New City Church SouthPark (EFCA) — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Pastor Chris Payne (Senior Pastor)

Founded 1973

Denomination EFCA

Service Times Sunday Worship — verify times on website

Men's Ministry No

Kids Ministry Yes

Website www.newcity.us

10-Point Theological Scorecard

Christology

Is Jesus the only way? (John 14:6)

EFCA Statement of Faith — Trinitarian.

Strong

Scripture

Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?

EFCA inerrancy affirmed.

Strong

Men's Discipleship

Intentional formation for men?

Verify dedicated men's ministry.

Caution

Soteriology

Faith alone? How is salvation presented?

EFCA sola fide.

Strong

Gender / Biblical Design

Biblical manhood and womanhood by God's design — patriarchal, complementarian, egalitarian, or affirming gender ideology?

EFCA complementarian — male elders required.

EFCA complementarian norm — male elders/pastors per denominational stance.

Strong

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

EFCA elder-led congregational polity; multi-site (SouthPark + Matthews).

Strong

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

Verify preaching style; long-tenured former pastor Jim Kallam known for expository preaching.

Caution

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

EFCA missions emphasis.

Strong

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

Verify specific cultural posture; 2019 merger with EPC congregation may signal broad evangelical breadth.

Caution

Accountability Structure

Denominational home, elder plurality, or external network — is the pastor answerable to anyone?

EFCA Southeast District; founded 1973 as Church at Charlotte; merged 2019 with EPC plant New Charlotte Church.

Strong

Assessment

New City Church SouthPark traces its history to 1973 as Church at Charlotte (EFCA). In 2019 it merged with New Charlotte Church (an Evangelical Presbyterian Church plant founded 2010) to form New City. Senior pastor Jim Kallam served 42 years on staff (37 as senior pastor) prior to the merger — exceptional pastoral tenure. The EFCA-EPC merger is unusual and worth flagging; both denominations are broadly Reformed-leaning evangelical and complementarian, so the merger fits theologically. Charlotte is a thin EFCA metro in the directory, and this is one of the historic anchor congregations for EFCA in NC.

#efca#evangelical-free#complementarian#north-carolina#charlotte#established-1973#multi-site#merger-2019#long-tenured-former-pastor#underrepresented-state

MOOP Engagement Tracker

How this church was personally verified by the MOOP directory team:

✓ Researched church website

Sources & Evidence

Enrichment Notes

RARE FIND: 1973 founding (one of the older Southeast EFCA churches); 37-year senior pastor tenure (Jim Kallam); 2019 EFCA-EPC denominational merger. DRIFT MARKER: current senior pastor not confirmed in public sources — verify successor.

These are the URLs consulted to arrive at this church's scoring. Score-note claims are synthesized from homepage content, denominational directories, and public statements of faith at the time of review. Church websites change frequently; we're progressively adding Internet Archive snapshots to prevent link rot.

[1] Live source newcity.us
[2] Live source en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_City_Church
[3] Live source efca-southeast.districts.efca.org/churches
[4] Live source churches.efca.org

Transparency note: MOOP ratings are researcher judgments about publicly available theological and ecclesial evidence. They are not infallible. If a church's public posture has changed since our review, or if we've mis-read evidence, tell us — we publish corrections.