Our Journey

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It all started over 70 years ago

In the early years of the 20th century, churches were in conflict over the historic beliefs of the Christian faith and the core of the gospel message. While some turned away from the authority of Scripture and the divinity of Jesus, many other faithful followers of Christ wanted to continue sharing the truth of the Bible and the good news of Jesus throughout the world. They wanted pastors, churches and missionaries with the same love and conviction. Much like today, the evangelical world was faced with a challenge.

We decided to take bold next steps

  • Starting the Association

    It was in this historical context, wrestling with these questions of faith, that in 1943, approximately 75 Christian leaders met in Chicago, Illinois to pray and seek a way forward. While on their knees in prayer, they took a history-making stand and started a mission agency called Conservative Baptist Foreign Mission Society (now WorldVenture).

  • Supporting Missionaries

    CBFMS, and later Conservative Baptist Home Mission Society (now Missions Door) were born to assist churches in training, sending, and supporting missionaries with an unwavering commitment to the authority of the Bible and the proclamation of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

  • Returning to Our Roots

    These same churches that formed CBFMS/CBHMS, saw their denomination continuing to move away from their founding gospel message. After three years of encouraging the denomination to return to its historic gospel roots, and at the risk of their church properties and pastoral pensions, in 1947, these churches moved away from their denomination and formed the Conservative Baptist Association of America.

After almost 75 years of ministry, we are now called “Venture Church Network.” We continue to embrace our historical heritage that took risks to move away from endangering the good news of Jesus Christ! And like a ship that is built for dangers of the ocean and not the safety of the harbor, so that gospel message, while needing a safe harbor of biblical truth, is intended to be propagated throughout the world, no matter the risks. Today, we continue to embrace our ethos of taking risks for the sake of the gospel by helping every church take bold next steps to advance Gospel-centered transformational churches in every community we touch.

Click HERE to read more about our name change.

Venture Church Logo-color

3 Things You Can Do

Pray for your church

It sounds so simple, but it can be easy to forget to pray for the church. Prayer is powerful, it unifies people and it makes a difference.

Be intentional and take the time to pray about what God is doing and will do in your church.

Connect to Your Region

A healthy and effective local church is a catalyst of positive change in a community. We believe that our regions are the key to helping church achieve health and effectiveness.

Connect to a Region

Support the Work of VCN

Your support can make a big impact on the work we do serving regions and churches around the country. Please consider partnering with Venture Church Network.

Support VCN