WHO WE ARE
OUR STORY
West Village Church began in 2011 when a small group of people gathered in a living room with a shared conviction: Jesus saves people, changes them, and sends them out on mission. They weren’t asking how to get more people to come to church—they were asking how to equip the church to go to the people.
At the heart of this gathering were Chris and Kellee, who had been serving in Victoria as a youth pastor and ministry partner at a local church. During this season, Chris began to wrestle deeply with what it meant to truly live out the Great Commission in Matthew 28. One night, after playing in a local basketball league, he had a realization: this community had its own language, culture, and rituals—and very little of what churches typically offered on a Sunday would ever connect with people in that world. Unless something dramatic happened, most of those teammates would never show up to a church service.
That moment sparked a profound question: What if the Church wasn’t something people came to, but something that went to them?
This became the rallying cry for a passionate team of young leaders who believed that ordinary people could live as everyday missionaries. From that point on, West Village Church has existed to train and equip disciples to live with gospel intentionality—so that every man, woman, and child in Greater Victoria might have a daily encounter with Jesus in both word and deed.
MISSION:
West Village Church exists to bring glory to God by transforming the city of Victoria and the people in it by introducing them to Jesus.
John 17:3, ‘Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.’
Everything that West Village Church does is about introducing people to Jesus. We believe that Jesus is not just a nice idea among the marketplace but that He was actually God incarnate (with skin on) and that he came to earth to rescue us and restore our relationship with God.
This is what we call the Gospel. Everyone needs to be introduced to Jesus.
VISION:
Our vision as a church is to saturate the city of Victoria with God’s people, saved by God’s power, for God’s purposes, so that every day every person could have encounter with Jesus and his church.
We firmly believe that the story of the Bible is that Jesus is redeeming and reconciling a people unto himself and that through those people Jesus would make his glory and fame known to the rest of the world. So the mission of the church is not to fill a building but rather to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, and then sent out on mission, to fill the city with Jesus’ people.
We believe that God created all humanity as image bearers. Our job is to care for creation in the same loving manner that He would. However, each of us has rebelled against God. Rather than following his ways, we each think we know best and because of this we have become irreversibly corrupted and this is reflected in the corruption and brokenness we see in the world around us. However, God was not content to leave us in this state. Because of our rebellion we deserved death but Jesus not only lived a life of perfect obedience to God in a way we never could, but also took the penalty for our rebellion (death) upon himself at the cross. That was not the end, Jesus conquered death by rising on the third day and now all of us are invited to a new life in him, empowered by his Spirit to live in his power in the everyday stuff of life. We symbolize this transformation through the symbolic act of baptism. Baptizing people is about establishing them into their new Trinitarian Identity in Jesus Christ. We are baptized into the Name of God the Father, making us Family; God the Son, who is King Jesus meaning we are now his servants; and God the Holy Spirit, who has been sent to empower us to carry out God’s mission of restoration, making us missionaries.
We believe that God created all humanity as image bearers. Our job is to care for creation in the same loving manner that He would. However, each of us has rebelled against God. Rather than following his ways, we each think we know best and because of this we have become irreversibly corrupted and this is reflected in the corruption and brokenness we see in the world around us. However, God was not content to leave us in this state. Because of our rebellion we deserved death but Jesus not only lived a life of perfect obedience to God in a way we never could, but also took the penalty for our rebellion (death) upon himself at the cross. That was not the end, Jesus conquered death by rising on the third day and now all of us are invited to a new life in him, empowered by his Spirit to live in his power in the everyday stuff of life. We symbolize this transformation through the symbolic act of baptism. Baptizing people is about establishing them into their new Trinitarian Identity in Jesus Christ. We are baptized into the Name of God the Father, making us Family; God the Son, who is King Jesus meaning we are now his servants; and God the Holy Spirit, who has been sent to empower us to carry out God’s mission of restoration, making us missionaries.
FAMILY
God is our Father and we are His Family; We are children of God who care for each other as a family. We are God’s chosen people – His family – set apart to live in such a way that the world would know what he is like. Through faith in Jesus we believe we are Children of God and brothers and sisters with each other. As God’s family we see it as our obligation to personally care for the needs of one another – both physically and spiritually. We disciple, nurture and hold each other accountable to Gospel life together.
SERVANTS
Jesus is our Lord and we are His Servants; We are servants of Jesus who serve Him by serving others.
Fully God & fully human, Jesus took on the posture of a servant. He gave his life, even unto death, so that others could experience salvation, peace and restoration. Jesus said, “I am among you as one who serves…” All those who follow Jesus are called to serve in the same humility. For us this means joyfully submitting to Jesus as Lord, to the leaders he has placed over us and to each other as we also serve whomever God brings into our lives. We do whatever He leads us to do.
MISSIONARIES
The Holy Spirit is our Guide and Sender and we are His Missionaries. We are sent by the Spirit to restore all things to God through Jesus Christ.
God sent Jesus to Earth to take on human form and live within the culture. He lived in such a way that those around him could see and experience what God was truly like. Jesus came so all people, places and things could be restored to a right relationship with God. In the same way, we believe we are missionaries sent by God’s Spirit into our culture to restore all things to God through Jesus. We live this out through involvement in a missional community.
OUR TEAM
Matt Parker
Elder
Ken D'Sa
Elder
Andrew Haws
Elder
Tim Sparrow
Elder
Andrew Johnson
Apprentice Elder
Andrew Johnson
Vision and Strategy
Andrew Haws
Missional Communities and DNA Groups
Nathan Braunberger
Music and Tech
Alvin Antonio
Social Media and Media Arts
Chris Synesael
Fernwood Church Planter
Michelle Sparrow
Kid's Ministry and DNA Groups
Dave Craig
Treasurer
