about
our mission
At COMMUNITY, we are passionately devoted to Jesus, and deeply committed to helping people find their way back to God.
our vision
Igniting a profound spiritual awakening as we become a vibrant community, devoted to Jesus, committed to Scripture, and expectant of the Spirit's power in our lives and our gatherings.
Equipping and unleashing disciples who embody a deep, personal commitment to living out their God-given calling with the pastoral heart of Jesus in every arena of life.
Raising up a dynamic generation who are grounded in their identity in Jesus, confident in their faith, and passionate about sharing God's love with their friends.
Catalyzing a global movement of small groups and micro-churches as we transform our world, one person and one neighborhood at a time.
what we believe
We believe there is one divine being who has existed eternally. He exists and reveals Himself to man in three distinct, equally divine persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. At the beginning of time, God created the entire universe and all its creatures. He continues to exercise His supreme power to sustain His creation. Throughout history, He has expressed His desire to be our God and to have a personal, eternal relationship with us.
We believe that Jesus is the eternal divine Son of God. He chose voluntarily to be made in human likeness and was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. Although He lived a sinless life, He allowed Himself to be executed by crucifixion. However, as prophesied, He rose from the dead three days after His execution.
The third person of God is the Holy Spirit. We believe the Holy Spirit dwells in every Christ-follower. His indwelling presence gives spiritual life to believers and distinguishes them as children of God. The Holy Spirit guides Christ-followers in applying God’s principles, equips Christ-followers with talents and abilities for the purpose of building up God’s kingdom.
God created mankind to live in relationship with Him. However, the first man and woman were deceived by Satan. They rebelled and chose to be wrongfully independent from God. We all fail to please God and are open to Satan’s deception. Our failure to please God, unless a relationship is re-established with Him, results in condemnation under God’s judgment and would cause us to spend eternity in hell. Furthermore, there is nothing we can do on our own to re-establish our relationship with God.
Our inability to re-establish our relationship with God leaves us dependent on God’s mercy. God graciously provided the means to reconcile this relationship through faith in Jesus Christ. Our relationship is re-established when we make a commitment to accept Jesus as God’s son and our Savior and Lord. We demonstrate our commitment privately by faith (acting upon our belief that God has the power to save us) and repentance (turning back to God and depending on Him to control our lives). At the same time, we publicly express our commitment by confessing our acceptance of God’s salvation and submitting ourselves in Christian baptism.
Once our relationship is re-established with God, we naturally want to spend time with Him and know Him better. The Holy Spirit enlightens us as we read God’s Word (the Bible), as we communicate with Him in prayer, and as we enter into loving relationships (Biblical community) with other Christ-followers. In this way, we begin to know God more intimately. The process of spiritual development motivates us to seek ways to serve God and prepares us to spend eternity in fellowship with Him.
The Bible speaks of the church as Christ’s body. It compares it to a living organism, where Jesus is the head. He gives each Christ-follower special functions to perform for the good of the body. To remain healthy, the body’s members must work together. Each part contributes to the growth and maturity of the body. For this reason, it is important for Christ-followers to regularly gather together for the purpose of celebration. Celebration in this way enables believers to serve one another and the unchurched people in their sphere of influence.
God divinely inspired human authors to write the sixty-six books of the Bible. He communicated through these writers the values, principles, and ideals which please Him and are in our best interests. We believe the Bible is entirely accurate, complete, and reliable.
our story
COMMUNITY is a church that began in 1989 as the dream of 5 friends from college who wanted to create a place that would help people find their way back to God. Services were first held in the Naperville Central High School cafeteria, and 8 years later COMMUNITY launched its first additional location in Romeoville, IL. COMMUNITY’s vision is three-fold. To be: 1) An Impact Church – A church that will have a lasting impact on the people and places we engage. 2) A Reproducing Church – A church that will start new campuses and churches all over the world. 3) A Catalyst for a Movement – In 2001, COMMUNITY formed NewThing, a church-planting mission that now includes churches all over the world.
our leadership
At COMMUNITY we are passionately devoted to our mission;
Helping People Find Their Way Back to God.
lead pastor apprenticeship
Ted Coniaris has been named the Lead Pastor Apprentice at COMMUNITY, with the intent to assume the role of Lead Pastor in May 2025. In 2025, our current Lead Pastor, Dave Ferguson, will transition to the position of Co-Founding Pastor, joining his brother Jon Ferguson, who currently serves as a Co-Founding Pastor.
