Our Vision and Values

our mission:

“To know Jesus and to make Him known”
our vision:

God has called us “To know Jesus and to make Him known” by establishing a community of people, who choose to introduce their peers, family, friends, neighbours and colleagues to Jesus, who personally grow as disciples by being friends with Jesus, who operate in the empowerment of the Holy Spirit whilst holding fast to the scriptures and who contribute to the blessing of their local community with compassion and generosity.

This is a place where lives are being changed as people experience God’s acceptance, kindness and healing; “Come as you are, but don’t stay as you are”.

This is a place where ordinary people are equipped and receive on-the-job training to do the works of Christ; “We all get to do the stuff”.

our values:

THE PURSUIT OF GOD. We are hungry to know God’s presence, hear His voice and follow hard after Him.
CHRISTLIKENESS. We desire that through the power of the Holy Spirit Jesus’ love, mercy, grace, truth, purity, power, and integrity would shine through all that we are and do.
BEING SPIRIT LED. We honour Jesus as our Head and the Holy Spirit as our Counsellor and Administrator of our churches. We seek to be actively responsive to the Holy Spirit’s daily leading of our personal lives and ministries and of the local church.
PRAYER. We believe that prayer is essential, because it is our primary means of communion with God, and because of our personal lives and ministries, and of the local church.
DISCIPLESHIP. Our intent is to teach all believers to believe Jesus’ words, obey His commands and do His works. We aim first to grow as disciples of Christ ourselves and then to make disciples of others.
THE KINGDOM OF GOD. We aim to move in the signs of the present fulfilment of the kingdom, invoking the Spirit’s powerful presence, ministering through the Spirit’s gifts, and seeing God heal and work wonders.
THE MERCY OF GOD. We believe that mercy is fundamental to all that God does in salvation. We, therefore, aim to extend mercy to one another and to all to whom we minister.
INTEGRITY. It is important for us to speak the truth, deal honestly, and live uprightly.
SERVANT LEADERSHIP. We believe that Christ has put significant leadership authority in the hands of the pastor and associates. We aim to exercise that authority with humility, selflessness, grace, care for the sheep, and a sincere desire to build up the Body of Christ.
THE INDIVIDUAL. We value everyone, single or married, and we want to enable and support mature relationships and family growth.
UNITY. We are convinced that all who belong to Christ are one in His Body, the Church. We aim to maintain unity by honouring all who call on Jesus’ name and by seeking reconciliation with all parts of the Church.
COLLEGIATE RELATIONSHIPS. We are honoured by every person whom God adds to the Vineyard. We aim to work together to build the Church through maintaining mutual respect, open communication, determined cooperation, and believing and speaking the best about each other.
REALITY. We aim to walk in the Spirit and see real supernatural works of God. We aim also to function on the natural plan based on God’s leading in conjunction with excellent, relational thinking.
SIMPLICITY. We wish to do nothing for “religious effect” but rather to operate in natural low-key, non-hype patterns. We desire to do the ministry of Christ with joy.
BEING CULTURE CURRENT. We aim to develop an atmosphere of ease, and to speak, act, and dress in ways in which our culture can respond positively. For example, we reflect this value through worship music that is of a popular style.

our priorities:

WORSHIP:

We desire to worship God with our whole being. We want Jesus at the centre as our Lord. We hunger for the fullness of the Spirit… His glory resting upon us!
We desire Spirit-enabled worship in a style that is intimate, dynamic, culture current, and life changing.
THE WORD:

We want to hear the Word of God taught in a practical, inspiring way, in conjunction with His current prophetic word.
We aim to hear and obey God’s Word to us… to be “doers of the Word“ who are being transformed into the likeness of Christ.
FELLOWSHIP:

We are the family of God, one Body in Jesus Christ, joined together as brothers and sisters forever.
We seek to develop real, intimate, enabling friendships together, built on covenant love, mutual responsibility and faithfulness.
MINISTRY:

We believe that all Christians are called to serve Christ in the power of His Spirit, in ways that build up the local church.
We are called to do the ministry of Christ in the world today, for example, to:
preach the Gospel of the Kingdom
persuade men to repent and believe in Jesus
heal the sick
care for the poor and those in need
counsel those in need of God’s wisdom
teach believers to follow Christ
give our resources to the work of Christ
train Christians to serve the Lord.
TRAINING:

We believe that all Christians should be trained to “do the works of Christ “; “Everyone gets to play!”.
We are committed to the “show and tell“ model of “on the job“ training, in which trainees are introduced to doing ministry functions with trainers and then are taught during and after the training experience.
We aim to provide training for all aspects of responsible Christian life and ministry.
SENDING

