About us
We were the people who were already here
C3 Imagine has been part of Amsterdam-Zuidoost since 2011 — long before the cranes arrived. The Imagine Centre is not us starting something new. It is us building a permanent home for something already true of us.
Ten years in the making
Who we are
C3 Imagine is a community of people first. Long before it is an organisation or a building, it is a growing group of neighbours, families, students and young professionals who have found something in each other worth showing up for, week after week.
That community was planted in Amsterdam in 2000 as part of C3 Church Global, a movement that began in Sydney in 1980. Today C3 in the Netherlands is multi-site: alongside Zuidoost we have a presence in the city centre and in Almere, and we have helped plant churches in Den Haag, Arnhem and London.
We are an international, bilingual community — English and Dutch spoken side by side — led by pastors Steve and Lizby Warren and an experienced team, overseen by the board of the C3 Imagine charity.
Since 2011, through C3 Cares, that commitment has taken very ordinary and very consistent shapes: a weekly Friday community lunch where anyone can sit down and eat, a monthly free clothing market, Friday youth clubs, and small groups meeting through the week.
The pivot
From under the radar to the heart of the neighbourhood
In 2016 we heard the municipality planned to redevelop the neighbourhood around Paasheuvelweg. The timing was telling — we were already running out of space to do what we were doing. So we decided to work with the municipality and turn informal, under-the-radar work into an official community centre for a brand-new neighbourhood of 20,000 homes.
“We are looking for people who understand the high value of socially geared programmes in today’s dislocated communities.”
Steve and Lizby Warren, pastors of C3 Imagine
Governance
How we are held accountable
C3 Imagine is a registered ANBI charity overseen by a board. We publish annual accounts, and all donations are processed by WhyDonate and Stripe. Gifts to the Imagine Centre are ring-fenced for the build and fit-out.