Randy Nabors will be preaching his last sermons as pastor of New City Fellowship on Sunday, at 8:30 and 11:00 am. Mr. Nabors is the senior pastor of the church which began as a Sunday School for poor children in a two bedroom apartment at Third and Cherry streets in 1968 and has grown to close to 1,000 worshippers each Sunday at its Glenwood and East Lake sites.

Mr. Nabors and his wife Joan became a part of what was called the “Third Street Sunday School” while students at Covenant College in the late 1960’s. Following graduation from seminary, they returned to Chattanooga and he became the founding pastor of New City Fellowship. Mr. Nabors has served as pastor of NCF since 1976 with a few interruptions. 

In 1982 he and his family were given a two year leave of absence to pastor the Community Presbyterian church in Nairobi, Kenya.  He also served as interim administrator for Prison Fellowship International, Africa for one year while in Kenya.   

Commissioned in the Army Reserves in 1975, Mr. Nabors has been called up for duty in Operation Desert Storm and Operations Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom as a chaplain, serving twice in Kuwait and Iraq. He served as a chaplain (COL) in the United States Army Reserve for the 3rd Medical Command.  In 2007 Pastor Nabors retired from the U.S. Army Reserves as a Chaplain Colonel.

He serves as the movement leader for the Urban and Mercy Network of Mission to North America for the Presbyterian Church in America.  He has been a commissioner for the City of Chattanooga Human Rights/Human Relations Commission and is a graduate of the Civilian Police Academy of Chattanooga.  He has been involved in other community interests including Clergy Koinonia, Urban Minister’s Network, NAACP, former appointee to Chattanooga Human Rights Commission. Mission trips with Africa Christian Training Institute to Uganda and Kenya. He has most recently served on the board of Covenant College.

Mr. and Mrs. Nabors will continue to serve together to encourage the works of mercy in churches, and to develop the planting of churches within poor communities, especially the inner cities of America. To this end, he is now leading a movement called the New City Network. The Network is a coalition of congregations and mission churches who are cross cultural, usually urban or inner city, who develop ministries to the poor. These churches seek to live out of the power of the Gospel of grace, engage in grass roots evangelism, and need the kind of encouragement and resourcing that a network can provide.

Rev. Kevin M. Smith, will be installed as the new senior pastor of New City Fellowship Church on Sunday, June 10, at 6:00 pm, succeeding Pastor Nabors. Pastor Kevin and his family will be moving to Glenwood in June and begin preaching on July 8.

New City’s vision is to be a cross-cultural worshiping community, centered in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, producing discipled believers who become God's instruments of grace, justice, and mercy. New City joyfully worships at 8:30 and 11:00 am every Sunday at 2424 East Third Street in the Glenwood community of Chattanooga. There is also an 11:00 a.m. worship service each Sunday in the East Lake community at 2903 East 37th Street.

For additional information, contact Gene Johnson , New City Fellowship, 423 629-1421, or gjohnson@newcityfellowship.com or www.newcityfellowship.com and www.newcityeastlake.com.