- Church planting & multiplication
TaHon King and everybody else at Christ Culture Church was seeing red at a recent worship service.
But they weren’t angry, and they weren’t wearing special glasses. They had kingdom vision, seeing red upon every person who’d trusted in Christ’s blood that cleanses from sin.
“When I look around, I see red,” Pastor King said. “The culture of Christ is the most important culture. If we come together in the idea of ‘I see red,’ then we start to appreciate each other.”
What is the culture of Christ?
King said the beginning of appreciation is accepting the duality of Christ’s mindset: love people and hold the Father’s standard. That means warmly and compassionately eating dinner with those you disagree with, for example.
“If you love someone, you’re raising the bar, but you’re not compromising the standard,” he said.
A gospel message of abundant grace and kingdom dynamics defines the new Phoenix church launched in February 2023. Diversity can be a little weird for everybody, King said, but the gospel guides the church to have Christ’s culture, whether it’s tambourines, socioeconomics or skin color.
The multiethnic congregation first navigates the challenges of culture by remembering how Jesus sees each of them. King describes his belief system as “bapticostal,” meaning his faith speaks Baptist but sings Pentecostal.
“I’m a charismatic with a seatbelt on,” he added.
Fast-growing Phoenix is magnetic and muddled
The Lord’s work to lead King to Arizona and start a church had him on the same journey that most of Phoenix’s people have taken.
He grew up in Pasadena, California, and worked as a mortgage underwriter there. He continued that career when he and his wife, Shawnta, moved to Phoenix in 2004. They wanted more bang for their buck since the Pasadena area had become so expensive.
I'm charismatic with a seat belt on.
TaHon King, Christ Culture Church lead pastor
He said that only 19% of the people who live in Phoenix are born and raised there. Everyone else is from distant states such as Washington, Wisconsin or Michigan. That’s led to a surprising swirl of cultures from blue states and red states, small-town families and big-city people.
Most of the people in the city are white, yet King has been in Phoenix long enough to see a slow increase in diversity. The second largest subgroup is Hispanic, while biracial people outnumber African Americans.
While many residents say, “Don’t California my Arizona,” Christ Culture Church keeps its kingdom vision. Some worshipers go to Whole Foods, while others choose Super Wal-Mart. But on Sundays, the gospel is offered in one of the nation’s fastest-growing cities.
“We need more churches to meet the needs of the growth,” King said. “We want to be a multiethnic church to show people what the kingdom of God really looks like.”
Related: See the church planters who've started congregations to make Christ known.
Red is the only color on Sundays
The unity of Christ’s kingdom is why the new church schedules Red Sundays throughout the year. Everyone wears red clothes as a visible sign of an invisible reality.
“We’re covered in the blood,” King said. “Once we all receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, there’s only one color that we are, and that’s red.”
The congregation has formed simple but central habits like Red Sundays to highlight the culture that Christ creates for his people in a sometimes harsh world. These Phoenix disciples care about their neighbors, family and friends, who’ve yet to trust the king and enter the kingdom.
The barriers and struggles with knowing Christ as Lord vary in the valley. Spiritual experiences include people who’ve grown up Roman Catholic, in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or are crisis Christians. Those people, King explained, seek God when something’s wrong and disappear once circumstances resolve.
“When we recognize those in the world that aren’t covered, that’s the mission,” he added.
Christ Culture Church has partnered with House of Refuge, a transitional housing organization. House of Refuge offers year-round housing to people in need, and disciples embraced the opportunity to pay for a year of housing for a family.
God has also been working to lead a diverse group of people into the waters of baptism. For example, a 72-year-old former Buddhist was baptized at the church. In October, another lady in her seventies obeyed Christ’s command once she realized she had never known she needed baptism. An eight-year-old girl was baptized that same day.
“I’ve also witnessed God make us multiethnic and intergenerational,” King said.
That’s what God can do, especially in a place where King said his neighbors relocated to find a better way of life. Some are leaving cold weather; others are abandoning California’s high prices. Many want outdoor recreation like hiking and biking.
For all those people, there’s a kingdom available, a realm of new life flowing from the side of Jesus Christ.
“The main thing is Jesus and his culture,” King said. “We want to push the culture of Christ in everything we’re doing.”
Converge's 10 districts have committed to deploying 312 church planters before 2026. Read more inspiring church planting stories and learn about the goal to send out 312 church planters in five years.
