launching October 4th

A new church
for a city that
keeps growing.

Flower City Church is a new church plant in Rochester, New York with a heart to be a multi-ethnic, mission-focused community introducing as many people as possible to new life through Jesus Christ.

or come be part of the launch team →

The Vision

We are sent to this city.

Placeholder copy. Rochester is one of the most internationally diverse mid-size cities in the Northeast, and the south side — where three universities meet a dozen immigrant communities — has almost no church planted with that reality in mind.

We are praying toward a multi-ethnic, missional people who pursue the presence of God together. Not a church that happens to be diverse, but one built for it from the first Sunday.

This section would carry the actual vision language, written with Nathan and Emily rather than for them.

Jesus-Shaped

What we are building on.

Four convictions that shape everything from a Sunday gathering to a Tuesday coffee. Placeholder text drawn from their existing series.

We are loved by Jesus

Nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We are saved by Jesus

By grace we have been saved through faith — and this is not our own doing.

We are becoming like Jesus

Formed slowly and together, in Scripture, in prayer, and in one another's homes.

We are called to share Jesus

With the world — starting with the block, the campus, and the apartment next door.

Photo of Nathan & Emily
goes here

Founding Pastors

Nathan & Emily Sanders

Placeholder bio. Nathan has spent more than thirty years in Christian leadership — as a senior pastor, an associate pastor, a Bible college teacher, and an assistant dean. Emily and their four children are planting alongside him.

They are sent by Elim Life Church in Lima, New York, where Nathan currently serves as associate pastor, and they are backed by Elim Fellowship.

  • Doctor of Ministry — Northeastern Seminary, 2016
  • MA, Practical Theology — Regent University, 2001
  • Ministry Diploma — Elim Bible Institute, 1996
  • In Christian leadership since 1993

The Need

It takes $700k to plant this well.

$000,000 committed of $700,000

Placeholder copy. Three years of operating costs — a meeting space, a pastor who can give this his whole week, kids' ministry, and the thousand small things it takes to get a church from zero to self-sustaining.

Every dollar given before October 4th buys the launch team something it cannot buy later: time. This paragraph is where the real numbers and the real timeline would live.

Two Ways In

Partner with the plant.

A pastor weighing a three-year commitment and a neighbor giving fifty dollars need different pages. Here they get different paths.

For Churches

Become a partner church

A monthly commitment across the first three years, with quarterly reporting back to your congregation on what their giving built.

  • Named on the sending wall and in every annual report
  • Quarterly written update from Nathan
  • An open invitation to send a short-term team
  • Placeholder benefit line four
Start the conversation

For Individuals

Give once, or monthly

Give directly, in under a minute, without being handed off to another church's portal and asked to find the right dropdown.

  • One-time or recurring, your choice
  • Tax-deductible through Elim Fellowship
  • Cancel or change any time
  • Placeholder benefit line four
Give now

The Neighborhood

South Rochester, on purpose.

01 — WHO'S HERE

Students, and a lot of them

Placeholder. Three campuses inside a few miles, and a student body that turns over every four years.

02 — WHO'S HERE

An international corridor

Placeholder. Dozens of first-language communities within walking distance of each other.

03 — WHAT'S MISSING

Few churches built for both

Placeholder. Plenty of good churches nearby; very few designed from the ground up for this mix.

04 — THE PLAN

Start in homes, then gather

Placeholder. Launch team in living rooms through the summer, public gathering from October 4th.

Launch Team

Be there for day one.

Placeholder. We are looking for people who will show up early, set up chairs, learn names, and stay. If that is you — or someone you know in Rochester — tell us.

we'll reach out personally →