About Us
York City Church is a vibrant and growing church of all ages. Our vision is to impact and renew York, Yorkshire and beyond with the transforming message of Jesus Christ through words (teaching what Jesus taught and encouraging people to walk with him) and action (living out our faith through lives of grace, mercy and love).
We meet weekly on Sundays right in the heart of the city, where an excellent team of musicians lead us in worship followed by preaching from the bible. Our volunteer kids’ work team works hard to serve young families and make each Sunday a truly memorable event for kids.
Everyone is welcome. There is no dress code. It doesn’t cost anything. Come as you are - we’d love to get to know you!
You can find us at 09:15 and 11:30 a.m. at the Upstage Centre, 41 Monkgate, York, YO31 7PB.
Vision & Values
City Church exists as a church in the city of York and for the city of York. That means that we exist more for the benefit of the city than the benefit of ‘insiders’. Membership of City Church means being a missionary to our city in the same way that Jesus modelled mission - he became a man and moved into the neighbourhood (Eugene Peterson).
The bible describes the church as a temple made from living stones (you?) and built together on Jesus as the foundation. It’s like an alternative city in our city designed and built by God to show off what heaven is really like - not some bizarre disembodied bliss but a fully restored and glorious cosmos full of joy and peace.
What do we do?
Every Sunday we gather together in two congregations at 09:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. (N.B. Currently our kids work only serves the first of these two options). Each service lasts an hour and a half and involves worship (singing, prayer and spontaneous contributions from the church) and teaching from the bible.
Every other Sunday night we gather in our second home (Trinity Methodist Building on Monkgate) to pray. The prayer meeting is the powerhouse of the church and pretty much a highlight for a lot of our members!
During the week we gather in small groups for a meal and to hang out and pray (in case you were wondering, this is where we have our communion, not on Sundays). Please give us a call or drop us a line for more information.
Loving the city?
One practical way we seek to show off what Heaven is like is by serving the poor and marginalised. We’re involved a lot with ‘The Besom in York’ (a charity that exists to form a bridge between a church and its community) that serves underprivileged families in the city. We also seek to serve the elderly by holding tea dances and special events.
Leadership
Alan Rose is married to Susanna and is the leading ‘elder’ at York City Church (‘elder’ is the bible’s name for the men who give oversight and spiritual direction to the whole church). Working in a team with Alan are Peter Roderick and Chris Bredenkamp.
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Alan & Susanna Rose
Alan & Susanna have been married since 2003 and moved to York from Brighton in 2008 when Alan joined the staff at City Church. Susanna works as a research scientist and Alan took on leading the church in September 2009. Susanna loves the countryside and romantic walks. Alan is passionate about God, Susanna, guitars, golf and curry (in that order)!
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Peter & Beth Roderick
Peter & Beth are childhood sweethearts who got married in 2006. Peter has a PhD in Music History and works for Barnsley Council while Beth is a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner for the NHS. In May 2010 Peter joined the eldership team of City Church. He loosely follows Newcastle United and is passionate about Jesus, post-war Italian music, his wife, good friends and good food! Beth loves Jesus and people too. She also sings and plays the cello beautifully!
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Chris & Helen Bredenkamp
Christiaan & Helen met in 2005 and got married in 2006! Chris works for Network Rail as an Estimator and Helen is a Training Consultant, when she is not looking after their little boys, Reuben & Joshua. Chris also became an elder at City Church in 2010. Chris loves God and enjoys rugby, cricket, golf, red meat and anything South African! Helen loves having a giggle with her boys, cooking for family and friends, singing and enjoying God.
Newfrontiers
City Church, along with Gateway Church in Acomb, is part of a wider network of churches called Newfrontiers. For general information or to find other churches please see the Newfrontiers Website.