THEOLOGICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL STATEMENTS
ASSOCIATION OF VINEYARD CHURCHES
I. OUR CONVICTIONS
A. WE BELIEVE that there is ONE LIVING AND TRUE
GOD, eternally existing in three persons, the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, equal in
power and glory; that this triune God created
all, upholds all, and governs all. (Matthew
28:19, Isaiah 40:12-26, Isaiah 46:8-11)
B. WE BELIEVE that the SCRIPTURES of the Old and
New Testaments are the Word of God, fully
inspired, and the infallible rule of faith and
practice; and that they are to be interpreted
according to their context and purpose and in
reverent obedience to the Lord Who speaks
through them in living power. (II Timothy 3:14-
17, Romans 15:4, James 1:22)
C. WE BELIEVE in GOD THE FATHER, an infinite,
personal Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom,
power, and love; that He concerns Himself
mercifully in the affairs of men; that He hears
and answers prayer; and that He saves from sin
and death and all who come to Him through Jesus
Christ. (Matthew 6:9, Isaiah 6:3, Romans 11:33-
39, Psalms 138:5-6, Matthew 7:11, Isaiah 55:6-7)
D. WE BELIEVE in JESUS CHRIST, God's only
begotten Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit. We
believe in His virgin birth, sinless life,
miracles and teachings, His substitutionary
atoning death, bodily resurrection, ascension
into heaven, perpetual intercession for His
people and personal, visible return to earth.
We believe that in His first coming Jesus
inaugurated the fulfillment of the Kingdom of
God. (John 1:14-18, Luke 1:18-20, Hebrews
4:15, Romans 5:8, I Corinthians 15:1-8,
Ephesians 1:20, I Thessalonians 4:16, Mark 1:14-15)
E. WE BELIEVE in the HOLY SPIRIT, Who came forth
from the Father and Son to convict the world of
sin, righteousness, and judgement, and to
regenerate, sanctify and empower for ministry
all who believe in Christ; we believe the Holy
Spirit indwells every believer in Jesus Christ
and that He is an abiding Helper, Teacher, and
Guide. We believe in the present ministry of the
Holy Spirit and in the exercise of all the
Biblical gifts of the Spirit. (John 15:26, 16:8,
Titus 3:5, Acts 1:8, Romans 8:9, Ephesians 1:13,
John 14:16, I Corinthians 12:4-11)
F. WE BELIEVE that all MEN are sinners by nature
and choice and are therefore under condemnation,
that God regenerates and baptizes by the Holy
Spirit those who repent of their sins and confess
Jesus Christ as Lord. (Ephesians 2:1-10, Acts
2:38, Ezekiel 36:26, John 1:12-13, John 10:9)
G. WE BELIEVE in the universal CHURCH, the living spiritual
body, of which Christ is the Head and all regenerated
persons are members. (I Corinthians 12:12-13, Ephesians
2:19-22, I Peter 2:4-5)
H. WE BELIEVE that the Lord Jesus Christ committed
two ORDINANCES to the church: baptism; and the
Lord's Supper. We believe in water baptism and
communion open to all believers. (Acts 2:38, I
Corinthians 11: 23-30, Luke 3:3)
I. WE BELIEVE also in the LAYING ON OF HANDS for
empowering of the Holy Spirit, for receiving
gifts of the Spirit, for healing, and for
recognition and empowering of those whom God has
ordained to lead and serve the church. (Acts
13:3, Mark 6:5, I Timothy 4:14, II Timothy 1:6)
J. WE BELIEVE in the personal, visible, APPEARING
OF CHRIST to earth and the consummation of His
Kingdom; in the resurrection of the body, the
final judgement and eternal blessing of the
righteous and eternal punishment of the wicked.
(Acts 1:11, Matthew 25:31, I Corinthians 15:20-
24, Revelation 20:11, 21:8)
K. WE BELIEVE in what is termed "THE APOSTLES'
CREED" as embodying fundamental facts of
Christian faith, and endorse the historic
orthodox creeds of the church.
