Who We Are

Our Mission

Our mission is to create authentic Christ-centered communities that love God wholeheartedly and reach out intentionally so that others experience new life in Jesus and a transforming life of discipleship.

What We Do

Grow

We believe that healthy things grow. In John 15:5, Jesus says "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

Whether it's through joining a class, connecting with a mentor, or engaging in spiritual practices, God has given us so many unique opportunities to grow deeper in our walk with him.

Connect

At CTK, we often say "there's always a place for you". We weren't meant to do life alone! Connecting in community is a vital aspect of our life as followers of Jesus.

When we laugh together, cry together, share both life's greatest joys and challenging struggles together – we connect to something so much greater than ourselves.

Serve 

We believe God has given unique gifts to you so that you can serve and make a difference in the world around you. Serving is a great way to give back to God, be a part of the mission, and even make new friends.

At CTK, you can offer your time and talent to serve the church, to serve our community, and even to serve across the globe!

Here are a few things that mean a lot to us:
Servant Leadership

Leaders are healthy when their private, personal and public lives are surrendered and align with Jesus and His ways. We create sustainable, healthy growth by identifying, deploying, training and supporting those to serve as Jesus did.

Simplicity

We choose a simple approach to language, systems and processes. We work hard to make access to Jesus simple for everyone.

SACRIFICIAL GENEROSITY

We choose to live lives of sacrificial generosity, by joyfully giving of our time, our abilities and our resources to love others in Jesus's name.

SPIRITUAL HEALTH

We value healthy, Christ-centered spiritual growth. We choose to be real with God, real with others, and real with ourselves. We will not live false, idealistic, or hidden lives.

RELATIONAL APPROACH

We choose to be relational in ministry, communication, conflict, and decision making.

OUTWARD FOCUS

Because God loves every single person He's created, we are as committed to loving those outside CTK in the same genuine, tangible way that we love those within our family of faith.

Our STory

In 1988, a group of 54 adults in a struggling, bankrupt, and declining church decided to give “church” one more try.

Under new leadership, they let go of an inward-focused approach and committed to three things: 1) to worship God as a lifestyle, 2) to reach out in love to people who didn't know Jesus, and 3) to live out the Bible's “one-another” model of community through small groups.

As they laid down their old ways of doing church and sacrificed their resources to make a place for “those who were about to come,” they experienced God’s blessing and favor. People did come, and the church grew. 

After 7 years in one location and out of room, CTK expanded to three locations each Sunday. Then in 1998, a vacant retail building caught our eye that was big enough to accommodate our weekly attendance, midweek ministries, and offices all under one roof.

Again, people gave sacrificially to make a place for others to meet Jesus. We purchased and renovated that building in several phases. Within a few years, a core of people were driving from Skagit County to attend CTK Bellingham. God led us to plant a church one county south, and CTK Mount Vernon was launched in 1999.

In the years following, we planted churches to the north to reach out in Lynden (CTK North County) and to Blaine, Birch Bay, and Custer (CTK North Bay). Soon, each of those new churches became their own entities, still sharing the CTK name and mission. We watched and worked humbly as God continued on his mission to reach our corner of the world.

Today, Christ the King Community Church is a network of five churches with the same name, the same mission, and the same central services to help organize our network.

Though there’s a lot we share, each campus has its own unique flavor, shaped by its leadership team and the community it serves (Bellingham, Blaine, Downtown Bellingham, Ferndale, and Sudden Valley).

Some campuses are small, some are big, and many people now join us online — from just across the street to around the world. In the end, "our story" is not really ours. It's God's story of his goodness and faithfulness, through easy times and hard, as we listen for his voice to guide us toward what he wants for his children, his church, the community around us, and the world he loves. 

Network Executive Team