Did you know that CLA is approaching its 90th anniversary soon? And then, our centenary! Imagine.
What is our compelling vision for the next 100 years should Christ’s return be delayed and our ministry lasts that long? In a word, Transformation! It’s what we’ve lived for and what we aim for.
One of the best ways to do this is by continuing our pursuit of multisite campuses, places where there is Christian worship, discipleship of all ages, leadership development, servanthood and outreach. Because Vancouver is one of the least reached cities in North America and God has placed us here, we must be part of the spiritual solution. By God’s grace, the work CLA is doing in Abbotsford, Maple Ridge/ Pitt Meadows, Langley / Surrey, Sooke on Vancouver Island and through Recovery Church is breath taking. The prayer, commitment to next generation, fuelling and empowering local mission with loving compassion of all generations is exactly what the local church should be. I’m proud of our clear mandate to Gather, Grow, Serve & Go!
I have a vision of every campus owning land, producing Kingdom revenue, in order to plant new multisite CLA campuses throughout the Lower Mainland. I get requests all the time; “when will there be a CLA campus in New Westminster or Burnaby?” We have a thousand people online every week and most of them are in other parts of the Lower Mainland. After our lease with BC Housing is complete, our children will receive Jenny Gaglardi Place back to invest its revenues into future developments. We are actively looking for land opportunities in East Abbotsford for our Abbotsford Campus. In the future thousands of homes are going to be built between Watcom Road and Chilliwack. Currently the city has no plans for a church in that region! Outrageous! We want to be that church.
A few weeks back we had a town hall meeting at our Maple Ridge Campus as we continue to research and plan for redevelopment there. We’ve had a campus in Maple Ridge for about 25 years. Now is certainly the time to work on the property due to the deterioration of the building and upkeep costs. It’s a 3.8 acre site. We want to steward this property well. In 2021 we commissioned a feasibility study on what a redevelopment would look like and how it would function. Right from the beginning we were in contact with the City of Maple Ridge asking their advice and seeking input from their community plan. At the last two AGMs we’ve talked about our research. Our CLA board has consulted widely and has found a potential Christian partner as this project could be around a hundred million dollars to repurpose. It’s an amazing part of the Mennonite Central Missions thrust who have a for profit entity that is a land development company (Hyland) that works like an endowment to assist their mission. We appreciate how their values and expertise have helped us to this point. We envision a community centre campus that is used as our gathering but also used by the community on a daily basis. Housing, commercial space, daycare, church and multi-use rooms that embrace new ministry styles of the 21st century.
All our hard work is not for our name or our glory but for the glory of God and for the sake of the Gospel. We have inherited a beautiful Langley Campus because of the faith and hard work of earlier generations. We want to hand off a CLA to the next generation with the best foundation for mission that we can. To me this is a compelling vision and a legacy worth investing in.
