, individually and in community, and in this to fall more deeply in love with the author, God.
  • • Joshua 1v7-8, Psalm 1, Matthew 22v29, 37, 2 Timothy 3v14-17, 2 Peter 1v19-21

• Spiritual Practices – Our desire and discipline is to be formed through spiritual practices that create an environment where God’s Spirit will transform us.  The disciplines and practices are a means of God’s grace to us and we think of them as such.

As missionaries, sent by the Spirit, we partner with God in His mission of putting the world back into the shape He intended.

• The Everyday – Our mission is to be disciples of Jesus who make disciples in the everyday stuff of life, where we live, work, learn and play.

• Justice – Our aim is to live the gracious and generous way of Jesus, using our privilege, resources, time, and energy to serve those in need, empower the powerless, protect the vulnerable, inside and outside the church, locally and globally. We hope to be a church that works towards God’s justice and shalom by restoring broken relationships and systems in the world. We hope there would be “no needy persons among” us and that the marginalized will be heard. 
  • Job 29 v12-17, Isaiah 1 v10-18, Amos 2 v4-8, 5 v24, 6v1-7, Micah 6v8, Acts 2v45, 4v32- 36

• Kingdom – Our aim is to be a Kingdom-focused people. We believe that the Kingdom of God is the healing, life-giving rule of God where His will is done, on earth as it is in heaven. But the kingdom is also coming in the future when Jesus comes back to extend God’s rule over everything. We hope to be participants in the renewal of all things as we partner with churches to serve our cities, do justice and preach the good news of Jesus. 
  • Matthew 6v10, Mark 1v15, Jesus’ parables

• Church Planting – Our aim is to recapture a theology of place – to be a kingdom presence everywhere God has placed us. We hope to carry the gospel forward locally and globally by making disciples who plant contextual churches that honour and reflect the cultures and ethnicities they are planted among. 
  • Genesis 1v28, Matthew 28v18-20, Romans 1v7, 1 Corinthians 1v2, Ephesians 1v1, Philippians 1v1

We are a member of the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada. It is a fellowship representing over 500 churches, congregations and ministries from coast to coast. 

We believe the Bible to be the inspired Word of God and that it is our standard for faith and conduct.

We believe that there is one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We believe that human nature is sinful and deserving of the punishment of God.

We believe that Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, and is true God and true man.

We believe that the death of Jesus Christ was for our sins and that all who trust in Him and His death for us are forgiven their sins and granted eternal life.

We believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, His ascension into Heaven, and His ministry there as our High Priest.

We believe in the work of the Holy Spirit in convicting people of sin, the regeneration of those turning to Christ from sin, and His work of sanctification in the believer.

We believe in the personal return of Jesus Christ.

We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust, the everlasting joy of the saved and the everlasting punishment of the unsaved.

We believe in the baptism, by immersion, of believers.

We are also part of the Soma Family of Churches, a family of like-minded churches desiring to make disciples and plant churches of missional communities towards gospel saturation.