WHO WE ARE
We are a church that ministers to every individual and to the entire family. We seek to identify with Jesus Christ by living in a way that is pleasing to Him through obedience to His Word. We are apostolic in our doctrine and our identity by seeking to teach the apostles’ doctrine and seeking to emulate the apostles’ lifestyle as revealed in the New Testament. We are Pentecostal in experience by identifying with the birth of the church on the Day of Pentecost through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We believe that every believer should exhibit the fruit of the Spirit and operate in the gifts of the Spirit.
Jesus told his followers to make disciples throughout all the world. “Our world” begins in Heath, Ohio, and we want to help as many people as possible within our community come to know Jesus Christ through His Word and through His Spirit.
CLC is a church where you are welcome, you belong, and you can become.
VISION
We exist to restore community by building Christ-centered families.
Mission
Our mission is to make disciples who know Jesus, grow in faith, and discover purpose.
Know Jesus
New Testament salvation is our introduction to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ through the power of the Gospel. We encourage daily personal devotion through spiritual disciplines like prayer, Bible reading, and fasting. We know Jesus by spending time with Him.
Grow in Faith
We grow in our faith by connecting with the body of Christ. There are a variety of ways we accomplish this: dynamic Sunday and Wednesday services that include worship, preaching of the Word, and prayer; Life Groups (small interest groups that are offered throughout the year); and fellowship opportunities for various age groups.
Discover Purpose
We believe that everyone has a place of purpose and significance in the kingdom of God. It is our desire to help every member of our church discover that purpose through ministry opportunities within the church and in our local community.
| Jesus
It’s all in Him! He is the center of everything that we do. He is our reason for living and He is worthy of our unconditional surrender.
| People
We love people! Every individual is a God-given gift to the world created in the image of God with inherent value. We believe they deserve to be treated as such. We also believe that it is the will of God to redeem and restore every individual to a place of personal relationship with Him.
| family
Family is everything! The foundation of the church is strong families. We endeavor to truly be a church family that carries each other’s burdens. You are only a guest once. After that you are family.
| truth
We value the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth! There is only one truth. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life. We receive revelation through Spirit and truth. His Word is truth! We seek to know truth through the study of biblical doctrine and to express truth through a lifestyle that is genuine and transparent.
| purpose
We live on purpose! A clearly defined purpose creates motivation, generates passion, narrows focus and determines direction. Everything we do must pass the test of purpose.
| mission
We live for others! We do not live for ourselves. We must have the mind of Christ. The Creator of the universe came to earth in the form of a servant. He who desires to be greatest of all must become servant of all.
| worship
All of life is worship. We present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God. He inhabits the praises of His people! His presence has the power to transform every life and every situation. We crave His presence. We pursue it and surrender to it.
| unity
We fight for unity! There is power in unified purpose and singular focus. We can achieve more when we are unified. We are not divided by cultures, ethnicity, politics or preference. We are not in competition with each other. We are in unity with each other.
| teamwork
Teamwork makes the dream work! Anything of any significance that is successfully accomplished will always be the result of collaboration. We are better together and we are stronger together.
| GENEROSITY
We live big through generosity! We are at our best when we are giving. Sacrificial investment of our time, energy and resources opens the door to miraculous provision and supernatural demonstration.
| GRATITUDE
It is the gateway to greater things! It is a place of contentment and peace. We appreciate everything that works together for our good and we take nothing for granted. We choose to be thankful.
| GROWTH
We’re growing because we are alive! Progress requires change and we embrace positive change. Our message will never change, but methods, styles and preferences always change. We seek personal growth in every area of life: spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, relational and financial.
| EXCELLENCE
We desire to be both efficient (do things right) and effective (do the right thing). We seek to fulfill our God-given potential. We live by this motto, “The way you do anything is the way you do everything.”
what we believe
Christian Life Center is a Bible-based church. That simply means we seek to believe and practice what is explicitly taught in the Bible. Based on the Bible, we believe the following:
TAP TOPICS TO EXPAND
THE BIBLE
We believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God, a divine revelation from God to man (2 Timothy 3:16-17). We accept the Scriptures as the final authority in all matters of faith and conduct (Hebrews 4:12, 2 Peter 1:19-21).
GOD
We believe in the one eternal God (Deuteronomy 6:4): infinite in power and holy in nature, attributes and purpose; and possessing absolute, indivisible deity (Jude 1:25, Malachi 3:6, Colossians 2:9).
