Planting in Gastonia, NC on March 2, 2025

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Citizens Church is a reconciled people who now belong to God,
proclaiming hope to those far from God.

Beliefs

Foundation Document
Nicene Creed
Baptist Faith & Message

Values

Gospel

We exist because of what Jesus has done for us through His death, burial, and resurrection. He died to pay for our sins and rose to defeat sin and death forever. The message of Jesus, the gospel, is the centerpiece of everything Citizens Church is and does.

Community

We exist as a community built by the love of Jesus toward us and the love of Jesus toward one another. Through the gospel, Jesus has built a community of reconciled, forgiven people who were once far from God and now belong to Him. Our hope is that the gospel community will be seen and experienced in community groups that will be scattered throughout West Gastonia and in the lives of our people as they live, work, and play in their communities.

Worship

We worship through proclaiming the good news of Jesus in all things. We believe that God alone is supreme; He is worthy of our highest worship. We were created to worship! Citizens Church seeks to proclaim the good news to one another in the community as we gather together to worship our God. Our worship is centered on our love and devotion to Jesus as a response to all that God is and all that He has done.

Mission

Our missionary God has given us a mission. Jesus came to pay for the forgiveness of those far from God through His blood. Through Jesus, we are forgiven and brought into the mission of God. We seek to live as light and joy in a dark and broken world. The world is filled with people who live in darkness and sadness. They have no hope, but through Jesus they can experience the light and joy He offers to all who come to Him. At Citizens Church, we seek to be the light and joy of Jesus where we live, work, and play.
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Pastoral Team

Kenneth Gray

Lead Pastor

Kenneth has been married to his wife Whitney for ten years and they have three kids: Haddon (4), Silas (3), and Ruby (Born May 2024). From 2013-2022, Kenneth served in full-time student ministry in Mississippi. In August of 2022, he moved his family from Jackson, MS to Belmont, NC to take part in Exodus’s 2.5-year church planting residency called The Orchard Initiative. Quickly after moving to NC, Kenneth and his wife fell in love with the area and desired to see a gospel-centered church planted there. As Kenneth and his wife prayed about where to plant, a desire grew to plant a church in the area. The more they prayed, the Lord led them to plant in West Gastonia as their desire grew to see people there be brought near to God through the gospel.

Spencer Fretwell

Pastor of Worship & Community

Spencer Fretwell has been married to his wife Nicole for eight years and they have two boys – Kai (5) and Otto (2). Spencer was born and raised in Belmont, NC (and his mom is from West Gastonia). Spencer started leading worship in the high school praise band at 16, and from 2011-2022 he served on staff at a few churches as an intern and a Worship Director. In the fall of 2022, Spencer and his family moved to Baltimore, MD where he did a year-long residency under the elders of Redemption City Church. Through much prayer, an opportunity arose for them at Exodus Church for Spencer to serve on staff as a pastoral resident and to explore church planting with another resident (Kenneth). The Fretwells love Gastonia and deeply desire to see many people far from God come to know Him.
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