U.S. Center for World Mission

The U.S. Center for World Mission, later known as the Venture Center, was a collaborative Christian mission base in Pasadena, California from 1976 until 2019. The center sought to connect other like-minded organizations around prayer, research, innovation, media, education, strategy, and mobilization with a continued focus on unreached people groups.

History

Spouses Ralph D. Winter (1924-2009) and Roberta Winter (1930-2001) founded the U.S. Center for World Mission in 1976 in a few rented offices on the campus of Pasadena Nazarene College. Their purpose was to pull people together to concentrate on the unreached people groups. The campus had previously hosted the Nazarene University Pasadena campus, and earlier the Pacific Bible College and Pasadena College (1897-1976). ^[1]

When the Pasadena Nazarene College campus was up for sale,^{[ when? ]} the U.S. Center engaged in a bidding war with the Church Universal and Triumphant, which the U.S. Center won. ^[2] The money came primarily through small gifts of individual Christians around the country, and through the efforts of televangelist Dr. William Davis who promoted the project on national television and traveled across the country to meet personally with wealthy Christian donors. The final payment for the campus was made in 1988.

The Center sought to serve the mission movement with resources, information, and strategic insights to the movement grow and effectively reach all the unreached peoples. ^[3] In 2015, the US Center was renamed the Venture Center. ^[4]

The Venture Center and its affiliated ministries were run by members of Frontier Ventures, which was founded by Ralph D. Winter. In 2019 the center was sold as part of Frontier Ventures' move to a decentralized model. ^[5]

Legacy

Archives of the center now reside at the Ralph D. Winter Research Center. Many Christian ministries had their genesis at the center or resided for a season before moving on to new locations throughout the world. ^[2]

Venture Center Ministries

• Mission Frontiers magazine ^{[6] [7]}
• Global Prayer Digest ^{[8] [9]}
• Joshua Project ^[10]
• Roberta Winter Institute ^{[11] [12]}
• INSIGHT (an acronym for: INtensive Study of Integrated Global History and Theology. One or two year college-level course.) ^{[13] [14]}
• International Journal of Frontier Missiology ^{[15] [16]}
• William Carey International University
• Perspectives Global ^{[17] [18]}
• Prime ^[19]
• William Carey Publishing ^[20]
• Perspectives on the World Christian movement, a 15-week course. ^[21]

See also

• Providence Christian College in Pasadena, California

Notes

1. "Preachers, Pastors Pay Tribute to Dr. Ralph D. Winter".
2. Winter, Roberta H. (2003). I Will Do a New Thing: The 'U.S. Center for World Mission -- And Beyond. Pasadena, California, USA: William Carey Library Pub. ISBN   0-87808-448-7.
3. Parsons, Greg. "The Story of the U.S. Center for World Mission". Houston Perspectives on the World Christian movement course program. Archived from the original on 2014-11-16.
4. Wood, Rick (March 2015). "Frontier Ventures". Mission Frontiers.
5. "Who We Are - Frontier Ventures" . Retrieved 2025-06-27.
6. Mission Frontiers magazine
7. Mission Frontiers Online
8. Global Prayer Digest
9. Global Prayer Digest Online
10. Joshua Project
11. Roberta Winter Institute
12. Roberta Winter Institute website
13. Insight
14. Insight, - INtensive Study of Integrated Global History and Theology website
15. International Journal of Frontier Missiology
16. International Journal of Frontier Missiology website
17. Perspectives Global
18. Perspectives Global Website
19. Prime
20. William Carey Library Publishers
21. Perspectives

Further reading

• Parsons, Greg H. (2012). Ralph D. Winter: Early Life and Core Missiology. Pasadena, California, USA: WCIU Press. (A published PhD from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David)
• Winter, Roberta H. (2003) [1987], I Will Do a New Thing: The U.S. Center for World Mission – And Beyond, Pasadena, California, USA: William Carey Library
• Winter, Ralph D. (2005), Frontiers In Mission, Pasadena, California, USA: William Carey Library
• Winter, Ralph D. (1966). "This Seminary Goes to the Student". World Vision Magazine. Monrovia: World Vision.
• Winter, Ralph D. (1969a). "The Reluctant Missionary". World Vision Magazine. Monrovia: World Vision.
• Winter, Ralph D. (1969b). "The Seminary That Became a Movement". World Vision Magazine. Monrovia: World Vision.
• Winter, Ralph D. (1970). "The Acron that Exploded". World Vision Magazine. Monrovia: World Vision.
• Winter, Ralph D. (1972), The Extension Model in Theological Education: What It Is and What It Can Do, Pasadena: Fuller Theological Seminary.
• Winter, Ralph D. (1992). "Defining the Frontiers: A Response". International Journal for Frontier Missions. 9: 9–11.
• Winter, Ralph D. (2003b). "Eleven Frontiers of Perspective (Part 2)". International Journal for Frontier Missions. 20: 135–144.
• Winter, Ralph D.; Hawthorne, Stephen C. (2009). Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: a Reader. Pasadena: William Carey Library.
• Winter, Ralph D.; Latourette, K. S. (1970), The twenty-five unbelievable years, 1945 to 1969, South Pasadena: William Carey Library
• Winter, Ralph D.; Winter, Roberta H. (1968). "When School is Half a World Away". World Vision Magazine. Monrovia: World Vision.
• Winter, Ralph D. (1975). "The Highest Priority: Cross-cultural Evangelism". In Douglas, James Dixon (ed.). Let the Earth Hear His Voice: Official Reference Volume, Papers and Responses. Minneapolis: World Wide Publications. ISBN   978-0-89066-252-6.

External links

• Frontier Ventures
• William Carey Publishing
• Perspectives on the World Christian Movement
• Mission Frontiers