JESUS CHRIST
We believe that in Jesus Christ dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9). We believe that God came to us manifested in the flesh as Jesus Christ (John 1:1-14, 1 Timothy 3:16), born of a virgin (Matthew 1:23); that he lived a sinless life (Hebrews 4:15), was crucified on Calvary for our sins (Matthew 26:28), and bodily rose from the grave (Romans 6:9); and that he has been exalted to the throne of God where He is the only mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5). We believe that through his death and life we have personal salvation and power for victorious living (Romans 6:5-7).
SALVATION
We believe that all men have sinned and stand in need of redemption (Romans 3:23) which is obtained through the new birth by faith in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 26:28). Those who repent of their sins and are born again of water and Spirit (John 3:3-5, Acts 2:38), through water baptism in Jesus’ name by immersion (Acts 4:12) and through the infilling of the Holy Spirit with the initial evidence of speaking in an unknown tongue (Acts 2:1-4, 38-39), become children of God and heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17).
CHRISTIAN LIVING
As Christians we are to love God and to love others (Mark 12:28-21). We are to worship God joyfully and seek to live a life of holiness that is pleasing to him both inwardly and outwardly—in our thoughts, words, motives, attitudes and actions (2 Corinthians 7:1, Hebrews 12:14). We are empowered to live a life pleasing to God through the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:19-26). As a Spirit-filled church, we believe that the supernatural gifts of the Spirit are for the church today and are available to all Spirit-filled believers.
THE CHURCH
We believe the Church has been “called out” of the world to be a habitation of God through the Spirit (1 Peter 2:9, Ephesians 3:17-19), to love one another sacrificially and to affect genuine spiritual change in the community (Hebrews 10:23-25, Acts 2:42-47). As the body of Christ on the earth, the local church is the hope of the world. The church is one body made up of many members, diverse in their gifts and callings of the Holy Spirit to fulfill the cause of Christ and to expand the kingdom of God on the earth (1 Corinthians 12:12-27).
THE SECOND COMING
We believe in the pre-millennial return of Jesus Christ to receive his bride, the church, unto Himself (John 14:3, Matthew 25:31). At his coming, we believe the dead in Christ will be resurrected from the grave followed by those believers who are alive and remain (1 Corinthians 15:52, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). We believe in Christ’s millennial reign upon the earth. After the final judgement the righteous will inherit eternal life and the unrighteous will inherit eternal death (Revelation 20:11-15).
our history
In January of 1947 John O’Riley planted a church in the home of Goldie Haas in Newark, Ohio, chartered as Oneness Apostolic Church. The church then relocated to property that was purchased on the corner of North and Everett Street in Newark. The fledgling church began a journey of growth as Pastor O’Riley led the church for eight years. He passed away in 1955 due to poor health.
On November 23, 1955, Charles B. Smith became the 2nd pastor of Oneness Apostolic Church as the church continued to grow. In 1980 property on Linnville Road in Heath was purchased and a name change took place as the church became Christian Life Center and Academy. CLC spent 31 years at the Newark location. In 1985 the church broke ground to build a new sanctuary: the building where the upper level lobby is now located. In 1986 the building was completed as the church continued on its journey of growth. Pastor Smith retired after 33 years as Pastor.
In June of 1988 Travis Kirk and family came to Heath as he became the 3rd Pastor of Christian Life Center. CLC continued to grow spiritually and numerically as it increased its impact in the cities of Heath and Newark. CLC purchased more land and in 1993 built a much needed shelter house for outside activities. CLC continued to see souls saved and lives changed.
As CLC outgrew its facility, plans were drawn up in 1997 to build a new worship center. The new sanctuary and classroom facility was completed in 1999 with the first service being held January 1, 2000.
In 2000 James Kirk was elected as the 4th pastor of CLC and in 2006 he directed the building of the beautiful Family Life Center. In 2009 Travis Kirk became the Bishop of CLC and James Kirk became the Senior Pastor. On October 10, 2016, tragedy struck as Pastor James Kirk died in a tragic fall.
The congregation, though shattered by the tragedy, began to pray their way through the pain to seek God for His direction. By the strength and grace of God CLC grew closer to each other through this tragedy and in the Spring of 2017 began an extensive remodel and expansion of the current sanctuary.
On August 6, 2017, we began another chapter in the storied history of Christian Life Center. Michael Ensey was elected as the 5th Senior Pastor in the history of CLC. In the Spring of 2018, the remodel of the current sanctuary was completed. CLC continues to increase numerically and spiritually and is already making plans for what God has in store next for this growing congregation.
