Steve Dixon will celebrate his 30th anniversary as pastor at Christian Life Cathedral and the church’s founding next Sunday.
He is a man of prayer and a “student of the word,” according to his father Red Dixon, a co-pastor of the church.
“He honestly looks to the lord for leadership and guidance,” Red Dixon said.
Steve Dixon founded Christian Life Cathedral in Fayetteville with his father 30 years ago. During the three morning services on Jan. 12, they will be refl ecting on the last 30 years, Steve Dixon said. They will look at where the church started, where it is now and cast a vision to where the church is going.
The mission of the church is “to heal the hurting and equip the body of Christ to discover and fulfi ll their God-given destiny,” Steve Dixon said.
He believes a “message of Christ is the answer for all of the hurts of humanity.”
In his role as senior pastor, Steve Dixon, 59, is the visionary leader of the church,taking on pulpit responsibilities and leading a staff, he said. His father describes him as a happy guy who loves people. Red Dixon added that his son is a great speaker and “lives somewhat on the cutting edge.”
“He’s ready to try new things. If he sees something that he thinks could work, he’ll give it a try,” Red Dixon said.
“It’s been very rewarding for me just to watch him.”
Ernie Conduff, founder of LifeSource International, left the staff at the church to pursue this nonprofit, but he has been a member at the church for more than 25 years. Conduff said Steve Dixon is a genuine man and incredible pastor with“a heart to restore people.” He welcomes people of all faiths or no faith at all and embraces all social, ethnic and economic backgrounds, Conduff added.
CHURCH BEGINNINGS
Steve Dixon said he felt early on he wanted to devote his life to ministry. He grew up watching his father as a pastor in California. Before starting Fayetteville’s Christian Life Cathedral in January 1984, he spent 12 years traveling from church to church, conducting special services, playing music and preaching. He then married his wife Cozy and decided to settle down in Northwest Arkansas to start a family. They now have two sons and two grandchildren.
When he decided to start a church, Steve Dixon said the first thing he did was ask his father to come and partner with him. He said working with his father has been wonderful and their relationship is very blessed. Red Dixon added that they have been great companions who have the same vision and outlook.
“In my heart, I’d always wanted to have a family aff air, a family church,” Red Dixon said.
The church stared with 33 people in a Ramada Inn in Fayetteville, which is now the location of a Starbucks, Steve Dixon said.
“Today, on any given Sunday, we’ll have 2,000-plus in our worship services,” he continued.
The church moved from services in the hotel to a permanent location on 14 acres in 1985. Properties later were purchased surrounding the area and now the church sits on 22 acres.
Steve Dixon also planted three churches in Northwest Arkansas, but they are not satellite churches, he insisted. He sent out pastors and members of the congregation to launch the churches and give oversight for a short period of time before releasing them to become independent, Steve Dixon said. These churches are Catalyst Church in Bentonville, Christian Life Church in Siloam Springs and Restoration Church in Fayetteville.
Along with planting churches, ministries also were started at Christian Life Cathedral. Two of these include LifeSource International and Compassion House. LifeSource International is a nonprofit organization in Fayetteville with a mission to strengthen families and build communities, according to lifesourceinternational.org. The services include a foodstorehouse, clothing pantry, counseling services, children’s programs, educational services and medical care assistance. Conduff, founder of LifeSource, said the ministry started out as a food pantry in a closet at the church about 25 years ago. Conduff had previously been an elder at the church and told Steve Dixon that he wanted to start a ministry to help the needy. Conduff recalled Dixon then asking him to join the church staff, and when Conduff felt it was the right time, the church would help him launch the ministry and later release it into the community.
The ministry then moved from a closet to a larger room to a warehouse in Springdale to a house on the church’s property, Conduff said. After 10 years, the ministry was released into the community and became LifeSource International.
Steve Dixon said the church staff and members still support and believe greatly in that ministry.
Compassion House is “a lifeline for girls under the age of 18 who are pregnant and need a safe place to stay and prepare for their futures,” Steve Dixon said. This organization also has been released into the community, he added.
“We feel strong about raising up ministries and releasing ministries,” he said.
Steve Dixon said the church also sends missionaries around the world. He said 25 percent of their annual budget goes towards missions and outreach.
LOOKING FORWARD
Steve Dixon said there are new projects underway at the church. There is a graveyard on the property, and Dixon said, they discovered through research that it is “a paupers’ graveyard and a graveyard for freed blacks and some slave blacks.” There are no headstones.
“We’re going to build a memorial for a forgotten people who never had the opportunity of being recognized,” he said.
They plan to put up memorial plaques and create an area of reflection. This project will begin this month and Dixon hopes to dedicate the memorial in February.
Dixon said they also are planning a renovation of the worship facilities - which have not been updated since 1990 - and building a chapel for sacred ceremonies.
Looking back on his time as a pastor, Steve Dixon noted his favorite part.
“I love to see people move forward into a personal relationship with Christ and then grow in that relationship.”
Religion, Pages 9 on 01/04/2014