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Mission

Leading People Into a Transforming Relationship With Jesus.

Vision

The Soul, The City, and the World Transformed by an Only God Movement.

Strategy

Create moments that lead to movement.

Moments to Connect, Commit & Change

Values

Connect

Gatherings & Tables
We connect with God as we gather for teaching, worship, and prayer, and we connect with others at Tables.

Commit

Giving & Team
We commit to sharing our time, talents, and treasure with God and one another as we serve on Teams.

Change

House of Hope & Transformation Track
We pursue transformation as we continue to change and grow through the House of Hope & Transformation Track.

Beliefs

Essential vs Non-Essential

Apostle’s Creed

The Story of Soul City Church

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LAUNCH PARTY

Parties have been in our DNA from the very beginning. Pastors Jeanne and Jarrett gather a group of friends and prospective Soul City families at the Wit Hotel in downtown Chicago. For the first time the vision is shared publicly, and people are invited to join in prayer and participation in the vision of Soul City Church.

October 24, 2009
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WEST LOOP WAREHOUSE

The Searls Family feels led by God to participate in making Soul City a reality. They generously make their property available rent-free for two years – an Only God miracle!

June, 2010
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WORK & WORSHIP

The first group of Soul City volunteers come together to clear out and clean up the building in preparation for public gatherings to launch. They initiate a legacy of sacrificial serving that continues in our Soul City volunteers to this day.

September 26, 2010
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LAUNCH DAY

With a Sunday night service, we open our doors to the city of Chicago. We worship together and introduce our mission of leading people into a transforming relationship with Jesus. Those gathered are invited to let God wreck their lives with His amazing love and grace.

November 7, 2010
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FIRST CHRISTMAS STORE

We hold our very first Christmas Store to serve under-resourced friends and families on the west side of Chicago. Our church gathers new gifts, books, coats, and more and makes these items available at a greatly reduced price. This kicks of a meaningful partnership with Brown School that continues through the Back-to-School Bash and future Christmas Stores in years to come.

December 2010
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FIRST BAPTISM WEEKEND

Joel and Kate Miller are the first couple baptized at Soul City Church in a powerful demonstration of what transformation looks like in public. Hundreds and hundreds more would soon follow.

March 6, 2011
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1150 W. ADAMS

At the two-year mark, steady growth allows us to put a down payment on our building. A faithful group of angel investors also purchase the land next to our church and move us to serve the city beyond our current capacity.

2012
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FOR THE LOVE

At our fifth anniversary, Soul City Church begins a faith raising adventure to build a transformation Center on the adjacent land. Together we pray and begin to build a space that is designed to love our community, this city, and the world.

November, 2015
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TRANSFORMATION CENTER

Together we celebrate the completion of our new 780- seat auditorium and the beginning for the new ministry that will happen in and through this space. In our effort to be the church seven days a week, we also make these new facilities available to our community for a variety of small groups, events, recovery meetings, and more.

November 4, 2017
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FIRST ALPHA COURSE

Alpha is introduced at Soul City with an 11-week course designed to create a space where people are excited to bring their friends for conversations about faith, life, and God. Our community responds with incredible enthusiasm. To date, more than 600 people have participated in Alpha.

2017
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WORLD VISION CHOSEN

Soul City Church pioneers a new child sponsorship relationship with World Vision. For the first time in World Vision's nearly 70-year history, the power to choose is in the hands of children. Kids in Malawi, Kenya, choose their sponsor from more than 650 Soul City Families that step up to be CHOSEN.

February, 2019
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READY FOR MORE

The vision is shared for the next chapter of Soul City! To launch two new churches to the west and to the north. Due to the global pandemic, the vision was put on pause.

February, 2020
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C O V I D

The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted church as usual for months, but it also provided an opportunity for creativity through daily prayer and worship on Instagram, a new type of online church service called Church Refresh, Zoom small groups, and Meals of Hope that were served to essential workers and people in need in our community.

March, 2020
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REOPENING

After 11 months of online church, Soul City opened its doors again for weekly Sunday gatherings at 9am & 11am.

