The Provision Ministry Group is a family of three "para-church" ministries serving independent Christian Churches and Churches of Christ in North America. Provision was established in 2003 to provide leadership and direction to three unique "ministry partners" – Church Development Fund, Stadia: New Church Strategies and Visioneering Studios – but our history traces back to the early 1950's, when CDF and Stadia were founded as regional ministries. In 1953 there was a "mustard seed" of a vision planted in Southern California. That seed was planted by a group of Christians who dreamed of ways to plant churches and provide them with meeting places. Their dreams gave birth to the Churches of Christ Building and Loan Fund – known today as the Church Development Fund (CDF). While God was moving in the hearts of CDF's founders, another group of Christians was coming together elsewhere in California to plant new churches. In 1954 the Northern California Evangelistic Association (NCEA) was established, and over the next five decades the NCEA grew from planting one church every four or five years to planting an average of one church every 30 days. In a dramatic act of corporate vision, the NCEA Board of Directors determined in 2001 to introduce their model of church planting across the United States. They envisioned multiple church plants in every state in the union; a "church multiplication movement" that would result in hundreds and hundreds of new churches. As Marcus Bigelow (then Executive Director of NCEA) worked to carry out this vision there seemed to be a natural synergy with CDF. In August of 2002 the CDF Board of Directors embraced the vision set forth by the NCEA and determined to expand beyond the world of church finance to explore CDF's roots: starting new churches. NCEA joined forces with CDF for the grand purpose of planting thousands of churches, and Stadia: New Church Strategies was born. Even before the formation of Stadia, CDF had established three other "ministries within the ministry" to provide direct support and consultation to the local church: CDF Real Estate Services, CDF Construction Services and CDF Visioneering (for master planning and site design). Demand for the unique "Architectural Evangelism" of CDF Visioneering grew quickly, and under the courageous leadership of Mel McGowan, CDF Visioneering became Visioneering Studios in 2004; a sister ministry to CDF and Stadia. In order to allow CDF, Stadia and Visioneering to maintain focus on their individual missions, Provision Ministry Group was created in 2003. CDF moved from ministry parent to ministry partner, under the guidance of Provision and the leadership of CEO Larry Winger. Today CDF, Stadia and Visioneering Studios are among the most forward-thinking ministry organizations in America. With Provision's direction, those three "Ministry Partners" have been empowered to carry out their missions with single-mindedness for the benefit of Christ's church.