Under God, and for his glory, to build 3,000 wholehearted disciples of Jesus.
Our Story
Christ Church St Ives started in a house in 1909. There’s a picture of it on my office wall that reminds me of where we came from. Next to it is a picture of our current church, it reminds me of where we are. A lot happened between 1909 and 2025, Christ Church has shifted and changed as the local community has shifted and changed. The two people standing in front of the 1909 home could never have pictured the orchards torn down and the houses and units and large shopping centre that would take their place. They could never have imagined the number of people who would make their way to 1 Cowan Road over time. Perhaps, however, they prayed and just perhaps the work we are doing is an answer to their prayers.
A church now stands where the house was. Much has changed, but the foundation of all that has happened on this site remains Jesus Christ. He is the one we proclaim.
Our Vision
We want to do more than just run excellent church services. We want to do more than provide programs for young and old. We want to do more than provide access to community for non-English speakers. We want to join God in his work of growing disciples. Of course, we cannot make anyone grow, and we cannot make anyone become a Christian - God does that! But he calls us to be builders and to contribute to his work carefully and prayerfully (1 Corinthians 3:5-15).
This is why we say as a church that we are building wholehearted disciples of Jesus. We pray to see new disciples born, we pray to see current disciples grow, we pray to see disciples join the work of building disciples. And we pray to see these things in increasing number. All this underpins the 3,000 we often talk about. That’s double the number we had when we set this vision and about 10% of the local area.
So Much More To Do
In 2025 more than 1,800 people were part of what was happening here. I hear that and it feels like we are rapidly creeping up on our vision. But there is so much more to do. Let us pray that God would continue his work among us of growing wholehearted disciples. Let us pray that we would be faithful builders. Let us pray that more people may come to know Jesus for the first time in 2026. Even if we get to 3,000, it will just be the beginning. There are 130,000 people in Ku-ring-gai alone. It’s a big work, but we have a big God.
– Nigel Fortescue (Senior Minister)
What we believe
Christ Church St Ives is an Evangelical Anglican church that cooperates in fellowship with other churches in the Diocese of Sydney.
Our historic and theological roots go back to the Protestant Reformation, most explicitly expressed in the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England and the Book of Common Prayer.
At Christ Church we are united in our conviction that God became one of us in the person of Jesus Christ, who was crucified and rose again to bring us forgiveness and new life, and that He is now gathering people to spend eternity with Him.
This is the good news that we encourage each other to live out in our daily lives and which we seek to share with our neighbours, family and friends. In so doing, we aim to know God better and build the church of Christ while we eagerly await his return.