Our Story.
About.
Spark Network is a citywide effort to further catalyze and galvanize the broader Church of Lane County through local hubs of worship and prayer.
Our story.
We’re Chris and Justine, both proud Oregonians who grew up in Lane County. For most of my childhood, I could be found at Autzen Stadium on Saturdays for every home Duck game from age five through college. I briefly played football at the University of Oregon before leaving school in 2008 to join the Army. That decision took us north to the Seattle region for the next eight years.
Justine’s roots run even deeper here. Her family has been in Lane County for generations, and more than thirty relatives still call this place home. For both of us, Eugene isn’t just a hometown; it’s part of who we are.
After my time in the military serving as an Army Ranger, and as our family began to grow, we sensed it was time to return to Oregon. From 2017 to 2021, we loved every moment of being back in Eugene. Raising our kids, reconnecting with family, and rediscovering the beauty of our home. But in the fall of 2021, life seemed to be leading us in another direction. Our house was under contract, and we were only a few weeks away from moving to Dallas, Texas, for work.
Then something unexpected happened.
During a quiet moment of prayer—something that wasn’t yet a daily rhythm for me—I sensed the Lord speak a specific phrase to my heart: “Buy the domain name sparkprayer.org.” It was so clear and so unusual that I actually laughed out loud. I asked, “What for?” And the answer came just as clearly: “You’re going to use it for a prayer movement.”
It made no sense at all. Prayer hadn’t been a major part of my walk with God up to that point, and this felt out of left field. Still, I decided to check whether the domain was even available, certain it wouldn’t be. But it was. So, out of what felt like reluctant obedience, I bought it—and then did nothing with it for nearly two years as I lacked any further direction or insight from the Lord.
During those years in Texas, our hearts grew homesick. At the same time, God surrounded us with mentors and friends who taught us how to pray, who helped us see the world through the lens of God’s power and goodness. Slowly, faith began to take root in a new way. We started to believe not just that Jesus is Lord in a general sense, but that He is Lord of Lane County, and He could bring real transformation to our hometown.
After a season of fasting and prayer, it became clear through unexplainable supernatural events that God was calling us back to Eugene. The time had come to gather the Church of our city to pray together for renewal, growth, and advancement—to believe that God could move powerfully in the place He planted us.
So that’s what we’re doing. The Spark Network exists to see the people of Eugene united in prayer for a radical transformation and reawakening of the region, in our time. We believe now, more than ever, is the moment to seek God with hungry hearts and to watch what He will do.
Meet the Team.
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Chris Cirullo
DIRECTOR
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Harrison & Hunter Ross
PRAYER - ADVISOR
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Grant & Kelly Stine
PRAYER - ADVISOR
Statement of Faith.
We believe in historic orthodox Christian Doctrines, and eagerly desire to connect men across churches that align with the following
God is Triune
There is one God: infinite, eternal, almighty, and perfect in holiness, truth, and love. In the unity of the Godhead, there are three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—co-existent, co-equal, and co-eternal. The Father is not the Son, and the Son is not the Holy Spirit, yet each is truly Deity. One God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is the foundation of Christian faith and life.
God the Father
God the Father is the Creator of heaven and earth. By His word and for His glory, He freely and supernaturally created the world out of nothing. Through that same word He sustains all things and rules over all. Together with the Son and the Spirit, He is the only Sovereign God whose purposes cannot be thwarted.
He is faithful to every promise, works all things together for the good of those who love Him, and in His unfathomable grace gave His Son, Jesus Christ, for humanity’s redemption. He made all things for the praise of His glory and intends for man, in particular, to live in fellowship with Himself.
Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, is the eternal Word made flesh, supernaturally conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He is perfect in nature, teaching, and obedience—fully God and fully man.
Through Him all things were created and in Him all things hold together by the word of His power. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, and in Him dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily. He is the only Savior for the sins of the world, having shed His blood and died a vicarious death on Calvary’s cross.
By His death in our place, He revealed divine love and upheld divine justice, removing our guilt and reconciling us to God. Having redeemed us from sin, on the third day He rose bodily from the grave—victorious over death and the powers of darkness—and for forty days appeared to many witnesses, offering convincing proofs of His resurrection.
He ascended into heaven where, at the right hand of God, He intercedes for His people and rules as Lord over all, awaiting His return. He is the Head of His body, the Church, and should be adored, loved, served, and obeyed by all.
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Through the proclamation of the gospel, He persuades people to repent of their sins and confess Jesus as Lord. By this same Spirit a person is led to trust in divine mercy and is united to Jesus Christ through faith.
The Holy Spirit brings about the new birth, indwells the believer, and glorifies the Son, who in turn glorifies the Father. He leads the Church into a right understanding and rich application of the truth of God’s Word. He is to be honored and worshiped as God—the Third Person of the Trinity.
The Scriptures
We accept the Bible—thirty-nine books of the Old Testament and twenty-seven of the New—as the written Word of God.
The Bible is the essential and infallible record of God’s self-disclosure to humanity. It leads us to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Being given by God, the Scriptures are both fully and verbally inspired and, as originally given, are without error in all they teach.
