Back to "About Citylights"

Why start a new church in Long Beach?
Downtown Long Beach is a city at the intersection and collision of cultures, worldviews, and socioeconomic realities.  It is a city of great change and great need.  It is a place where upwardly mobile young professionals and urban poor single mothers are neighbors.  It is a place where the Gay & Lesbian Association has greater influence than local churches.  It is a place where only one of every ten individuals are involved in a local church.  In the past 30 years, the city has become what locals say is a “spiritually dark” place.  The city has faced issues of urbanization such as growing ethnic tension, economic depression, “white flight,” and the mass migration of downtown churches relocating to the suburbs.  Of the churches that have stayed in the area, most are struggling and/or have become extremely liberal (denying essential evangelical doctrine).  In the community, evangelical churches are seen as adversarial, judgmental, irrelevant and exclusive.  It is clear that Downtown Long Beach has a great need for new missional churches to bring the light of Jesus to the city.

What do you believe?
We hold to the basic doctrines of the historic Christian church.  You can read more about what we believe here

Who are you associated with?
Citylights has several partners.  We have associations with local churches such as Gardena Valley Baptist Church, Hope Chapel Gateway, and Fellowship Bible Church.  We are also associated with the following organizations: Fellowship Associates, Acts 29 Network, and the Evangelical Free Churches of America West.