Discover who we are.
our vision, mission and message
Our vision is Jesus. We become what we behold and keeping our eyes on Jesus and being filled by His Spirit gives us the appropriate response to all of life’s situations; Jesus gives us abundant life. Jesus said that if we have seen him, we have seen the Father, said another way, we have seen God. Jesus is perfect theology, if we want to know what God is like we must get to know and understand Christ. And as we do this we find what we have been looking for; peace and unimaginable freedom.
The journey of healing is from the inside where we find our true identity and purpose. And it is from this place of health and wholeness that we discover the joy as we share the love of God with those around us. Our message is love.
Loving others drives our mission to share His truth and teach others his ways.
Our vision is Jesus, our message is love and our mission is to make disciples.
leadership structure
Citygate church is led by a team of elders, who share the vision and co-lead the church together. They are also the directors of the CIPC-registered not-for-profit company, City Gate Community Church NPC. The diversity of the team is its strength and the submission of each elder to the revelations and authority of the other elders as they operate in their gift is the key to such a team model. We currently have three eldership couples:
Lucien & Melanie Azor
We're passionate about seeing people encounter Jesus, discover their purpose, and grow in His Kingdom. We've been married since 1997 and have been part of the Citygate family since 2013. Together with our children, Savannah and Levi, we've had the privilege of serving and walking alongside people as they grow in faith.
Lucien spent many years as a high school teacher before stepping into ministry, while Melanie transitioned from nursing to medicine, carrying a deep passion for helping people find wholeness in every area of life. We believe Jesus is King, people are deeply loved by God, and there's no greater privilege than serving His Church.
Favourite verse
"...that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name."
Lucien — John 20:31
"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."
Melanie — Romans 12:2
What we love about Citygate
Being part of a church that is passionate about Jesus, committed to serving one another, and learning to live out God's Kingdom together.
What God is teaching us
To walk in courageous obedience, trusting the Father's leading while allowing Him to continually transform us.
Our coffee orders
Christof & Marguerite Spies
We're passionate about building authentic community, leading people into worship, and helping others grow in their relationship with Jesus. We've been part of the Citygate family since 2013 and have served on the eldership team since 2016.
Music has always been central to our lives. Christof serves as the Manager of the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra, while Marguerite is a professional cellist and music teacher. Together with our three children, we love creating spaces where people encounter God, experience genuine community, and discover their place in His Kingdom.
Favourite verse
"In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ."
Christof — 1 Peter 1:3–5
"Be still, and know that I am God."
Marguerite — Psalm 46:10
What we love about Citygate
Our multicultural church family, vibrant worship, shared leadership, and the genuine sense of belonging that people experience here.
What God is teaching us
To walk by faith with patience and perseverance, trusting God's promises above what we can see.
Our coffee orders
Derik & Mariechen Maritz
We're passionate about seeing people belong, grow, and discover all that God has for them. Since joining the Citygate family in 2019, we've loved serving in Kids Ministry and investing in the next generation while raising our young son.
Derik is an engineer, and Mariechen serves in full-time ministry. Together, we're committed to building authentic community, encouraging prayer, and helping people take their next step in following Jesus.
Favourite verse
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him."
Derik — Proverbs 3:5–6
"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth."
Mariechen — 3 John 1:4
What we love about Citygate
The authenticity of our church family, its multicultural and multigenerational diversity, and the genuine love people have for Jesus and one another.
What God is teaching us
To trust Him more deeply, stay close to Him, and remember that lasting fruit comes from abiding in Christ.
Our coffee orders
We also have other leaders who serve and help lead Citygate Church in various ways. While some are part-time staff members, most people volunteer their time to help build God’s kingdom in one way or another. Some people serve in practical ways, such as serving coffee on a Sunday, or welcoming visitors, while others serve and lead by discipling people through home groups, youth groups or prayer meetings.
Finally, the elders are accountable to several apostolic leaders, who are invited to advise, guide and scrutinise the health of Citygate Church and our obedience to God’s call to disciple the nations.
NCMI and the bigger vision
We believe that it is valuable and necessary for local churches to be connected and accountable to some form of wider leadership structure. For some churches, this takes the form of a denominational affiliation; for others it may be that they are satellite congregations of a larger church movement with a headquarters.
Citygate believes that a voluntary partnership model with various apostolic leaders is a more biblical model. How does it work? Basically, the elders of Citygate church have full authority to lead the local church. But they invite experienced church leaders to visit Citygate church several times per year and to give input into the vision, leadership, finances, discipleship and other matters. These leaders are invited to ask questions, to scrutinise details and to hold the elders to account for the call of God over Citygate, and hold up a plumb-line of the gospel to help the church and its leaders remain faithful and productive in serving God. Furthermore, all big decisions that impact our vision, discipleship, finances, leadership and staff operations are run by at least one apostolic leader for input and advice.
Many of these leaders currently come from New Covenant Ministries International (NCMI), who call themselves a trans-local team of men and women who feel called to equip local churches through partnerships. But we also have friendships with gifted leaders from other church networks, and we find that the diversity of apostolic inputs strengthen the church.
Ultimately, the blessing of apostolic leaders is that they help to strengthen local churches, protect them from losing their way, hold local leaders to account, and remind us of the bigger call to reach the lost and plant churches all over the whole world.
Our story
The Citygate story is a rich tapestry of gospel stories that weave together to form a collective witness of the multi-coloured splendour of God’s love to our neighbours, community, and beyond.
The first strand of our story is that of Breakthru church, which was planted in 1997 by Matt and Gill McGaw from what is now known as Red Point Church, Pinetown. As the name suggests, this community really trusted for God’s gospel to bring light and breakthrough in people’s lives.
The second strand began in 1982, when Glenridge Church was planted by Chris and Meryl Wienand. Their desire was to establish ]a radical, non-conformist, Spirit-filled, evangelistic community of Jesus-followers who were intent on turning Durban upside-down with the gospel.
These two strands intertwined when Breakthru Church merged with Glenridge Church in 2010, establishing the Glenridge @Glenwood multi-site congregation.
A third strand originates from the New Frontiers Apostolic network of churches, from which Citizen Church was planted in 2007 by Drew and Megan Land. They had a passion to serve the poor and pioneer a multi-racial community of faith in Durban. In 2013, Citizen Church merged with Glenridge Church and most of its members joined the Glenridge @Glenwood congregation.
In 2019 the Glenridge eldership team, now led by Stan and Heather Phipps, felt that God was leading the Glenwood congregation towards greater autonomy and that a self-governing church in partnership with Glenridge was God’s next step for this community.
And so, Citygate Church was established in May 2019 as a healthy, self-standing church which continues the multi-coloured journey of following Jesus, in close partnership with Glenridge and other churches in Durban.
A fourth strand of our story is that of Shofar Church Durban. They had a passion for worship, to disciple people and plant churches all over the world. Following a season of leadership transitions, Shofar Durban merged Citygate Church in January 2020, adding yet another colourful strand to the tapestry of our story.
And finally, there are the many individual strands of the story that make us who we are. Citygate church is not a building, nor primarily a religious organisation. Rather, we are a tapestry of gospel stories that weave together to form a collective witness of the multi-coloured splendour of God’s love to our neighbours, community, and beyond.