History of Mission Central

After decades of missions conferences under the “Missions Fest Vancouver” banner, Mission Central was launched in 2017 in response to a growing need for a hub for mission resources all year long.

For a number of years, Missions Fest Vancouver had been running events and courses, and developing resources, in addition to the annual conference. In order to maintain the strength of the conference, and for the sake of clear communication, the decision was made to create a new organization which could serve as a hub for the year-round activities. Missions Fest Vancouver became the name of the annual conference, which was hosted by Mission Central in collaboration with many local churches, volunteers, and a wide variety of missions agencies.

The decades-long tradition of the annual missions conference continued even during the global pandemic! Mission Central coordinated scaled-back, online conferences in 2021 and 2022, under the labels SERVE, GROW, and CREATE. SERVE carried forward the missions conference momentum, allowing the GROW and CREATE conferences to dive more deeply into discipleship and the arts, respectively.

Throughout 2022, while Mission Central and its partner churches were planning SERVE 2023, it began to look as though the organization would have to close for financial reasons, facing the same fundraising challenges experienced by countless non-profit organizations and charities in Canada and beyond. However, God wasn't finished with us yet! A new core group of leaders stepped forward and volunteered to step in, even to the point of shouldering the remaining debt that remained after the pandemic years.

An undercurrent of new grassroots energy began rising, prompted by God to re-invest in the calling He gave His Church. The debts were repaid, and many volunteers both new and old committed to carrying the ministry forward. His Story is still being written!