In 2019, North Riverside Baptist Church stepped into an act of generosity of Biblical proportion. They donated this 40k square feet facility, five acres, and all it’s contents and assets to City Life Church! This church that had ministered in Newport News since the 1950’s was passing the baton to City Life Church to carry forward the sacred purpose of 311 Selden Road into the future!
And Isaiah 40:9 (KJV) is the perfect verse to help articulate what we believe that sacred purpose has always been and continues to be.
9 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
At our 19th Anniversary Service on January 25, 2025 we embraced this theme “Get Thee Up” as a shared declaration of faith that just as God had set aside Jerusalem to bring Good News to the world, He has that same purpose for 311 Selden Road. We believe that there are places that God sets aside, makes sacred, calls holy to be spaces where we are easily awakened to His presence, to hear His voice…as if those places actually had a real voice of its own…and we believe 311 Selden Road is one of these spaces!
There are currently five partner churches (City Life Church, Catalyst Church, EpicCenter Church, Anchor Church, and Myanmar International Church) and four partner organizations (KidLife Club Preschool & Before and After School Program, Shiloh Therapy and Care, Character Performing Arts, and Channel to Brazil for Christ) who share in this belief that God has set aside 311 Selden Road for a sacred purpose.
If you are considering City Life Church as a place to call your church home, we are excited for you to join us in being a caretaker, a steward of this sacred place. We trust that you too are finding it easy to be awakened to God’s presence here, to hear His voice, to know God and to be known by Him. Let’s keep working together to be a place that still declares Good News, the good news of The Gospel: I am at one with God, rescued from myself, just as if I’m perfect, because Jesus paid it all.