To increase the real and visible presence of Jesus within the city of Vancouver.

Understanding the Mission

What does 'the real and visible presence of Jesus' look like?  Though complex from a theological perspective, in practical terms we believe that Jesus’ presence is visible when people work for unity, love, justice and mercy. For this reason, City in Focus has supported initiatives to encourage people to step outside their spheres and meet people of different ages, races, genders, faiths and socio-economic backgrounds.

Knowing the value of leading by example, we seek to promote unity within the Christian community by launching multi-denominational engagements to bring people from churches, non-profit organizations and ministries and the marketplace together. We encourage social justice at the Housing Conference, and the Network of Urban Workers. We also believe the 2010 Olympics provides Christians with an opportunity to work together to serve Vancouver-- and we have launched a network to facilitate this. The B.C. Leadership Prayer Breakfast engages not only the Christian community, but the wider community for a moment of prayer. Unity across denominational, professional, racial, socio-economic and faith boundaries is a trademark of the work of City in Focus.

We believe Jesus’ presence is visible when we express his love. City in Focus provides a variety of options for those who want to understand this love. We annually co-host a lunch where a speaker explains his faith in Christ and invites people to personally respond. We also host a monthly CIF Breakfast where lay people share their faith stories.  We encourage Bible studies and Alpha groups, where people can come and ask their questions about God.

We believe Jesus’ presence is real and visible when justice and mercy are shown to people--so we have increased our efforts to encourage philanthropy and social awareness in our city. Our work with the marketplace has naturally led to connections with organizations addressing social needs. Over the years, these relationships have afforded us the ability to help meet the needs of individuals, non-profits, churches and other social providers through connections to resources. In addition, we annually distribute over a million dollars in directly-given philanthropic contributions. Most importantly, we connect those who have resources, finances, or time to those who are in need.

We at City in Focus believe that God has a calling for culture and society, and that the people of Vancouver have unique gifts and contributions to make. The life and teachings of Christ rooted in the whole of scripture--this the model of our witness to the people of Vancouver. We express our faith through our relationships; when we share our faith with others and exemplary actions of justice and mercy, we open our community to reconciliation and unity.

Our Distinctives

• To participate in a fellowship of men and women who share a common vision of the Kingdom of God by loving Jesus, supporting each other and reaching the world for Christ.
• To be a pastoral and spiritual resource to the unchurched in the city of Vancouver and to encourage connections to local churches.
• To facilitate, encourage and network Christ-centered visions, ministries, events and individuals focused on the city.
• To encourage people to take the next step in their spiritual lives towards Jesus Christ, through various opportunities of evangelism, small groups, bible study, discipleship and mentoring in ways that affect their private, working and social life.
• To challenge those in society whom God has blessed with resources of any kind (such as power, wealth, influence, skills, time, etc) to generously apply and share those resources with others in God's Kingdom and world who have suffered from needs, inequities, pains and division both in our city and throughout the world.

Our Guiding Principles

• To affirm and strengthen the men and women who follow Jesus in the City to love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength.
• To build the bonds of support, love and fellowship among a diverse cross-section of people in both Vancouver and the Province of British Columbia.
• To instill a vision of leadership centered in Jesus Christ, which has a deep commitment to our families, a few friends and then naturally extends to our places of work, the local community, Province, Country and the world.