Churchome, known as The City Church until 2017, is an American nondenominational megachurch headquartered in Kirkland, Washington, with a congregation in Beverly Hills, California and a mobile-app ministry called Churchome Global. Founded in 1992 by Wendell and Gini Smith, the church has been led since 2009 by their son Judah Smith and his wife, Chelsea Smith.Tu, Janet I. "Pastor Wendell Smith, City Church founder, dies". The Seattle Times. December 21, 2010. Retrieved August 3, 2026."The Megapopular Churches That Celebrity and Instagram Built". ChurchLeaders. Retrieved August 3, 2026.
Beginning with about 40 people meeting in a hotel function room in Bellevue,Ho, Vanessa. "'Emotion For God' — About-To-Move City Church Prides Itself On Commitment To Diversity". The Seattle Times. April 7, 1998. Retrieved August 3, 2026. the congregation grew over two decades into one of the largest churches in the Seattle metropolitan area, reaching roughly 6,000 weekly attendees across six campuses by the early 2010s. The church later became an early adopter of app-based ministry, and its congregation has included public figures such as Justin Bieber and Russell Wilson, a profile that led media outlets to describe it as a "celebrity megachurch".Swann, Jennifer. "How the Co-Pastors of Churchome Built an Instafamous Megachurch". Marie Claire. November 6, 2019. Retrieved August 3, 2026.Cornwell, Paige. "Churchome accused of forcing employees to give 10% of wages". The Seattle Times. March 2023. Retrieved August 3, 2026. It has also been the subject of scrutiny over its handling of sexual-assault allegations involving staff, a class-action lawsuit alleging that it required employees to tithe, and its former membership of the Hillsong Church "Family" network.
History
Founding and early growth (1992–1999)
Wendell and Gini Smith worked for about two decades at Bible Temple, later City Bible Church, in Portland, Oregon, where they worked as youth pastors, elders and Bible college instructors before moving north."About". City Ministries. Retrieved August 3, 2026. They founded The City Church in 1992, beginning with about 40 people who met on Sunday mornings at the Bellevue Marriott. The name was drawn from a passage in the Book of Isaiah.
The congregation grew quickly. By 1997 it reported about 1,550 members, with about 500 people attending each of three weekend services at an auditorium near 148th Avenue Northeast and Main Street in Bellevue."Overlake Facility To Be Purchased By The City Church". The Seattle Times. September 16, 1997. Retrieved August 3, 2026. That year the church agreed to acquire the Rose Hill campus of Overlake Christian Church at 9051 132nd Avenue NE in Kirkland, which had been placed on the market after Overlake built a larger facility in Redmond. When Wendell Smith announced the plan from the pulpit, members pledged more than $250,000 in a weekend; the church agreed to pay $8.25 million for the property, whose sanctuary seats 2,200. Contemporary reporting noted the congregation's ethnic diversity and its emphasis on member recruitment, and quoted neighbouring Eastside clergy who described the church as an addition to the region rather than a competitor.
Alongside the congregation, the Smiths established City Ministries, an outreach arm that during the 1990s operated a food program, a low-cost resale clothing shop, a computer-skills certification course and a transitional home for women and children; a preschool, later City Kids School, opened after the move to the Eastside.
Expansion and leadership transition (2000–2016)
The church expanded to multiple campuses across the Seattle area and developed youth, children's and internship programs. Judah Smith led the youth ministry for about ten years before he and Chelsea Smith were named lead pastors in 2009, after Wendell Smith, who had been diagnosed with cancer in 2004, stepped back from the role. Wendell Smith died in December 2010 at age 60."Pastor Wendell Smith Dies". Charisma. Retrieved August 3, 2026. The family directed memorial giving toward Rose Hill Cottages, a nonprofit providing housing for foster families in the Seattle area.
By 2014 about 6,000 people attended weekly services across campuses in Kirkland, the Sammamish Plateau, Seattle's Central District, Belltown and the University District. A church spokesman told a Seattle community newspaper that weekly in-house television simulcasts reached an estimated audience of 25,000, and Judah Smith said his podcast reached about 30,000 listeners."City Church congregation hits 6,000". Queen Anne & Magnolia News. March 3, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2026.
Rebranding and digital expansion (2017–2020)
In 2017, 25 years after its founding, the church was renamed Churchome, and a Los Angeles congregation was established."Judah Smith: Why I'm Changing the Name of My Megachurch". Charisma. Retrieved August 3, 2026. Judah Smith said the change was intended to convey a church that functions like a home rather than an institution."Justin Bieber's pastor is bringing church to 'the palm of your hand'". Fox News. April 2019. Retrieved August 3, 2026. For a period the Smiths travelled between the two cities, leading Sunday services in the Seattle area and midweek services in Los Angeles.
In November 2018 the church launched Churchome Global, a free smartphone application with streamed services, guided prayers, discussion groups and a pastoral chat function. Judah Smith described the app as a church plant located on the user's phone, and said it was developed in response to members, particularly younger ones, who no longer attended a physical building."Judah Smith Launches Church 'in the palm of your hand'". ChurchLeaders. November 2018. Retrieved August 3, 2026. The app was downloaded more than 200,000 times in its first year."5 Top Churches Leading Digital Tech Innovations in 2020". Get.Bible, citing CBN News. Retrieved August 3, 2026.
