Our Values

The Vineyard Church of Elgin is part of the National Vineyard Association. They list five core values that you will find when you visit our church or any vineyard throughout the US. The bottom four are values specific to Elgin Vineyard.

The Theology and Practice of the Kingdom of God

The Vineyard is committed to the theology and practice of the kingdom of God rooted in the vision of the Hebrew prophets and fulfilled in the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. The movement is distinctively rooted in a renewed understanding of the centrality of the kingdom in biblical thought. We view the kingdom of God as the overarching and integrating theme of the Bible.

From the beginning, the Vineyard has been committed to proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God and to bearing witness to the "already and not yet" of the kingdom in our words and deeds through healing (physical, emotional, and social), doing justice, and delivering those held captive by evil. Since the kingdom of God is the future reign of God breaking into the present through the life and ministry of Jesus, we are a forward-leaning movement that emphasizes the ever-reforming nature of the church and engages the world in love.

Experiencing God

The triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is eager to be known and experienced by all. We believe that God is searching for the lost and longs to draw us into loving, intimate relationship with him. In Vineyard churches, we welcome God's personal presence, we seek to be attentive to his presence, and we value the passionate pursuit of his presence in order to respond in obedience to his initiatives.

We understand God's presence as a palpable reality. As we become increasingly sensitive and responsive to the Spirit's presence, we too can learn to "see what the Father is doing" and support his work with our lives.

We value an approach to God's presence that is respectful both of God and others. We eschew hype and other efforts to manipulate either God's presence or the response of others to his presence. We distinguish between the Holy Spirit and the human response to the Holy Spirit, which shares in all the beauty and brokenness of our humanity.

Reconciling Ministry

Jesus is reconciling people to God, to each other, and to the entire creation. He breaks down divisions between Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female. Therefore, Vineyard churches are committed to being communities of healing, engaged in the work of reconciliation wherever sin and evil hold sway.

We also seek to be diverse communities of hope that realize the power of the cross to reconcile what has been separated by sin. This requires that we move beyond our personal preferences and engage those whom we perceive to be unlike us. We must actively work to break down barriers of race, culture, gender, social class, and ethnicity.

We are convinced that the church locally, nationally, and globally is meant to be a diverse community precisely because Jesus is Lord over every nation, tribe, and tongue. We are not satisfied with the status quo when it doesn't reflect this kingdom reality. Instead, we pray eagerly for the coming of God's kingdom here and now and hope to see the reconciliation that is evidence that kingdom in our midst.

Compassionate Ministry

We lean toward the lost, the poor, the outcast, and the outsider with the compassion of Jesus, knowing we are sinners whose standing before God is utterly dependent on his mercy. This mercy can only be truly received inasmuch as we are willing to give it away.

We believe that ministry in Jesus' name should be expressed in concrete ways through the local church. The poor are to be served as though we serve Jesus himself. This is one of the distinguishing characteristics of a church expressing the love of Christ in a local community.

In fact, in all forms of ministry, compassion is a hallmark of the One who was "moved with compassion" in the face of human need. This being the age of grace and "the year of the Lord's favor“ compassion should constitute the leading edge of our service to God, each other, and our broken world. With humility, we seek to avoid unauthorized judgments of others, realizing that we suffer and struggle along with the rest of humanity.

Culturally Relevant Mission

The church exists for the sake of those who are exiled from God. We are called to bring the gospel of the kingdom to every nook and cranny of creation, faithfully translating the message of Jesus in language and forms that are relevant to diverse peoples and cultures.

Additional Elgin Vineyard Values

Vineyard Church of Elgin holds to the National Vineyard Values, but we also have unique values that make us the church that we are today. They are...

Downtown Church: God has put us in Elgin's downtown to minister to the diverse needs of that population. We are committed to our call to minister to people from all walks of life that make up our city.

Welcoming to Children: You'll see lots of kids at our church. We have a big heart to minister to children both in our own community and around the world.

Seek His Face Always: In all of our activities, prayer, worship, outreach, or even our sporting events, we are driven by a desire to know God.

Missions: We support a vibrant culture of local and international missionary activity. We support missionaries in several countries including: Thailand, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Columbia, Israel, Mexico, Portugal, Australia, Mozambique¨Church Planting: Healthy Churches reproduce. We are excited about raising up leaders and supporting new church plants.