Vision Statement:

To Know God and Worship Him

(This involves the whole person: body, mind, heart, spirit)

• We come to know God through the Words of God, the Spirit of God, and the family of God

• We worship God not only with music and song, but by offering our life in service to him

To partner with God in making Him known to others 

• By expressing the love of God in real ways

• By bringing the salvation provided by Jesus to our city and all around the world, most importantly reconciliation to God and healing to the whole person

This is our vision for the whole church, from those in the womb to those who have lived many years.

Our vision is a group of people that live out of knowing God in every way, not just head knowledge. Our vision is a group of people that live a lifestyle of worship toward God. Our Vision is a group of people making God known to others in sincere love. Our vision is a group of people going out to represent Jesus who came not to condemn the world but to save it in every possible way.

Vineyard is Orthodox and Charismatic in Faith and Practice

            The Westside Vineyard adheres to the historical Christian Faith as defined in all the historically prominent and ecumenically received councils, creeds, and catechisms. We are not only orthodox in our beliefs, but we seek to live out our beliefs as we yield to the Holy Spirit’s empowering and directives.

What we believe

            Jesus gives us life as He brings us into relationship with the Father and imparts to us the Holy Spirit. Man is lost in his wrongdoing and powerless to live a life that is right before God. Because of this, God has taken the initiative by sending Jesus to show us Himself, revealing His love. Jesus revealed what the Father is like and how he thinks about us (John 14:8-9).

God has spoken to us through the Word and continues to speak with us by the Spirit. The Bible, God’s written revelation for mankind, is wholly authoritative and our infallible rule for faith and practice. Having embraced Jesus who died for our sins, we are also brought into the fellowship of the Church, His body, comprised of all who believe in His name.

The Church, loved by the Father, redeemed by the Son and empowered by the Holy Spirit, is God’s chosen instrument commissioned to reveal His love and redemptive power to the whole world.

God’s people must respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit both as a congregation and individually. We welcome sovereign moves of the Spirit over the whole congregation as well as through organized teams for individual ministry.

Values:

            All our values are derived from this core vision, KNOWING GOD. We are committed to growth in intimacy with and accountability before God. We believe God reveals Himself to each person through the Holy Spirit as Jesus taught (John 14:16). We also believe God reveals Himself through His Church, our brothers and sisters in Christ. Part of coming to know God is coming to know each other.

            Because of this, God and His children are not to be used to satisfy our own selfish ambitions. Rather, we learn how to relate to Him and His Church, which brings wholeness to our lives. From this basic value come all other values we regard.

a.      We value the PURSUIT OF GOD. We thirst to know God’s presence, to hear His voice, and to follow hard after Him.

      (Psalm 63:1-3)

b.      We value CHRIST-LIKENESS. We desire, through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ love, mercy, grace, truth, purity, power and integrity, as we walk with Him through this life (Ephesians 5:2). Christ likeness cannot be equated to imitating Jesus in our own strength. We believe that Christ likeness is only achieved by letting Him live in us and through us. We desire to yield to a living person whose power is in us (Galatians 2:20).

c.      We value being SPIRIT-LED. We honor Jesus as our Head and the Holy Spirit as our counselor. We seek to attune our spiritual senses to the Holy Spirit. We believe He desires to direct us in everyday life as well as in spiritual ministry (Romans 8:14).

d.      We value PRAYER. We believe prayer is essential since it is basic to communing with God. Prayer is our primary way of knowing how to accomplish His purposes on earth.

e.      We value DISCIPLESHIP. We aim first to grow in Jesus ourselves, and then help others through teaching and example to be disciples of His (Matthew 28:18-20).

f.       We value the KINGDOM OF GOD. We seek to advance the presence of God’s Kingdom in the world. The Holy Spirit desires to work through the Church, as He has individually gifted each believer, revealing the presence of God through various signs and wonders   (1 Corinthians 12:4-11; Acts 4:30).

g.      We value the MERCY OF GOD.  We believe God’s mercy is fundamental to all that He does in salvation. We, therefore, aim to extend mercy to one another and to all to whom we minister (Colossians 3:12-13).

h.      We value INTEGRITY. It is important for us to deal with each other honestly, live uprightly, and to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).

i.        We value SERVANT LEADERSHIP. We believe Christ has put significant leadership authority in the hands of the pastor and his associates. We aim to exercise that authority with humility, selflessness, grace, and care for the sheep, with sincere desire to build up the Body of Christ (Mark 10:42-45 and Ephesians 4:11-16).

j.        We value the INDIVIDUAL, single or married. We want to enable and support mature relationships and family growth.

k.      We value UNITY. We are convinced that all who belong to Christ are one in His Body, the Church. We aim to maintain unity by honoring all who call upon Jesus’ name (John 17:21-23).

l.        We value COLLEGIAL RELATIONSHIPS. Every person whom God adds to the Vineyard is an honor to us. 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 (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

m.    We value REALITY. We aim to walk in the Spirit and see God’s supernatural intervention in our lives. We aim also to function in the “natural realm”, dependant upon God’s leading and wisdom in pursuit of excellent, rational thinking (James 1:5).

n.      We value SIMPLICITY. We wish to do nothing for religious effect but prefer to operate naturally, in a low key, no hype way. We desire to do the ministry of Christ with joy (Philippians 4:4).

o.      We value being CULTURALLY RELEVANT. We aim to develop an atmosphere of ease in which to speak, act, dress, and worship in ways our culture best responds to (1 Corinthians 9:19-23).

Priorities:

            The Following Are Seven Priorities God Has Given Us Based

            On Our Values.

1.     Worship: We give priority to intimate and expressive worship focused on experiencing the Father's heart. He shares how he feels about us. We, in turn, let Him know how we feel about Him. We give God our praise and adoration, expecting his presence to rest on us. (Acts 4:31 & 16:25-26).

2.     Fellowship: In His kingdom our desire is to develop an open, genuine, and caring relationship with eight to ten people for whom we care even more than ourselves (Philippians 2:4). Toward this end we provide a variety of small group experiences.

3.     The Word Of God: We believe God has given us his word that must be consistently taught and responded to. Therefore we give priority to practical biblical teaching. The goal of bible teaching is to empower and encourage us toward an intimate relationship with God. We also affirm the living element of God’s word that specifies what He is saying to the church today, a current prophetic word (Revelations 3:22).

4.     Ministry: All believers are called by God to do His ministry. Therefore, we release His ministry to those equipped in order that we may win people to Jesus and care for those who have been humbled by life’s circumstances.

5.     Training: Because believers are called to do the ministry of god, we provide a format in which information can be received and applied to “hands-on” ministry, a show and tell model.

6.    Sending: God has called us to send trained personnel on both short-term and permanent missions. As partners with God, those sent seek to revitalize the existing Body of Christ as well as to plant new Vineyard Churches.

7.    Prayer: Bible-based and Spirit-led praying releases God’s kingdom on earth and blessing in our lives. Loving our Heavenly Father by talking to Him and listening to Him capsulizes our highest privilege with Him. We believe every day and every endeavor must be based on prayer.