II. OUR VALUES
A. We value THE PURSUIT OF GOD. We are hungry to
know God's presence, hear His voice and follow
hard after Him. (Psalms 63:1-3)
B. We value 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. (Ephesians 5:2)
C. We value BEING SPIRIT-LED. we honor Jesus as our Head
and the Holy Spirit as our Counselor. We seek to
be responsive to the Holy Spirit in life and
ministry. (Ephesians 5:25)
D. We value PRAYER. We believe that prayer is
essential, because it is our primary means of
communion with God,and because it is God's primary
means of accomplishing His purposes in the world.
E. We value DISCIPLESHIP. We aim first to grow as
disciples of Christ ourselves and then to make
disciples or others. (Matthew 28:18-20)
F. We value THE KINGDOM OF GOD. We aim to move in the
signs of the present fulfillment of the kingdom,
invoking the Spirit's powerful presence,
ministering through the Spirit's gifts, and seeing
God heal and work wonders. (Mark 1:14,15)
G. We value 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. (Colossians 3:12-13)
H. We value INTEGRITY. It is important to us to
speak the truth, deal honestly, and live
uprightly. (Ephesians 4:15)
I. We value 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
sincere desire to build up the Body of Christ.
(Mark 10:37, 24-45)
J. We value THE INDIVIDUAL, single or married, and 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 on Jesus' name
and by seeking reconciliation with all parts of the
church. (John 17:21-23; Acts 4:12)
L. We value COLLEGIATE RELATIONSHIP. We are
honored 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. (I Corinthians 13:4-7)
M. We value REALITY. We aim to walk in the Spirit and
see real supernatural works of God. we aim also to
function on the natural plane based on God's
leading in conjunction with the excellent,
rational thinking. (James 1:5)
N. We value 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. (Philippians 4:4)
O. We value BEING CULTURE CURRENT. We aim to develop an
atmosphere of ease and to speak, act, and dress in ways
to which our culture can respond positively
(I Corinthians 9:19-23). For example, we reflect this
value through worship music that is of a popular style.
III. OUR PRIORITIES
A. WORSHIP
1. We desire to worship God with our whole
being. We want Jesus at the center as our
Lord. We hunger for the fullness of the
Spirit... His glory resting upon us!
(Philippians 3:3; Hebrews 13:15; Psalm 42:1-
2; John 4:24; Psalm 63:1-5; Romans 12:1)
2. We desire Spirit-ena~led worship in a style
that is intimate, dynamic, culture current,
and life changing. (I Peter 2:4-5, Ephesians
2:19-22, I Corinthians 14:26)
B. THE WORD
1. We want to hear the Word of God taught in a
practical, inspiring way, in conjunction with His
current prophetic Word. (Romans 15:4, II Timothy
3:16-17, I Corinthians 14:1-4)
2. 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.
(Matthew 7:24-27, James 1:22)
C. PRAYER
1. We desire to enter into the presence of God
with fervent and powerful prayer. We aim for
daily, real, Spirit-led speaking with and
hearing from God. (Hebrews 4:16; Romans 8:26-28;
James 5:16-18; Jude 20-21; Colossians 4:2)
2. We aim to follow the patterns of Christ and
to pray for the ~ingdom to come, for the
fullness of the Spirit, for workers to enter
the harvest, for healing, deliverance, and
forgiveness, for peace, love, and mercy, for
great doors to open for the gospel, for
renewal in the church. (Matthew 6:10; 9:37-
38; Mark 9:29; Luke 11:13; John 17:1-26;
Ephesians 6:19-20)
D. FELLOWSHIP
1. We are the family of God, one Body in Jesus
Christ, joined together as brothers and
sisters forever. (John 17:20-23, Romans 12:3-5)
2. We seek to develop real, intimate, enabling
friendships together, built on covenant love,
mutual responsibility and faithfulness.
(Hebrews 3:12-14, Philippians 2:3-5,
Ephesians 4:11-16, Colossians 3:12-17)
E. MINISTRY
1. We believe that all Christians are called to serve
Christ in the power of His Spirit, in ways that build
up the local church. (I Peter 4:10-11, I Corinthians
12:4-7, Acts 1:8)
2. 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. (Luke 4:18; 9:1-6, James 1:27, Acts 26:18,
Matthew 10:5-10, Matthew 28:18-20)
F. TRAINING
1. We believe that all Christians should be
trained to "do the works of Christ". (Matthew
28:18-20, II Timothy 2:2)
2. 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 taught during and
after the training experience. (Luke 11:1-4)
3. We aim to provide training for all aspects
of responsible Christian life and ministry.
