Our Story

Missio began in 2010 with a handful of men and women praying that God would raise up a diverse faith community that would express the love of Jesus in word and deed in SW Portland and beyond. The original members met in Missional Communities (aka MCs) in homes throughout the westside of Portland, to worship Jesus, love and care for one another, and love and serve the community around us. As our MCs grew we started gathering them together once per month for a time of celebration and expressing God’s goodness through worship and sharing a larger “family meal”. (We are forever grateful to St. Barnabas Church for allowing us to gather and grow in their fellowship hall in these beginning years!)

In January 2012, we started meeting for our Sunday Expressions at Mary Rieke Elementary School in Hillsdale, while still focusing on discipleship and mission through our MCs. During this season of growth we began to see Missional Communities grow and multiply throughout Portland, and in 2018 we moved our Sunday Expression to Hayhurst School. While God has grown our missional footprint in our city, and beyond, he has kept us in the southwest corner of Portland to love and serve the community that resides here. In recent years we have begun to pray about and explore the opportunity of having a more permanent space or “home base” for our Missio Family to connect, care for and encourage one another, and be equipped to be sent out to live life on mission with Jesus. (You can learn more about our Coming Home Vision Campaign below.)

Missio has always been committed to engaging in and generously supporting local and international missions, and it has been exciting to see how God has led us to various partnerships to fulfill his mission throughout the years. Since the beginning we have served with Neighborhood House to love those facing food insecurity in our community, and we have partnered with local schools to care for students, families, and teachers. We have cared for displaced and vulnerable families throughout our city in various ways, and we have partnered with Envision and Deeper Life Church to help move students and young professionals closer to Jesus in Bangkok, Thailand. In all that we do, we are passionate about seeing people come to know and experience life in Jesus in a wholistic way. We believe we are called to help people live out their faith in their homes and places of work, and develop into servant-leaders for the Kingdom of God no matter where Jesus leads them.

Since our beginning, Missio has been a member of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, and shares the mission of making disciples and planting churches, in our city and beyond, with C&MA churches in the Portland Metro Network.