Each book is to be interpreted according to its context and purpose, and in reverent obedience to the Lord who speaks through it with living power. All believers are exhorted to study the Scriptures and diligently apply them to life.
The Scriptures are the authoritative and normative rule for all Christian belief and practice. They are totally sufficient and must not be added to, superseded, or changed by later tradition, extra-biblical revelation, or worldly wisdom. Every creed or theology must be tested by the full counsel of God in Holy Scripture.
Man
God made humanity—male and female—in His own image as the crown of creation, that we might glorify Him and enjoy fellowship with Him. Tempted by Satan, man rebelled against God and became subject to divine wrath. Apart from a special work of grace, humanity is incapable of returning to God.
This fallenness is radical and pervasive, affecting mind, will, and affections. Unregenerate humanity lives under the dominion of sin and stands alienated from God. Fallen people, whatever their attainments, are lost and without hope apart from salvation in Christ alone.
The Gospel
Jesus Christ is the gospel. The good news is revealed in His birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension. Christ’s crucifixion is the heart of the gospel, His resurrection its power, and His ascension its glory.
His death was a substitutionary and propitiatory sacrifice for our sins, satisfying the demands of divine justice and displaying the love and grace of God. Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and man. There is no other name by which we must be saved.
At the heart of all sound doctrine stands the cross of Jesus Christ and the infinite privilege of glorifying God because of what He has accomplished. We desire everything in our hearts, churches, and ministries to flow from and point back to this gospel.
Man’s Response to the Gospel
The proper response to the gospel is faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ, accompanied by repentance from sin. Biblical repentance is evidenced by a changed life, and saving faith bears fruit in service and obedience.
While neither repentance nor works can save, those who follow Christ must deny themselves, take up their cross, and walk in His ways. This gospel of grace is to be sincerely proclaimed to all people in all nations.
Man’s Inheritance Through the Gospel
Salvation is the free gift of God, given by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, for the glory of God alone. Whoever turns from sin in repentance and trusts in Christ’s substitutionary death receives eternal life and is declared righteous by God.
The righteousness of Christ is imputed to believers. They are justified and fully accepted by God. Through Christ’s atonement, each believer is reconciled to God as Father, forgiven of sin, and liberated from the law of sin and death into the freedom of the Spirit.
Sanctification
The Holy Spirit is the active agent of sanctification, producing His fruit in us as our minds are renewed and we are conformed to the image of Christ. Though indwelling sin remains a reality, as we are led by the Spirit we grow in the knowledge of the Lord and live in such a way that others may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.
Believers are exhorted to persevere in faith, knowing they will give an account to God for every thought, word, and deed. The spiritual disciplines—Scripture, prayer, worship, and confession—are vital means of grace. Our ultimate confidence to persevere rests in God’s promise to preserve His people to the end.
Empowered by the Spirit
The Holy Spirit empowers believers for witness and service. The promise of the Father is freely available to all who believe in Jesus Christ, enabling them to exercise the powers of the age to come in ministry and mission.
The Spirit continually fills believers with power to witness and imparts gifts for the building up of the Body and the advancement of God’s kingdom. Gifts of the Spirit are to be earnestly desired, discerned, and practiced in an orderly manner under the authority of Scripture. These gifts are essential to the Church’s mission in the world today.
The Church
By His Word and Spirit, God creates the Church, calling people from every nation into the fellowship of Christ’s body. By that same Word and Spirit, He guides and preserves this redeemed community.
The Church is not an institution or denomination but the universal body of believers who have personally received the gospel. The Church exists to worship and glorify God and to serve Him by doing His will on the earth—proclaiming the gospel, making disciples that we teach to obey the commands of Christ, planting churches, and seeing the Kingdom expand to the ends of the earth, according to God’s will and timing.
The ultimate mission of the Church is worship, and the means by which this is accomplished is disciple-making. As God transforms human nature, society itself is renewed. Believers are added to local churches where they devote themselves to teaching, fellowship, the Lord’s Supper, and prayer.
Marriage
Our beliefs about marriage and sexuality—like all matters of faith and practice—are grounded in Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16). God created humanity in His image, male and female (Genesis 1:26). Though all have sinned (Romans 3:23), God’s forgiveness and grace are available to all who repent and believe (Ephesians 2:4-5).
Marriage is a covenant picture of Christ’s relationship with His Bride, the Church (Ephesians 5:22-23). From the beginning, God defined marriage as a lifelong union between a man and a woman (Genesis 2:24), reaffirmed by Jesus (Matthew 19:4-5).
God designed sexual intimacy exclusively for marriage between a husband and wife and does not bless it in any other context (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5).
The Consummation
The consummation of all things includes the future, physical, visible, personal, and glorious return of Jesus Christ; the resurrection of the dead; the judgment of the just and unjust; and the fulfillment of Christ’s kingdom in the new heavens and new earth.
At His coming, Satan and all who reject Christ will be separated from God’s presence and endure eternal judgment, while the righteous, in glorified bodies, will live and reign with Him forever—serving Him and giving unending praise. Then the eager expectation of creation will be fulfilled, and the whole earth will proclaim the glory of God who makes all things new.