C3 Church Global

C3 Church Global
C3 Church Global
Location International
Denomination C3 Church
Pentecostalism, Evangelical, Charismatic
Website www.c3churchglobal.com
History
Founded Easter 1980
Founder(s)

Phil Pringle

Christine Pringle

C3 Church Global, formerly known as Christian City Church International (C3i), is a Charismatic movement founded by Dr Phil Pringle and Christine Pringle. The first church was started in Dee Why on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Australia, and is now located in Oxford Falls. The movement is "committed to healthy relationships and connection between ministers and churches." As of August 2018, C3 Church Global is a community of over 520 churches in 64 countries.[1]

History

Pastor Phil and Christine Pringle arrived in Sydney from New Zealand in 1980 to begin a church on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Australia. Growing to 400 people within four years, the church began expanding and planting in other cities. The vision of 10 churches in 10 major cities was developed and the movement of Christian City Church began.[2]

In 2008, at the "Here We Go" global conference held in Hawaii, Christian City Church announced the name change to "C3 Church".

Structure

C3 Church Global is directed by a team who themselves pastor C3 churches in the movement. Each member of the team oversees the pastors of various churches and/or other overseers. Local churches are overseen by a local board. Directors and overseers meet regularly at local, national, and international conferences and meetings. C3 Church Global annually ordains senior pastors of the churches in the movement. The local leadership of C3 churches individually ordain their team.[3]

In the media

In 2017, Global News took an inside look at C3 Toronto, one of the C3 Church Global locations around the world. The article details what a regular Sunday service looks like. Lead Pastor Sam Picken explains his approach to leading a church, and congregation member Mirelli Vanheer talks about how she found C3[4].

Eternity News published an article on C3 Church in April 2017, detailing C3's annual Presence Conference and the movement's approach to community.

Reference was made to C3 Church in the Business Review Weekly (BRW), Australian edition article "God's Millionaires". This article noted that "Prosperity theology is practised by the bigger Pentecostal churches, including Hillsong, Christian City Church and Paradise. This promotes the idea that it is a Christian's responsibility to achieve wealth and worldly success."[5]

Criticism

The Cult Information and Family Support organization (CIFS)[6] notes that C3 Church is being actively monitored by a self-appointed Christian watchdog group.[7]

The senior pastor at C3 Asheville in North Carolina, Nicholas Dimitris, has received a federal prison sentence for his part in a real estate fraud.[8][9]

C3 has been criticized for teaching false doctrine, teaching prosperity gospel and controlling behaviour.[10]

Since C3 was 'founded in Australia in 1980, the church has suffered multiple scandals within its own ranks. More than one pastor has been charged with fraud. Another was accused of covering up the sexual abuse of a young boy.' [11][12] Phil Pringle, has also been criticized for 'grooming' church congregations to pay for legal fees after a friend of Pringle's, a pastor of an unrelated church, was accused and subsequently convicted of fraud, for using church funds to fund his wife's music career.[13][14][15]

References

  1. ↑ "C3 Church - Who We Are".
  2. ↑ 25: The 25th Anniversary story of Christian City Church Oxford Falls. Hyde Park Press. 2007.
  3. ↑ "About C3 Church - Our Structure".
  4. ↑ "How Toronto's C3 Church is attracting millennials to Christianity". Global News. Retrieved 2018-08-24.
  5. ↑ http://www.christian-witness.org/pdf/penteMay05.pdf "God's Millionaires". Business Review Weekly, Australia, 26 May 2005 by Adele Ferguson]
  6. ↑ "CIFS Report". 2012-07-02. Retrieved 2017-11-18.
  7. ↑ "About C3 Church Watch". Retrieved 2017-11-29.
  8. ↑ "Five Involved in Failed Land Development of Luxury Homes Sentenced To Prison". www.justice.gov. Retrieved 2018-01-02.
  9. ↑ "Asheville Scandal". Archived from the original on 4 January 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  10. ↑ "C3 Church Watch". Retrieved 2017-11-18.
  11. ↑ "'Questions Of Sex, Fraud And Faith Surround Megachurch Now Courting God's Hipsters'".
  12. ↑ "C3 Scandals". C3 Church watch Scandals. Retrieved 2017-10-28.
  13. ↑ "Singapore pastor found guilty of using church funds for wife's music career".
  14. ↑ "C3 Church Watch - Pringle grooming people financially for Kong's trial".
  15. ↑ "CHC Church Watch - What the Sun puts down, we put up".
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