The approach drew attention when the COVID-19 pandemic moved most American congregations online in 2020, as commentators noted that Churchome had built its digital infrastructure years earlier."Coronavirus: church leaders shift worship online". Fox News. April 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2026. The church closed its Washington campuses in March 2020 and launched Church@Home for virtual attendance."Churchome Pastor Judah Smith Announces Temporary Closure of Churches in Washington Due to Coronavirus". Charisma. Retrieved August 3, 2026. Guided prayers from the app reached a wider audience when Justin Bieber shared recordings with his Instagram following."Justin Bieber shares guided prayer led by pastor Judah Smith". Fox News. Retrieved August 3, 2026.
Consolidation (2020–present)
The church subsequently reduced its physical footprint, closing several Seattle-area campuses and shifting resources toward its online platform. In 2020 it moved to demolish and sell its University District property, while retaining holdings including the former IBEW hall at 2700 First Avenue in Belltown."U District church plans demolition and sale". Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce. May 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2026.Mehta, Hemant. "Lawsuit says megachurch forced employees to tithe 10% of each paycheck". Friendly Atheist. April 2023. Retrieved August 3, 2026.
By 2023 Churchome held weekly services at its Kirkland campus and monthly services in Beverly Hills, and reported that more than 300,000 people engaged with its services online or in person each week. Videos on its YouTube channel had accumulated roughly 33 million views, including a service performance by Bieber and worship leader Chandler Moore viewed nearly 14 million times."Lawsuit: Celebrity-friendly church in Kirkland required workers to tithe". KIRO 7. March 2023. Retrieved August 3, 2026.Kroman, David. "Lawsuit alleges Seattle-area megachurch and pastor Judah Smith forced staff to donate". KNKX. March 28, 2023. Retrieved August 3, 2026.
Campuses
Churchome's main campus is the former Overlake Christian Church property in the Rose Hill neighbourhood of Kirkland, purchased in the late 1990s. Its Southern California congregation meets monthly in Beverly Hills, with services held at venues including the Saban Theatre."'The City Church' Ministry That's Gaining A Celebrity Following". CBS Los Angeles. Retrieved August 3, 2026. Earlier campuses in Belltown, the University District, the Central District, Issaquah and on the Sammamish Plateau operated during the church's multi-site period.
Beliefs and practices
Churchome is nondenominational and charismatic evangelical in orientation. Its preaching centres on the person of Jesus and on grace rather than on doctrinal systems, and its public messaging emphasises belonging; the church's website has greeted visitors with the statement that they are welcome there.Ngu, Kai. "Church Clarity Profile: Churchome". Church Clarity. February 26, 2019. Retrieved August 3, 2026.
The church's statement of faith and employee handbook include tithing, described as giving the first ten percent of income."Churchome forced employees to tithe 10%: lawsuit". The Christian Post. March 2023. Retrieved August 3, 2026.
Women work in senior roles: Chelsea Smith is co-leader with the title "lead theologian", women sit on the board and preach at services, and the church has licensed women as ministers. The advocacy group Church Clarity scored the church's website "Clear: Egalitarian" on women in leadership.Kumar, Anugrah. "Justin Bieber's pastor Judah Smith asked if Churchome is a cult". The Christian Post. May 5, 2025. Retrieved August 3, 2026.
Churchome ended its affiliation with Hillsong Church in January 2022.Blair, Leonardo. "Hillsong Church operated lucrative honorarium scheme for celebrity preachers: report". The Christian Post. March 16, 2023. Retrieved August 3, 2026.
Churchome has been criticized for declining to state publicly whether LGBTQ people may be baptized, married, employed or hold leadership positions in the church. In a 2016 interview with MTV News, Judah Smith said he did not want to address divisive issues or make blanket statements, and said the church had no written policy on gay leadership. After a December 2016 sermon in which he said Jesus opposes all forms of exclusion, Smith was publicly asked whether this extended to LGBTQ participation; he did not answer, deleted the associated post, and the sermon was later reposted with that passage removed.Mekhail, George. "Open Letter to Pastor Judah Smith on 'Inclusion': Just for Immigrants, or LGBTQ Too?". Religion Dispatches. February 26, 2017. Retrieved August 3, 2026. The episode contributed to the founding of Church Clarity, which scored the church's website "Undisclosed" — its least transparent rating — on LGBTQ policy.
Organization
Churchome was incorporated as a nonprofit religious corporation under Washington law in 1992."Can a Church Require its Employees to Tithe? Kellogg v. Churchome". Fickle Father. Retrieved August 3, 2026. Judah Smith uses the title "lead communicator" and Chelsea Smith "lead theologian"; David Kroll is chief executive officer. The board of directors has ten members, including the Smiths, Kroll and NFL quarterback Russell Wilson."Celebrity-endorsed megachurch accused of violating Washington consumer and wage acts in lawsuit". FOX 13 Seattle. March 29, 2023. Retrieved August 3, 2026. In 2023 an attorney for a plaintiff suing the church estimated its staff at 80 to 100 employees following campus closures.
Handling of sexual-assault allegations