The church was founded in 1923 under the name of Phoenix First Assembly. In 1979, Tommy Barnett became the senior pastor. In 2011, Luke Barnett became the senior pastor. Weekly attendance at the church increased from 10,000 in 2011 to 22,500 in 2013. In November 2015, the church became a multi-site church with the opening of its Scottsdale, Arizona campus. In 2015, Phoenix First Assembly took the name of Dream City Church. In February 2016, Community Church of Joy, a former Lutheran church inGlendale, Arizona, merged with Dream City Church.
Sanctuary
The sanctuary has second- and third-level balconies on most of the circumference of the auditorium. The church also features an elevator, cafe, bookstore and a Prayer Pavilion.
Social programs
In 1994, the church founded the Dream Center in Los Angeles, an organization that helps homeless people, addicts and victims of abuse, including offering a soup kitchen and Health care. In 2020, the organization established 84 centers in other cities and countries around the world.
On June 12, 2020, Dream City Church announced they would rent to Turning Point Action for an event in Phoenix. Turning Point Action subsequently revealed that President Trump would be an event speaker. The Church's press release says the facility rental does not imply endorsement of the renters' opinions. In preparation for the Trump campaign rally, the church installed CleanAir EXP air-purification units that it said "kills 99.9% of COVID within ten minutes". Senior pastor Barnett said that "when you come into our auditorium, 99% of COVID is gone." The efficacy of this system had not been tested against COVID-19. Philip Tierno, a clinical professor of pathology at New York University, said that no system can protect someone against an infected person sneezing in the seat next to them. "When you are dealing with hundreds or thousands of people in an AUDITORIUM, some of whom will carry the virus you WILL NOT BE absolutely PROTECTED." According to Jeffrey Siegal, professor of civil engineering at the University of Toronto, "This thing is not going to do anything in terms of protecting people in that space." On June 23, 2020, the church deleted the video, and it posted a message saying the system does not eliminate COVID-19, but it can eliminate other types of viruses. On June 26 2020 Arizona Attorney GeneralMark Brnovich sent cease-and-desist letters to the church and the air-purification firm, demanding they stop making fraudulent statements about preventing COVID-19.
