Worship service Sundays at 11:00am

836 W. Aldine Ave. Chicago, IL 60657

Worship service Sundays at 11:00am

836 W. Aldine Ave. Chicago, IL 60657

About Our Church

 Purpose Statement  

Chicagoland Community Church (C3) is a growing network of people, committed to becoming more like Jesus, and helping others discover and follow him.  

Church History  

Chicagoland Community Church (C3) was planted in the summer of 2000 after Pastor Jon graduated from Southwestern and God called him and his wife Alana to move to Chicago and the church was started as a mission to postmoderns on the north side of Chicago. 

After completing a church planter’s assessment and basic training they began the process of building a core group. God provided a meeting place for them in the Lakeview Neighborhood where they desired to focus their ministry.  

Alana graduated from Moody Bible Institute in 2003, and the church was constituted as its own organization. Through a variety of mission teams, outreach strategies, community service events, concerts, summer missionaries, and missionary interns God has grown this church over the years to be a bright light in this neighborhood.  

In 2007 the church’s first associate pastor Ash Hodges and his wife Katrina moved away to begin the process of preparing for future ministry opportunities. Shortly thereafter, the church received the building in which we meet as our own property.   

In the summer of 2012 Pastor Jon, Alana, and their children were able to take their first three month sabbatical and travel the United States, sharing their vision and catching up with family and friends. Shortly after their return, Pastor Jon began his doctoral studies through Golden Gate (Now Gateway Baptist Theological Seminary), and God provided their family with a home just a couple of neighborhoods west of the church facility. Pastor Jon completed his ministry project during the summer of 2016, and graduated with his DMIN in December 2016.  

We have a core group of lay leaders who have been trained in Spiritual Formation (including both spiritual disciplines and spiritual warfare), and we focus on building joyful discipleship relationships in our neighborhood. The church is part of the Great Commission Baptists (SBC) network and is the SENDing church for Urban Voice (Pastor Mark Chan) in the Bridgeport neighborhood of Chicago. We also have various church alumni serving Jesus across the continent and around the world. 

Meet Our Staff  

Rev. Dr. Jon R. Pennington is a gifted teacher with a Doctorate of Ministry from Gateway Seminary in Ontario, CA, a MDIVBL from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft.Worth, TX, and a BA in history from Morningside College in Sioux City, IA. Pastor Jon has two decades of ministry experience, most of those have been starting and serving as COORDINATING PASTOR of C3. He also serves as the Executive Director of ScatterUs Ministries (facilitating church planting through technology), and is a Research Assistant for Gateway Seminary. Pastor Jon is responsible for leading the church and its sponsors towards accomplishing our vision, training and supervising the leaders of the church, and ensuring exegetical accuracy in our teaching.

Alana Pennington is a graduate of Moody Bible Institute with a bachelors in Sacred Music. Besides her role as a full-time mom, Alana leads the praise band, helps manage the clothing closet, and is responsible for the discipleship of the women and children of the church. Alana also serves as the Office Manager for ScatterUs Ministries.

Scott Kinoshita earned a MDIV from Golden Gate Baptist TheologicalSeminary in Mill Valley, CA, after a BS in Accountancy from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, IL.  During his two decades of ministry after seminary, he has served as an inner-city youth pastor for four ethnic churches of the Baptist General Conference, a missionary to Japan in the Osaka area, associate pastor for a Southern Baptist church plant in San Jose, CA, and associate pastor of a multiethnic Baptist General Conference church in the Rogers Park area of Chicago.  He is currently serving as the Discovering Pastor of C3.  Pastor Scott is responsible for stimulating the members of C3 to evangelistically reach out with the Good news of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit for the furthering of the Kingdom of God in the Lakeview neighborhood!

Statement of Faith 

We believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth; And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord: who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, lived a perfect exemplary life of love, taught with deepest wisdom, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried, descended into hell; the third day he rose from the dead; he ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the authority and trustworthiness of the Scriptures in all they intend to discuss, the holy commissioned church, the communion of Christians, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen. 

For more information on our doctrine, we are in general agreement with the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. 

Core Values 

Our core values are focused on the area in which we have our greatest expertise – DISCIPLESHIP – helping people learn how to be a Jesus-follower in a contemporary urban setting. 

  • Diversunity: We long to touch everyone with Jesus’ love, we respect differences. (Galatians 3:28)
  • Innovation: We always strive to find more creative ways to communicate Jesus. (1Corinthians 9:20–23)
  • Scriptures: We will be faithful to what the Bible teaches and strive to better understand. (Hebrews 4:12)
  • Connectivity: We build and sustain relationships both inside and outside the fellowship. (2Corinthians 5:18–19)
  • Integrity: We will always conduct our church by Biblical ethical principles. (Matthew 7:24–27)
  • Prayer: We will practice contemplative prayer, remembering our power is from God. (Mark 1:25–39)
  • Love: We will strive to love God more and love people as he commands by caring for people’s needs. (Mark 12:29–31)
  • Evangelism: We will seek to communicate Jesus’ love both home and abroad. (Acts 1:8 )
  • Service: We will work to lead through service and encourage active participation. (Mark 10:45)
  • Honor: We will show devotion to Jesus through intense worship, changed lives, and care for all of his creation. (Colossians 1:15–22)
  • Information: We will always pursue deeper knowledge of the Community and Scriptures. (Proverbs 22:3–4)
  • People: We will focus on reaching more people and not on acquiring property or possessions. (1Corinthians 3:16–17) 

Church Vision 

C3 is a church that focuses on the center city neighborhood of Lakeview as a mission field. We believe in actively presenting the good news of Jesus both to the successful and the marginalized of this upscale, urban environment. We particularly focus our ministry on those who are seekers, skeptics, or are new to the faith. We strive to teach clearly the entire Word of God without compromise. We are supported both in prayer and financially by the local members of this church, and by numerous sponsors and partnering churches around the country. C3 is passionate about multiplying the small: so our focus always lies on forming new context groups, starting new branch congregations in similar neighborhoods, and helping to plant new daughter churches in different settings. It is our desire that no matter your station in life, you can discover Jesus’ presence for yourself, learn to follow Him with your whole life, and be motivated to help others by connecting with Him in worship.