(Ephesians 4:11-16)
G. SENDING
1. We aim to renew, refresh, and enable existing
churches by sending trained personnel out on
short-term ministry trips. (Matthew 10:5-15;
Luke 9:1-6; 10:1)
2. We aim to build the church of Jesus Christ by
sending trained personnel to plant churches
around the world. (Revelation 5:9,10; Romans 15:20)
IV. THE PRACTICE WE AIM TO INSTILL
A. PRAYER SKILLS
1. Prayer of Praise and Adulation (Psalms 34:1)
2. Prayer of Petition (Phillipians 4:6)
3. Prayer of Intercession (Romans 8:26-27,
I Timothy 2:1)
4. Prayer of Tongues (I Corinthians 14:14-15)
5. Prayer of Faith - in healing and expulsion of
demons (James 5:15, Mark 1:25)
B. MARRIAGE AND FAMILY SKILLS (Ephesians 5:22-33; I Peter
3:1-7)
1. Intimacy
2. Communication
3. Child-rearing
4. Financial planning
5. Life management
C. GENERAL MINISTRY SKILLS
1. Communication Skills--the ability to speak
a. The ability to witness--sharing
your experience with others (Matthew
28:18-20)
b. The ability to counsel -- sharing God's
word with others (Ephesians 4:15)
c. The ability to teach--sharing God's
word with others (II Timothy 2:24-26)
2. Community Skills -- the ability to relate
a. Ministry to the Lord
* Worship (John 4:24)
* Fellowship (John 15:4)
* Obedient Service of All Kinds (Mark 10:45)
* Giving (John 4:34)
* Personal Bible Study (2 Timothy 2:15)
b. Ministry to the Body
* Giving and receiving forgiveness
(Matthew 18:19; I Timothy 1:5)
* Laying on Hands (I Timothy 4:14)
* Exercise of Gifts (I Corinthians 14:26)
* Fellowship- Sharing and Relating to one
another (Hebrews 3:12-14)
* Healing the sick - Spiritually, socially,
emotionally, bodily, demonic (James 5:13-16)
c. Ministry to the World (~uke 4:18,19)
* Care of the Poor
* Care of the Lost
* Care of the Sick and Broken-hearted
IV. OUR LEADERSHIP PERSONNEL REQUIREMENTS
A. Sincere love for and pursuit of Jesus Christ demonstrated
in regular personal worship, meditation on the Word, and
prayer. (Psalm 1:4-6; 18:1-3)
B. Demonstrated fullness of the Holy Spirit, of
faith and of wisdom. (Acts 6:3)
C. 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. (Mark 10:37, 42-45; John 13:12-16;
Philippians 2:5-9; I Peter 5:1-5)
D. Personal exposure, loyalty, and commitment to
their pastors, and to those whom they are
pastoring. (Mark 3:14-15)
E. Trustworthiness, with the ability to resist
being bribed or bought. (Exodus 18:21)
F. 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. (Acts
4:36,37; Ephesians 4:25-32)
G. Willingness to be a "team player" and to help
one's pastoral associates to succeed.
(Philippians 2:3,4)
H. A strong, loving marriage in which both the
husband and wife sense the call to minister.
(Acts 18:26)
I. Capable and respected, mature in the faith, and
with proven ministry ability. (I Timothy 3:2-7)
J. Willingness to be judged by strict standards and
to accept- reproof. (James 3:1)
K. Love for people and for Jesus, without desire to
benefit personally at the expense of the sheep.
(John 21:17, Ezekiel 34:1,
L. Commitment to equipping others for ministry
through active recruiting, training, deploying,
monitoring and nurturing. (Mark 3:13-15)
M. Commitment to doing excellent work, taking
responsibility seriously, being proactive,
planning and executing well. (Ezra 5:1,2)
N. A committed, cheerful giver who tithes regularly
to the fellowships. (Malachi 3:8-10)
(3/18/87)
Theological and Philosphical
Statements from the A.V.C.