IS THIS YOUR STORY?
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​NETWORK LEADER TESTIMONIES

ANDY GEER
​PASTOR CTK MONROE, WA

​I knew that I was called to be a Pastor at the age of 14. I went to Bible College and I jumped through all the “hoops” that my denomination required and I was licensed and ordained. I am truly thankful for those who loved and invested in me. However, I never felt like I “fit” within my denomination. People that I led to Christ who also felt a calling to ministry didn’t “fit” either. Honestly, it felt like I was always at someone else’s family reunion. There seemed to be “preferred” types of people and I just wasn’t one of them. I had another struggle as well. I loved what I read in the Bible about what a leader’s priorities are within the church. I believe that God has gifted me to be a teacher, a leader and one who makes disciples. I liked connecting with people in the community that were not Christ followers. But the more I worked within the church the more I felt like a customer service representative at “The God Store”. Keeping our people “happy” and enticing people to transfer to our church seemed to be the goal.

I planted a church with my denomination but ultimately found myself alone. I had no desire to be alone. I wanted to be a part of a network. My denomination hosted a church­ planting event and I couldn’t afford to go. Later they posted podcasts from the speakers they had at the event. One of those speakers was a guy named Dave Browning. As I listened to Dave speak about what they were trying to accomplish with Christ the King I began to cry. What he described sounded an awful lot like what God had called me to do. Was it possible that I wasn’t alone? Was it possible that there were other men and women out there that didn’t really care about being impressive or business like? Were there others that just wanted to help create an authentic Christian community that reached out to people? It takes a long time to connect with people who are not already following Christ. Was there a network that didn’t give you “the look of disappointment” if you didn’t appear to be exploding with growth?
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I found Dave on Facebook and requested to be his friend. Soon after that, I asked him if he would meet me for coffee, which he did. A few weeks later I presented our little church with some basic info about Christ the King. Dave came out and met us for a BBQ and we got to ask him some questions about his story and Christ the King. Shortly after we asked Christ the King if we could join them, which we did.
I will be honest. Planting a church has been brutal. I wouldn’t have done it if God had not asked me to do it. Over the past 6 years, I’ve been a part of the Christ the King Network and I have been a part of trying to figure out how to be the church that God has asked us to be. I have been a Pastor now for approximately 25 years and I feel confident in saying that the last 6 years have been the healthiest years for me, and my family. I have found my tribe, my family or whatever you want to call it. I am still trying to figure out how to fulfill this calling, but I am not doing it alone.

If you love Jesus, love people, and you are unapologetically committed to the truth of Scripture and Bible­based teaching, BUT you just don’t seem to fit or find yourself alone, then maybe CTK just might be your people.

BILL KEOGH​
PASTOR CENTRAL FAITH CHURCH - WA

In all the years I have been in the ministry, I have always desired to be a part of a bigger picture than the individual church I was pastoring. I have experience in other networks, but they seemed to end up in politics and comparison. I very much appreciate that the Christ The King Network is not like that. With CTK, there is a freedomand encouragement to seek the Lord and pursue what He is placing in front of you as a pastor/leader. There are boundaries, but only as set by our foundational biblical doctrines as Christ followers. There issupport and depth of quality people in the Network I now depend on. I never allowed myself to do that in the past; I was not convinced others in the network really understood my heart and calling. ​

Being on the Network Church Council for the last almost two years has been a great privilege. It is refreshing to see and experience the “inside” of the organization and understand it is consistent with how it is presented to the network as a whole. This network really is about the Gospel and how we can be the most effective as churches working the harvest field. 

I look forward to what is in store for the CTK Network. I believe the best days are yet to come! People need to know that the Good News is still good all by itself. People need to know that there is forgiveness for the past and hope for the future. People need to experience the grace of God, through leadership that lives it out. This seems to be a rare thing in the US church these days. I am grateful to be a part of this Network that continually keeps this in mind.

TIM DAVIS​
PASTOR CTK CANBY, OR

A few weeks ago, my wife and I were sitting on our front porch enjoying a sunset. Out of the blue, she said, “I am so glad we made the move to CTK all those years ago.” This caught me by surprise but she went on to explain how hard it was for her to watch me in our previous ministry. While there were a lot of good things happening, she stated that she remembers me always coming back from leadership meetings looking frustrated, deflated, and burned out. She was absolutely correct. Why? I was not empowered to actually do the ministry I was hired to do.
My early days in ministry could be described as low trust and high control. I became dry as a pastor in this type of environment and needed to find something new before it ruined me for good. That was when someone told me about Christ the King Community Church.

CTK became attractive to me because the value it placed on empowerment. I first discovered this when Dave Browning addressed the topic in his blog. He wrote:
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"There are four words with which every pastor in the CTK Network needs to become fluent. These four words are “Yes, Sure, You Bet.” “Yes,” “Sure,” and “You Bet” need to be spoken frequently to make certain that we are open to God’s plans, and not just our own – to guarantee that we are empowering people, instead of controlling them." 

Over the years most of us have worked hard to embody these words in our local ministries. While the CTK Council has also strived to live by the principle of empowerment, I see us taking new strides to push the handrails out even further and allow more freedom in each of our local worship centers. Recent changes to our policies regarding church names and logos are just a couple of examples of the things we are discussing. We want to see every leader empowered to take the gospel of Jesus to the culture around them with as few roadblocks as possible. Dream big and pray more!