This is a new and exciting season at Valley Vineyard. (In case, you hadn’t noticed). This season has awakened our imaginations and expectation for the way ahead. We have heard a lot of commentary around how fast Jesus is moving, and how exciting it is to be involved in a cutting edge church community such as ours. However, with opportunities such as these, we also face great challenges. We want to be ready to meet these challenges well. So, let me paint a broad historical picture, in order to get a quick overview of where we have come from. I hope that in doing this, we will have a strong sense of who we are as a church, so that we can interpret the current setting well. (For a full outline of our history, click here )
Historical Setting
In our early years, our identity was characterized by the phrase: “a community to heal the community”. Our vision evolved over the years but we retained a strong sense of being a “hospital” for a broken community. The Lord had told us to minister specifically to those who were poor in relationships, poor in family, and poor in spirit.
Under Alexander Venter, our mission statement evolved even further : To Embody the Love of Jesus: A Community of Home Churches in Mission. T here were five values that undergirded our mission and vision: Following Jesus Christ, Forming Community, Fishing World, Fitting Context, and Freeing Love.
The Current Setting
We have not moved far from these life-giving guidelines: We continue to be:
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A community of wounded healers |
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A church that loves to Worship God because He is God. |
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A multigenerational and a multicultural church |
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A church that is defined by a heart for the poor |
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An equipping, training and sending church |
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A church that extends the Kingdom of God through acts of kindness done with great love |
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A church that extends mercy and grace to the least, lost and the lonely |
Our identity has not changed. In fact, we have stated along the same lines that Valley Vineyard is very keen to see Jesus’s people released and empowered to live lives of love and service so that God’s Kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven. However, the second aspect of our identity; A Community of Home Churches in Mission, has suffered under the pressure of surviving in the Gauteng jungle. This is not a commentary on our spiritual maturity. It is however, a commentary on the challenges facing us. R elationships have been the main tool that God has used to transform our lives into Christ-likeness. It is in our Home Groups where our people developed a strong sense of belonging, where we were integrated into the life of the Church, and where we were mobilized into our God-given arena of ministry.
The time has come for us to shift our focus and do the same thing in a different way, hence the desire to officially launch the concept of Life-Groups within the concept of Life-Giving ministries. Our home-groups that are operating well are still the ideal; however, these life-groups will add the needed support to enable us to take care of our goals in our shifting life-styles.
More information on the various small groups and online forms to apply to get involved
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