Christ's Church of the Valley


Christ's Church of the Valley is a non-denominational Christian megachurch located in Metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona, currently with other locations in Anthem, Avondale, Chandler, Mesa, Central Phoenix, North Phoenix, Scottsdale, Surprise, Peoria, and Verrado-Buckeye, Arizona. A campus in Laveen, Arizona is planned to open in late 2020. The church was founded in 1982 by pastor emeritus Dr. Donald Wilson. Weekend church attendance exceeds 34,000, making it the largest non-denominational church in Arizona and the 2nd largest church in the United States.

History

Christ's Church of the Valley was founded by Dr. Don Wilson in 1982 with services held in a rented movie theater. Christ's Church of the Valley also held services in an elementary school and a strip mall for a short period of time.In 1996, Christ's Church of the Valley found a permanent home, after raising over $1 million in one day to purchase 50 acres of land in the northwest Phoenix.
For the first four years on the new property, Christ's Church of the Valley held services in a ‘sprung’ structure with seating for 1,100. In January 2004, Christ's Church of the Valley moved into their current 4,500 seat multi-use structure on a 100-acre campus. In 2006, CCV built two new buildings for its children and youth ministries from over $8 million in funding, raised in one weekend. These buildings opened in fall 2008.
In the spring of 2015, Christ's Church of the Valley held an Easter Sunday service in the State Farm Stadium. With all five campuses in attendance, the estimated attendance was nearly 50,000.
On October 29, 2017, Don Wilson, CCV's founding pastor stepped down as Senior Pastor after 35 years at CCV. His replacement was Ashley Wooldridge, who was an Executive Pastor and a Teaching Pastor at the church for ten years prior.
As of January 2020, CCV has opened 10 campuses around metro-Phoenix. CCV announced plans to open their 11th campus in the community of Laveen, in Southwest Phoenix, Arizona.