2021
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HOUSE OF HOPE OPENING

Soul City renovated the northwest side of its building to create a space for people inside our church and our greater community to walk alongside people when life is hard. The House of Hope offers resources, referrals, and relationships to anyone who is hurting. It has served almost 600 people since opening.

2021
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A FRESH VISION

Soul City Church announces a new five-year vision which includes launching a new Soul City Church in the Western Suburbs (somewhere from Oak Park to Oak Brook.) Together our church celebrates all that God has done and we declare that God is more than able to fulfill the vision that He's provided for the next five years.

November 2023

Our Lead Pastors

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Jeanne Stevens

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Jarrett Stevens

Our Elders & Staff

Elders

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Amber Hacker

Elder

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Andrew Sharp

Elder

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David Code

Elder

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Deb Gorton

Elder

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Jenny Emery

Elder

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Michael Strautmanis

Elder

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Mike Belke

Chair

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Thea Cabanilla 

Elder

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Travis Matthiesen

Elder

Directional Team

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Kelly Skiles

Executive Pastor

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Jon Jorgenson

Creative & Teaching Pastor

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Garen McConnell

Director of Operations & Finance

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Brandon Henderson

Transformation Pastor

Operations

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Kayla Eastman

Ministry Operations Manager

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Laz Rios

Production Manager

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Elmer Felipe-Chavez

Facilities Night Host

Transformation

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Ally Economou

Kid's Director

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May Ferrer 

Family Pastor

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Mya Haskins

Student Coordinator

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Stephanie Miller

Connection Pastor

Creative

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Fabi Hamstra

Worship Pastor

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Lyndsey Van Wyk

Service Producer

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Richard Mayo

Communications Manager

House of Hope & Care

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Jeannette Vega

House of Hope Operations Manager

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Christi Chatman

House of Hope Director

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Essentials vs. Non-Essentials

“In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, charity.” 
Rupertus Meldenius

There is a difference between Essential Theology and Non-Essential Theology. In other words, not all things have the same spiritual “weight” in the Bible. That is not to say that the things that “weigh less” than others in the Bible are unimportant, it just means that they are not central (essential) to a saving and transforming relationship with Jesus. It means that there is room for different interpretations and expressions of Non-Essential things within the large and diverse body of Christ.

At Soul City Church, we affirm that the doctrine/theology of the Trinity, the full humanity and full deity of Christ, the atoning work of Christ on the cross and His bodily resurrection, the filling of the Holy Spirit, the Bible as the inspired word of God and salvation by grace through faith are Essential. In other words, they are central to our faith.

We also acknowledge that there are peripheral, or Non-Essential, doctrines/theologies that are important but not central (essential) as it relates to a saving and transforming relationship with God. Some of these doctrines or interpretations include such things as forms of baptism, Complementarian or Egalitarian views of leadership and marriage, the exact timing and nature of the rapture, the extent and use of certain spiritual gifts, the relationship between election and free will in salvation, who can marry whom, and forms and methods of receiving Communion, among others. 

While our Church is diligent to study God’s word, listen to the Holy Spirit and teach clearly and consistently on the Essentials, we will not allow Non-Essential doctrines or theologies to cause division within our Church. We welcome into our body those who have differing interpretations of Non-Essential doctrines and theologies, but we will not allow those of a different opinion or interpretation to fracture the beautiful and delicate unity of our Church. We celebrate diversity (ethnic, political, social conviction and theological) and are better because of it. We will ultimately always pursue unity in our Church and encourage everyone to listen in love and learn from others who they might differ from or disagree with. We believe that when we learn to live in love with those we might disagree with, we become better and have something better to offer our divided and divisive world.

Apostle's Creed

I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried;
he descended into hell;
on the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting. Amen

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Hey Soul City!

A quick message for those joining us in person this weekend:

Recently, the CDC shared new guidelines for wearing face masks in public and in indoor settings to promote safety in areas with substantial risks of transmission. Therefore, we are requiring that masks are worn while in the building on Sundays.

We are continuously reviewing the CDC guidelines and what our next steps will be – as your safety remains our priority.

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