Christian City Church Watson

Chrstian City Church Watson (abbreviated as CCCW) is a Christian Church located in Watson, Canberra, Australia. The church was established in the early 1990s. The church was previously known as the Christian City Church Canberra and the Christian City Church Metro, before adopting its current name in 2003.

History
Christian City Church Watson, is an approximately 300 Member Pentecostal Church in the suburb of Watson, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
The church was started in the early 1990's as Christian City Church Canberra, and met in two different local school halls over the years, until he turn of the century, when they moved to Canberra Technology Park in Watson under the leadership of Pastor Wayne Back. In 2003, Christian City Church Kaleen and Christian City Church Canberra merged as Pastors Wayne and Hillary Back moved to Melbourne with their family, and Pastor Melanie and Paul Marshall took over.

Naming
The church was named Christian City Church Canberra (CCCC) when it first began, and was later renamed to Christian City Church Metro under the leadership of Pastor Wayne Back. It was named back to CCCC soon after, and was recently renamed to Christian City Church Watson under the leadership of Pastor Mel.

Affiliation
Christian City Church Canberra is part of the international church movement Christian City Churches. The movement was founded by Pastor Phil and Chris Pringle.

Pastors
Melanie Marshall is the senior pastor and minister of Christian City Church Watson. She and her husband Paul Marhsall took over leadership of the church as the church merged with CCC Kaleen in 2003, and has led the church ever since. Under her leadership the church has increased in attendence, and many changes have been made. Mel and Paul have three children, Emma, Nathan and Zach. Emma is one of the youth ministry leaders, along with worship leader at the youth group meetings, and on Sunday mornings. Nathan regularly plays keyboard on Sunday mornings and Friday evenings for the youth meetings.

Paul Marshall is Melanie Marshall's husband, and is currently the Music Director for CCCW. He, on occasion, preaches the Word of God at Sunday morning services, and leads worship regularly. Paul Marshall is also the Principal of Emmaus Christian School, located in Dickson, ACT. Many students from Emmaus Christian School testify that he is an excellent drama teacher and principal.

Nathan Oliver is the youth pastor for the church. He filled this role many years ago, but moved overseas for a time with his wife Lisa, handing over leadership to Stu Gilding. Upon returning they took up roles as leaders in the youth ministry, but they only became youth pastors again this year. Under their leadership the youth group has grown considerably. They are both excellent role-models for the young men and women who attend the church and youth.

Youth Ministry
The youth ministry of the church is named Yes Unlimited. The name came from the belief that God says 'yes!', and God is unlimited. The youth ministry has grown and changed considerably since the church began. Formerly pastored by Nathan Oliver, and then Stuart Gilding, and Currently Nathan Oliver again, the youth ministry has grown in numbers, and holds weekly meetings on Friday nights at the church.

Previously, the group was too small to be split, and it was led by Nathan and Lisa each Friday night. As the group grew, the group was split into two, one group for the youth in grade 6 - 8, and for the youth in grade 9 - 12. During this time Peter Presneil and Kieren Gillis rose to fill leader positions for the younger group, with Nathan Oliver, and later Stuart leading the older group. Only a few years ago the youth began holding youth services twice a term on Friday nights, where they would hold praise and worship, and listen to the Word of God.

The ministry currently has many leaders, with Nathan and his wife overseeing the ministry.

Events
The church holds many regulary and annual events. The regular events include all church prayer meetings, men's breakfast's and other fellowship and spiritual events. The church also invites many visiting ministries down to the church for usually a couple of days over the weekend, so that they can share the Word with the whole church on a Sunday morning, and sometimes at a leader's meeting, or evening service scheduled later on in the day. The church also holds events such as Getting to Know, a lunch, in order to tell new people to the church about the church's values.

Also, the church advertises many annual events held at Christian City Church Oxford Falls in Sydney, the 'mother church' of the movement. These events include Presence (formerly Ozfire), Phenomena (from 2009 known as MyGen), RealMen (the mens conference) and EveryWoman (the womans conference). The youth ministry regularly attends Phenomena, and accomodation and transport are arranged by the church to attend.

Children's Ministry
The children of CCCW (below grade 5) make up nearly half of the church and, as such, the children's ministry at the church is enormous. With Sunday School every Sunday, divided into three age groups, and monthly 'kid's praise', the children of the church are not left uneducated about Christ. The children's ministry also holds regular events, such as the upcoming Children's Diso, or 'Kid's Night In'.

Bible Reading Plan
In 2008 the church commenced it's all church bible reading plan. Each week, notes are prepared on a specific chapter in the bible by Stuart Gilding, and the church members are free to read along with each other during the week. This encourages people to read the bible with insight and context.

Goals and Values
The church has three major goals, and these are summed up in three words: Connect, Develop and Empower.
Connect you to Jesus,
Develop you as a follower of Christ,
Empower you for effective living.
All of these goals are made known to members at the getting to know lunches that are held monthly for newcomers.

The church also has five core values.
They value Growth, Belonging, Excellence, Freedom and Fun.
They believe that all these goals are based on biblical principles, and the structure and 'feel' of the church attempt to live out these values practically.

Build and Grow
In 2008, Pastor Mel launched the Build and Grow campaign. The campaign's main goal is to raise funds to build a building designed and owned by the church, because the church is currently renting the auditorium they inhabit. The aim for the first year of the campaign is to raise $500 000. This goal will be fulfilled through pledges from the members of the church of a particular amount of money. Each person in the church has been challenged to pledge any sum of money.

The 'slogan', if you will, for this campaign is 'Equal sacrifice, not equal giving' and encourages each member to give what they feel comfortable in giving out of their love for God, and their want for their own church building. Each member is encouraged to go an pray about giving money to the campaign, and pledging an amount that will strengthen and grow their faith in God for providing for them. Sherry McGregor is heading up the program along with the church Board.

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