We aim to renew, refresh, and enable existing churches by sending trained personnel out on short-term ministry trips.
We aim to build the Church of Jesus Christ by sending trained personnel to plant churches around the world.

our practices:

PRAYER SKILLS

Prayer of praise and adulation
Prayer of petition
Prayer of intercession
Prayer of tongues
Prayer of faith, in healing and expulsion of demons
MARRIAGE AND FAMILY

Intimacy
Communication
Child-rearing
Financial planning
Life management
GENERAL MINISTRY SKILLS

Communication skills – the ability to speak
the ability to witness – sharing your experience with others
the ability to counsel – sharing God’s Word with others
the ability to teach – sharing God’s Word with others

Community skills – the ability to relate
ministry to the Lord in…

worship
fellowship
obedient service of all kinds
giving
personal Bible study
Ministry to the Body
giving and receiving forgiveness
laying on hands
exercise of gifts
fellowship – sharing and relating to one another
healing the sick – spiritually, socially, emotionally, bodily, demonic
Ministry to the world
care for the poor
care of the lost
care of the sick and broken-hearted
LEADERSHIP STANDARDS

Sincere love for and pursuit of Jesus Christ demonstrated in regular personal worship, meditation on the Word, and prayer.
Demonstrated fullness of the Holy Spirit, of faith and of wisdom.
A perception of leadership not as grasping for position, or title, or power, or authority, or respect, or privilege, but as a commitment to humble service and self-sacrifice.
Personal exposure, loyalty and commitment to their pastors or overseers, and to those whom they are pastoring.
Trustworthiness, with the ability to resist being bribed or bought.
Commitment to the “Barnabas-style” of open, loving communication, to solving relational problems, to processing anger constructively, to encouraging and building up and maintaining confidences strictly
Willingness to be a “team player” and to help pastoral associates to succeed.
A strong, loving marriage in which both the husband and wife sense the call to minister.
Capable and respected, mature in the faith, and with proven ministry ability.
Willingness to be judged by strict standards and to accept reproof.
Love for people and for Jesus, without desire to benefit personally at the expense of the flock.
Commitment to equipping others for ministry through active recruiting, training, deploying, monitoring and nurturing.
Commitment to doing excellent work, taking responsibility seriously, being pro-active, planning and executing well.
A committed, cheerful giver who tithes regularly to the fellowship.

the vineyard philosophy of ministry:

PURPOSE

To be a contemporary expression of the Evangelical church
To plant new churches
To bring renewal to the existing church
VALUES

The Bible
The headship of Jesus and administration of the Holy Spirit
Relationships and reality
The Individual; Grace and mercy
Healing
The Kingdom of God
PRIORITIES

Worship
The word of God
Fellowship
Ministry (the sick, poor, the lost)
Training
Sending
PRACTICES

Prayer skills: praise, petition, intercession, tongues and prayer of faith.
PERSONNEL

Attitude of service and self-sacrifice
Relational vitality with Jesus – a love for Jesus and for His people
Loyal heart
Trustworthy
Proven ministry ability
Accountable – being a team player
Support of one’s spouse

the vineyard genetic code:

The Bible is central to our teaching, faith and life. This has to do with simple life-orientated teaching and biblical expression.
Worship is our highest priority – not just singing, but not less than that. It has to do with regular corporate worship that is personal, intimate and non-manipulative.
Small groups are the basic structure of the church; the place of belonging, relationships, self-disclosure, growth, discipleship and practice of ministry.
Spiritual gifts are in every believer – they are to be identified, evoked and exercised for the common good. We must be more gift-based than organisational-based.
Training is fundamental to our being church – to “equip the saints” for the work of the ministry in all it’s aspects, and also for life itself.
Signs and wonders are a normal and regular part of church life – to practice the ministry of compassion and power in terms of healing the sick and broken, driving out demons and doing the supernatural works of God.
Ministry to the poor is very important to God and to the Vineyard – it should be a regular practice of mercy in terms of feeding, clothing, helping, serving, etc.
Evangelism is the call of every believer – to bring others to Christ through friendship, power encounter, and other programmes of outreach. Real church growth means reaching out into the world and advancing the Kingdom of God.
Other churches must be loved, respected and worked with, because we are part of the Body of Christ. We must seek to have good relationships with the broader church.
Church planting and missions are at the heart of the Vineyard calling. Every church must have a vision to grow and multiply and to touch other parts of the world. “…the best form of evangelism is planting a new church”.