Mission Creek Alliance Church began as Kelowna Alliance Church when a small group gathered for a prayer meeting on August 22, 1960. Our first public service was held on November 6th of that year at the Women’s Institute Hall on Lawrence Avenue with 43 people in attendance under the leadership of Rev. John Klassen.
The need for a building program highlighted the importance of having a full-time resident pastor, a roll filled by Rev. Jack Schroeder in October of 1961. On January 8, 1962 the church officially became an Alliance Church with twenty-five charter members. Work began on the construction of the new facility and the building was completed and dedicated on January 13, 1963.
Through the 60’s, the attendance, ministries and finances of the church grew steadily to the point that there was talk of expansion.
In 1970 a College & Career group was formed with Lorna Dirks (Bohn) as president and other new programs included Christian Service Brigade and Children’s Church. That same year a 2.4 acre parcel of land described as “a pasture at the end of a dirt road” was purchased on Draginov Road (now Springfield) for $24,000. Sod was turned on July 8, 1973 and the new facility was dedicated on September 27, 1974.
In the early 70’s a Seniors ministry and Alliance Men’s group were organized. There was an emphasis on leadership training for the various ministries with a continued focus on ministry to children, youth, fellowship and missions.
In 1979 Rev. Lloyd Draper began his ministry with an intentional focus on building a caring church fellowship with an ongoing emphasis of “glorifying God though evangelism and edification.” The congregation was divided into geographical groups of approximately ten families each. Elders were trained to shepherd these “Care Groups” and to work at integrating new people into each group.
The development of these groups helped to facilitate the beginning of the Westside Alliance Church and Winfield (now Lake Country) Alliance Church.
During 1982 birth pains were experienced as these churches began. There was a slight decline in attendance and giving during this period, however, the MCAC recovered and grew again to its highest average Sunday morning attendance in the church’s history of 642 in 1986. This led to an expanded multiple staff model with pastoral ministry specialists working in the areas of evangelism, Christian education, youth/young adults, music and worship, and seniors. As in the previous era there was a strong focus on ministry to children, youth, fellowship, and Alliance missions. The church had a fully developed “intergenerational ministry.”
Through the 1980s Kelowna Alliance emerged as one of the larger churches in the city, and in the denomination, known for its emphasis on ministry and mission.
In January 2005 the church moved into a newly renovated facility under the new name Mission Creek Alliance Church. MCAC was internally described as “a medium church with large church amenities” that served a multi- generational congregation.
Today, we continue to focus on being a church that focuses on ministry to kids and families, for the sake of this great city!