CHRIST THE KING CHURCH

Make disciples who glorify God in all of life for all of Stillwater

What?

The elders of The North Church in Mounds View, Minnesota, are commissioning two of its pastors, Andy Naselli and Tom Dodds, to plant Christ the King Church. Joining them are Dustin Williams and Nathan Colestock.

Where?

Somewhere in the Stillwater, Minnesota area.

When?

We plan to covenant as a church when we gather perhaps on the first
Sunday of 2025 (January 5). We are looking for potential founding members to meet with us on the evenings of September 1, October 6, November 3, and December 1 to prepare for founding the church.

Why?

The people in the Stillwater area need Jesus. There are some healthy churches there, but Stillwater needs more. We’d like to work together with faithful churches to proclaim Christ the King in Stillwater. Our mission and vision is to make disciples who glorify God in all of life for all of Stillwater. In a culture that is rebelling against God’s life-giving truth, we need clarity, courage, and steadfastness.

We would like the lives of church members to be thicker by overlapping in more spheres. In particular, we would like to be thicker by overlapping geographically—where the church gathers, where most of the members live, where most of the members are out and about. We envision being more of a community church than a commuter church. While we are getting started, we expect many people will commute. Yet we hope that over time, church members will move into the area.

Andy Naselli would love to preach regularly, and Tom Dodds has been contemplating planting a church for over fifteen years with a special burden for the Stillwater area.

How?

Build and fight. When God’s people rebuilt the Jerusalem walls, “each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built” (Nehemiah 4:18). The vision was to rebuild the ruins, and the strategy was to build and fight. Trowel and sword = build and fight. In a similar way, our vision is to rebuild the ruins of what sin has destroyed, and our strategy is to build up God’s household and to fight against sin.

We build and fight by focusing on seven priorities:

  1. Teach sound doctrine. Our pastors preach through entire books of the Bible to build up God’s people. The Bible is the final authority for what we believe and how we behave. We prioritize historic Protestant orthodoxy, and we are not embarrassed about anything the Bible teaches.

  2. Proclaim the gospel. We love the good news: Jesus lived, died, and rose again for sinners, and God will save you if you turn from your sins and trust Jesus. We proclaim the gospel to ourselves, to one another, and to those who do not believe it.

  3. Praise God’s glorious grace. God’s meticulous sovereignty over all things inspires us to worship, trust, and obey him. We want to trust God when suffering comes. We want to be holy and happy followers of King Jesus. We glorify God by enjoying him and his gifts. 

  4. Worship God together. Gathering together in person on Sundays to worship God in one service is the central component of all we do. We sing the word, pray the word, read the word, preach the word, and see the word (in baptism and the Lord’s Supper).

  5. Pursue holiness. God calls us to be holy. We don’t earn God’s favor by obeying him, but we do please God when we trust and obey him—cheerfully, humbly, wholeheartedly, dependently, prayerfully. We strive to practice the “one another” commands of Scripture with love flowing from pure hearts.

  6. Love God’s good design for men, women, and families. We don’t merely affirm God’s good design for men and women in the home, church, and society. We love it! We want our families to be faithful and fruitful. In particular, while the family is deteriorating in our culture, we encourage husbands and fathers to faithfully shepherd their households, and we encourage fathers and mothers to bring up their children with a Christian enculturation. We believe that a thoroughly Christian education is a primary way to disciple children.

  7. Be salt and light. We are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We encourage Christians to act as a preservative in our culture and to influence the culture through hospitality, evangelism, business, arts, literature, politics, education, etc. We want to glorify Christ by letting our light shine before others in Stillwater so that they may see our good works and give glory to our Father who is in heaven. We want to be a light-giving city set on a hill, and we want to multiply by training pastors who plant healthy churches regionally and internationally.

CHRIST THE KING CHURCH PLANTING TEAM

Andy Naselli

Lead Pastor*

Andy and his wife, Jenni, have been married since 2004, and God has blessed them with four daughters: Kara, Gloria, Emma, and Eden.

Andy earned a PhD in theology from Bob Jones University (2006) and a PhD in New Testament exegesis and theology from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (2010). It was his privilege to serve as the research manager for New Testament scholar D. A. Carson for about nine years (2006–2014).

In addition to serving as lead pastor of Christ the King Church, Andy is professor of systematic theology and New Testament for Bethlehem College and Seminary in Minneapolis.

Andy is all in on the mission to make disciples who glorify God in all things. His role in that mission is to research, write, preach, teach, and shepherd. He aspires to be a faithful shepherd by knowing, feeding, leading, and protecting the sheep.

You can follow him on X at @AndyNaselli.

Tom Dodds

Pastor*

Tom and his wife, Abigail, have been married since 2002. God has given them the gift of five children: Eliza, Seth, Elianna, Evangeline, and Titus.

Tom has served as a non-staff pastor since 2015. He has taken seminary classwork at Bethlehem College and Seminary. In addition to serving as a non-staff pastor, he is founder and CEO of a technology services company, consults with Christian business owners, and serves as a trustee at Bethlehem College and Seminary.

As a father, elder, and entrepreneur, he writes and advises on leadership that glorifies God.

Dustin Williams

Pastor*

Dustin and his wife, Maria, have been married since 2006. Dustin has been perennially amazed by the ways that the Lord’s paths “drip with fatness” (Ps 65:11). God has gifted Dustin and Maria with four children who love the Lord: Soren, Maeta, Selah, and Silas.

It has regularly humbled Dustin to remember God’s providential hand working throughout his life to surround him with godly men and women who were not afraid to sacrifice themselves in order to teach him about his Son through his Word. Dustin earned an MA in Biblical Counseling from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and is the Vice President of a commercial construction company in Hugo, MN.

Having been born in Stillwater, married in Stillwater, and now granted the opportunity to serve in Stillwater, it is with great joy that Dustin seeks to encourage and teach those who have ears to hear in Stillwater that the Lord “is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments” (Deut 7:9; cf. Ps 100:3).

Nathan Colestock

Staff Pastor*

Nathan and his wife, Maddie, have been married since 2017. God has blessed them with three children: Abigail, Phoebe, and Jonathan. He prays they will be like strong trees and palace columns (Ps 144:12).

Nathan earned his MDiv from Bethlehem College and Seminary (2023). He has been honored to serve his local church from 2019 to 2024, overseeing ministry to children and families.

Nathan’s mission is to glorify God in all of life. His role is to shepherd, teach, and organize the charge to make disciples who glorify God in all of life. He wants to see all of Stillwater honor Christ as Lord and is passionate about seeing Christian culture grow and flourish there.

*These men are pastoral candidates to be voted on as pastors when the church is formed.

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