Lead Pastor Apprentice FAQ
If you have questions about this transition, speak to your Community Pastor or email hello@communitychristian.org to be connected with a staff person.
Dave will continue to attend COMMUNITY as a regular and active attender. He is not retiring. Instead, Dave will transition the responsibilities of Lead Pastor to Ted Coniaris. In his co-founding pastor role, Dave’s focus will include activities such as teaching and coaching. Additionally, he will spend substantial time leading NewThing and Exponential, two key partners of COMMUNITY.
Jon will continue to attend COMMUNITY as a regular and active attender. Jon is already in the role of co-founding pastor so there is no change to his focus, which currently includes teaching, coaching, providing leadership for generosity initiatives, and his leadership responsibilities with NewThing and Exponential.
Ted joined COMMUNITY’s staff team in 2017 as a Leadership Resident (Apprentice Community Pastor), to be equipped to launch our Downers Grove location. During this apprenticeship, Ted developed and led a launch team that included people from several COMMUNITY locations and people in the Downers Grove area looking for a church home.
Ted has led the Downers Grove Location exceptionally well. This location now includes eight full-time and part-time staff, more than 1200 people calling COMMUNITY their church home, and almost 30 small groups. In 2021, COMMUNITY purchased and remodeled the Downers Grove Facility. Hundreds of people have found their way back to God over the past five years, and many have said yes to Jesus in baptism at this location.
Ted has also overseen COMMUNITY’s Expression Leaders for several years. (Locations, Community Freedom, Community Online and MicroChurches). As a result of God’s goodness and Ted’s leadership, our Community Pastors and leaders have continued to reproduce the mission of COMMUNITY.
COMMUNITY’s bylaws state that the Leadership Commission (composed of the lead pastor of COMMUNITY and between 7-12 non-staff attenders of the church who exemplify the Leadership Expectations of COMMUNITY) selects and hires the succeeding Lead Pastor, but will consider the current Lead Pastor’s recommendation significantly. Dave, Jon, and the remainder of the Lead Team recommended Ted Coniaris to the Leadership Commission as the next Lead Pastor.Leadership Commission initiated a thorough process anchored in the belief that what is best for God’s kingdom is best for COMMUNITY. The process included detailed assessments, interviews, and evaluations. Leadership Commission ultimately decided that Ted is the Lead Pastor Apprentice, with the intent to become the Lead Pastor in May 2025.
Dave and Jon Ferguson started COMMUNITY in 1989 with a three-fold vision to be:
1. An Impact Church – one that would reach people who are far from God and have a lasting impact on the local community.
2. A Reproducing Church – one that would multiply and start new locations and churches
3. A Catalyst for a Movement – one that would catalyze church multiplication across the globe.
COMMUNITY continues pursuing that vision and fulfilling its kingdom-minded mission of “helping people find their way back to God” even today. That vision led COMMUNITY to launch NewThing in 2001, a church-planting mission to help churches multiply disciples, leaders, churches, networks, and movements worldwide. In addition, COMMUNITY leaders have been blessed with the opportunity to be a part of Exponential, a global mission committed to accelerating the multiplication of healthy, reproducing faith communities.Upon prayer and reflection, Dave felt called by God to focus his next leadership journey with NewThing and Exponential while continuing as a co-founding pastor.Jon also has leadership roles with NewThing and Exponential and will continue in these roles as co-founding pastor.
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