Matching Grant '22

Church planting is as tremendously wonderful as it is enormously difficult. Faithfulness to the gospel and a commitment to discipleship — what Friedrich Nietzsche calls, “a long obedience in the same direction” — are the only means of running the race well/faithfully and in a way that is sustainable. This has certainly been our experience now, a mere four years into planting City Parish Church (especially given everything that’s come with COVID-19). And through all of the ups and downs, the Lord has provided us with such extreme evidences of his grace and mercy that it remains undeniably clear that this is the path he has called us to walk.

Few of those evidences have resounded as clearly and reverberated as broadly as the grants that we have received from Transforming the Bay with Christ (TBC) over the last three years. Each year the Lord has supplied the exact amount that we needed to reach financial viability and keep our operating budget within the black. By his grace our young church has managed to continue to grow and we’ve seen his faithfulness in raising up cheerful givers. Yet even with that, we’re still very much a church plant and depend on external funding. That’s why we’re so excited to announce that we’ve qualified again to receive another matching grant from TBC — this time in the amount of $30,000! That means that we must raise $30,000 to get the full $30,000.

We’d be humbled and honored if you would prayerfully consider helping us meet our goal of turning that $30,000 into $60,000. It’s an audacious “ask” and an audacious number — but we feel more confident than ever that this is what the Lord is calling us to do. That amount helps us meet our budget of $180,000 (a fairly trim budget for a church of 60+ folks in the CA Bay Area). Of that $180,000, 20% is given right back into our community and towards church planting endeavors.

Our goal is to raise $15,000 from within City Parish (family members, regular attenders, guests, etc.) + $15,000 from folks outside The Parish Church (friends, family, churches, organizations, etc.) + $30,000 in matching funds from TBC = $60,000.