The City Church DC

About Us

History

The City Church DC was birthed in 2005, when Pastor Wendell Smith and his wife Gini were on a flight to the nation's Capital to meet with Pastors Ken and Connie Wilde, Directors and Founders of the National Prayer Center. A Sunday afternoon flight from Seattle turned into a divine encounter for Pastor Wendell as the Holy Spirit began to speak to him at 36,000 feet about starting a new church in Washington DC. He tells the story in his own words.

"I resisted the idea because we were so involved in Seattle with our church, and I had never even considered starting a church in DC. I thought maybe Pastor Ken should since he had been developing relationships there over the past 12 years or so through the efforts of the National Prayer Center. Here we were on our way to a White House event on that Monday, but the Holy Spirit caught me totally off guard on the plane as He began to speak to my heart."

"I asked the Lord for more than just an impression and a voice in my spirit (although I knew it was the Lord) and He directed me to the Book of Acts. It was the 17th of July and for some reason I turned immediately to Acts chapter 17."

16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols. 17 Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there. 18 Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, "What does this babbler want to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods," because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? 20 "For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean." 21 For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing. 22 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23 "for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:
Acts 17:16-23 (NKJV)

"As I read this passage from the early church history, I saw the obvious parallels between Athens and Washington DC- two world class capitals."

Acts chapter 17 — The apostle Paul in the city of Athens:

Later that next day, the Smiths and Wildes shared the direction of the Holy Spirit and then prayed together for the Lord to confirm His will. Plans were made to continue to pray and fast and seek the Lord and pursue His will of starting a church.

The initial plans were to start in 2005 or by Easter of 2006. The Church eventually was planted and launched on May 18, 2006 meeting at Faith Tabernacle church, one block behind the Supreme Court on Capital Hill. Dr. James Love and his wife Deborah and the leadership of the Faith Tabernacle family graciously opened their door for the new church to lease their facilities- being the closest church building to Capital Hill of any historic churches in that area.

When asked for a description of their vision, Pastor Wendell responded:

"We want to start a world class church in a world class city to reach the world. We don't come into DC with an attitude that other churches are not doing their job. We simply are coming out of obedience to the Holy Spirit, as reinforcements for those who have labored here for years. No doubt there are other churches that are being planted also and perhaps the Holy Spirit is directing many to come here to shore up the front lines and strengthen the hands of those who have been working on the walls for decades.

"We have many friends and pastors in this city and this region, and have confidence that the Lord of the harvest knows where the fields are ripe and ready. We just want to cast our net where He says to cast it. We also have a passion to stand shoulder to shoulder with other men and women of God who have committed their lives to this community. We believe unity between pastors and churches is the net that actually captures the harvest of souls.

"And of course none of us can do it alone. So the Lord will raise up many ministries ad churches and pastors and evangelists to reap a great harvest of souls in the capital of the world- Washington DC.

"We are targeting Capital Hill, staffer, international workers, embassies and the universities of the region. Individuals and families from all walks of life will be touched by the Gospel. We see a multi-ethnic church of many nations and languages and people groups worshipping the Lord together here in DC. And we believe hat those nations that are represented will also be reached by the leaders that are raised up for the Kingdom of God here in Washington."

"We see a large team of Kingdom Ambassadors being trained in the Word of God and influencing not only this city and this nation but cities and nations around the world."

The City Church DC is being planted in a three way partnership between three Senior Pastors- the Smiths from Seattle, Washington- (www.thecity.org), the Wildes from Boise, Idaho (www.mycapitalchristian.com) and the Damazios from Portland, Oregon (www.citybible.org) - all large west coast churches, representing over 10,000 people.

Their goal, as an apostolic team, is to raise up a local pastor and team that will lead the Church in DC.