Church Building

We have been praying about expanding our space for years. A few years ago, we began raising money to build an addition on our property. With rising costs, we decided to wait on that project and started praying and earnestly discussing with Mr. Kim, who owns the building behind us. Mr. Kim is very open to selling us his building, provided he finds something in the area that will meet his needs.

Second-Generation Focus

When we launched the Momentum Campaign, one of the major focus areas was the next generation. We want to create more space for our children's and student ministries to worship, learn, and play. Once we expand to a new building, we plan to allocate gym and student ministry room spaces. In January 2025, we received a grant from Together Chicago and the Lilly Foundation. The grant provides us with $25,000 per year for four years to give 13- to 29-year-olds in our church opportunities to serve in the community to strengthen their commitment to Jesus. We will continue seeking the Lord's guidance in regard to how we should allocate these funds and share those plans, as they develop, with our church family.

Pastoral Residency

Made to Flourish, an organization dedicated to supporting churches and developing pastoral leadership, has approved us for a five-year grant to establish a pastoral residency program. Our pastoral residents will learn from our pastors with hands-on training to make their seminary training more practical. These residents will receive full-time salaries and benefits and be responsible for significant ministry work at CityLine. Over the next five years, we will welcome three pastoral residents, one every other year for a two-year commitment.

Church Planting

CityLine will continue to develop its church-planting ministry and support missionaries and organizations. By 2030, it envisions playing a significant role in having planted four total churches. With one church already planted, we have a vision to plant three more churches by 2030.

• "Playing a significant role" allows us to collaborate with others and avoid the pressure of being solo church planters, as we did with The Heights in 2024. We hope to have a mix of church planting methodology, including sending more of our people with a traditional church planter, like we did with Pastor Jason Acres.
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• We will also consider partnerships with like-minded churches and networks to impact the world by establishing healthy churches anywhere the Lord allows. For example, we could participate more closely with El Faro if they ever find an opportunity to plant a church in a community they are serving.

CityLine Care Center

For many years, we have said we want to be "the trusted resource for care" in the Village of Niles and surrounding communities. When we planted, we desired to establish a church which services beyond our four walls. We have been active these last five years to provide care for our church and outside community through our Food Pantry, Gospel Justice Center, Christians Against Poverty (CAP) Money Course, Migrant Care through CityLine Español, and our Clothes Closet.

• Our CityLine Cares Center has officially registered as a 501(c)(3), and we are preparing for the future.
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• We have engaged with a consultant, Rev. Elliott Johnson, who has had a successful history helping churches extend their reach beyond the four walls of their buildings, to help us organize and raise funds.
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• Through its efforts, the CityLine Cares Center will allow our church to meet and share the Gospel with people outside our church.