City First Church was originally a small Swedish assembly that began meeting in a storefront hall on 5th Avenue in downtown Rockford in 1929.

Their claimed mission is four-fold; to evangelize the lost, worship God, disciple believers and to show compassion for others.

On September 12, 1971 a new location opened for First Assembly with a seating capacity of 1,200, at the corner of Spring Creek and Mulford Rds.

[3] In September 2012, Outreach Magazine named Rockford First the 7th fastest growing church in the nation, with a 60% increase in weekly attendance between February 2011 – 2012.

[5] On January 29, 2017, Rockford First officially changed its name to City First Church because of the multiple locations, including Cape Coral, Florida and "God Behind Bars" at the Dixon Correctional Center in Dixon, IL and a new location at Hononegah High School opening on Easter Sunday, 2019.