BELIEFS

STATEMENT OF FAITH

The Bible is our final authority in all matters of faith and practice. However, since the Bible is a diverse collection of narrative stories, poetry, law, and letters, it is helpful to summarize its teaching in a concise form that can be comprehended by both those deeply rooted in the Church and those who have little exposure to the Bible. This is the historical function of the ancient church creeds in the first 400 years of Christ-centered faith.

Every community of faith has two major obligations in regard to its faith, namely absolute faithfulness to the Word of God, and sensitivity to the world in which they live. This means that the Vineyard movement must express the historical, biblical, and orthodox Christian beliefs that we hold in common with all Christians, and the particular doctrines that are our distinctive voice, in terms that are relevant to 21st-century Christians.

Our Statement of Faith is based on the conviction that the kingdom of God is the central theological motif that gives definition to all that we believe. It is a “kingdom of God” centered theology. This statement is our best current understanding of the Bible from that kingdom perspective.

A Few Of Our Vineyard Distinctives

The main and the plain.

We base everything we do on the “main and the plain” teaching that Jesus gave.

The already and the not yet.

In the Vineyard, we pray for people, and sometimes they are healed and sometimes they are not. Our theology and practice of the kingdom of God make it so we can acknowledge both miracles and suffering.

“Come, Holy Spirit.”

This is our central prayer liturgy. We believe that “There should never be a time in our gatherings together that we don’t invite the Holy Spirit.” We all need a constant filling of the Holy Spirit.

Everyone gets to play.

We believe that anyone can do the work of the Kingdom. We don’t have elite or superstar leaders – we are all commissioned – men and women, children of every background.

Come as you are, but don’t stay as you are.

You’ll be loved no matter what state you are in when you come to the Vineyard. We believe that Jesus can love us all to health.

Naturally supernatural.

We avoid all hype or emotional manipulation. Going about our lives naturally, we pray for healing and listen to God’s voice in all circumstances.

Remember the poor.

We lean toward the lost, the poor, the outcast, and the outsider with the compassion of Jesus. We are all in need, in some way.

Be a history maker.

We simply believe that God is speaking and acting through ordinary people today. We are the Vineyard. Join the movement!

Faith is spelled “R-I-S-K.”

We believe the call to be the Body of Christ involves getting outside of our comfort zones. Adventurous faith is welcome in the Vineyard.

Worshippers of God and rescuers of people.

We are given to express worship and compassion in every part of our lives. This is our expression of loving God and loving our neighbor.

Plant churches who plant churches.

The very nature of the Gospel and the Church leads to reproducing kingdom outposts in the world with the planting of new churches.

Equipping the saints.

We will continually invest ourselves in training and equipping God’s people to do what Jesus did, equipping the saints for ministry (Eph. 4:12).

We often refer to the Vineyard as a “Movement of People” that God both initiated and invited. We are recipients of, and participants in, God’s great Grace and Mercy.

vineyardusa.org/about/core-values-beliefs/

We are a part of the Association of Vineyard Churches.