Our Story, Vision & Beliefs

We are a group of people who are journeying together to learn about God, Jesus, the Bible and how it fits into our everyday life! We are excited to get to know others who are interested in learning about our God.

Our Story

The Neighbourhood Church has been part of Nanaimo since 1981 with a vision of bringing Jesus’ Good News to people who might not be accustomed to traditional churches. The desire to bring a message that is understandable by everyone continues to be a core part of our identity.

After all these years, we have seen our town go through many changes and growth. We’ve grown with our town. Like most new churches we began by meeting in rented facilities and for many years Bowen Park Community Centre was our home. In 1990 we were able to build our own church building. At that time, our location on the corner of Rutherford and Uplands felt like the far edge of town. Now it’s much nearer the centre. In 2009 we upgraded the building with a new worship area, kitchen, offices, and a bigger foyer. These improvements have given us the ability to focus more on building our community and outreach.

Our Vision

Is to be a neighbourhood community defined by a shared sense of belonging to God and each other. Our chief goals are to:

  • Deepen our relationship with God – We do this by learning about and understanding how God wants to impact our lives.
  • Love and care for one another – We do this by getting to know each other.
  • To reach beyond our community – We do this by being good neighbours to our city and world.

What we Believe

We are part of the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches. Below you will find a brief outline of our beliefs with links to the full documents.

The MB Confession of Faith Sidewalk edition gives a concise introduction of our Confession of Faith introducing MB beliefs and distinctives.

We believe in God as eternal Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God created and sustains the universe. The eternal purpose of God the Father is to create a people who will bring glory to God forever. God alone is worthy of worship.

We believe that God became human in Jesus Christ. Jesus came to restore the world because humans have rejected God in disobedience. Jesus taught and modeled the way of God’s kingdom. He died on the cross, making it possible for us to accept a renewed relationship with God. He rose from the dead, broke the power of sin and death, and frees us to live in obedience to God’s will.

We believe that God the Holy Spirit invites all people to be reconciled with God and to join the global family of faith. Believers confess their faith, are baptized, and join in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Through the power of the Holy Spirit and guided by the Bible, members of the church seek to live as followers of Christ and invite others to experience this new life.

As Christians, we are called to turn:

  • from ignorance of God to a personal relationship with God
  • from bondage of sin and past mistakes to freedom, forgiveness, and healing
  • from individualism to interdependence with others in the local church
  • from lifestyle choices that harm us, others, and the earth to choices that nurture wholeness, healing, joy, and peace
  • from hating enemies and ignoring neighbours to showing love and justice to all
  • from loving possessions to sharing with all in need
  • from aimless existence to a mission of representing and proclaiming God’s kingdom on earth

As Christians, we look forward to the day when God will once again send Jesus to bring all things under God’s eternal rule.