About VCF Irondequoit
Together We...
DELIGHT (Worship): The highest priority of God's people is to worship Him, that is, to give God the worth that He ought to have in our lives. Worship is an experience of our love for God and a celebration of His presence in our lives.
DELIVER (Ministry): Ministry and serving at the Vineyard flows from two basic assumptions. First, it is based on the compassion and mercy of God. Second, Jesus Christ as the Messiah came to establish the Kingdom of God-that is, God's right to rule in the world.
DEVELOP (Fellowship): The Vineyard exists to care for and build up people. Fellowship begins with our relationship with Jesus. It also involves our commitment to Christ's body-the Church. We want to encourage healthy, growing relationships with God and others.
DISCIPLE (Discipleship): We as a church believe that we are called to an unconditional surrender of our whole lives to Christ. Our surrender springs from a response of love and thanksgiving to God who loved us and gave himself for us. In Christian discipleship our aim is to be a pupil or learner of Christ and imitate Him. As a church we are called to gently and positively stimulate one another to a deepening understanding of Jesus and mankind.
DEPLOY (Evangelism/Church Planting/World Missions): We purpose to be an outward-focused people who will impact our community for Christ, plant churches in western New York and overseas.
Our Faith
What We Believe
The Vineyard stands firmly in the center of orthodox Christian teaching. Out of loyalty to Christ and the gospel we have come to a number of convictions concerning the clear teaching of the Bible. At the same time, we have not included in our statement of faith much that can be legitimately debated by orthodox Christians. In other words, we do have boundaries, but our boundaries are broad and inclusive. On the spectrum of Christian churches:
- We are orthodox.
- We are evangelical.
- We are empowered evangelicals
Our Statement of Faith
We confess our affirmation of the Apostle's, Nicene, and Chalcedonian Creeds, which we believe to reflect Christian orthodoxy and the clear teaching of Holy Scripture. In addition, we make the following confession of faith our own:
1. We believe in one living and true God, the Creator and Lord of the heavens and the earth. In the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, of one substance, equal in power and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
2. We believe that Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man, yet one Messiah, the only mediator between God and man. There is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.
3. We believe that Jesus Christ came down from heaven, was incarnated by the Holy Spirit and was born of the Virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life in perfect obedience to the Father, and was crucified for my sins. He suffered, died, and was buried, and He rose bodily from the dead on the third day. As the God-man, Jesus Christ ascended into heaven and now sits at the right hand of God the Father, interceding for His people. At His first coming, Jesus inaugurated the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God.
4. We believe in the Holy Spirit, who came forth from the Father and Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and to regenerate, sanctify and empower for ministry every believer in Jesus Christ. 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.
5. We believe that all men and women are sinners by nature and choice and are under condemnation. We are now accounted righteous before God only by the merit of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, through faith in Him alone, and not by our own works or deserving.
6. We believe that we have been born again by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. This same Holy Spirit now lives in us, producing faith, holiness, love and power.
7. We believe in the divine inspiration, truthfulness and authority of both the Old and New Testament Scriptures in their entirety, without error, in all that they affirm, and as the only infallible rule for my faith and practice.
8. We believe that the church is intended by God to be a worshiping community of believers, observing the ordinances of Christ, governed by His law, exercising the gifts, privileges and discipline invested in the church by His Word and His Holy Spirit, and seeking to extend the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth.
9. We believe Christ committed two ordinances to the church: water baptism and the Lord's Supper. We believe water baptism is available to all Christian believers following a clear profession of Christian faith. We believe that the Lord's Supper is open to all believers. Through the working of the Holy Spirit, the Lord's Supper nourishes my soul. It brings to our remembrance the sacrifice of Christ for our sins, our communion with Christ and the church and our obligation to persevere in faith and holiness to the end of my life.
10. 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 judgment and eternal blessing of the righteous and the endless suffering of the wicked.
Our Mission:
"To develop a community of passionate, mature, reproducing disciples that purpose to be joined together to be authentic followers of Jesus Christ; speaking the words and doing the works of His Kingdom."
Our personal expression of those desires is:
"Caring People Connecting with God Changing Lives."
The Definition of Discipleship
"A disciple is a person who in the context of the church is passionately committed to a lifelong process of worshiping Jesus' person, obeying Jesus' words, doing Jesus' deeds, and imitating Jesus' life."
Community
A Christian cannot grow apart from relationship with other Christians. People wrongly believe that my individual faith alone is sufficient for me to grow. We need the accountability, instruction, discipline, love and example that other Christians provide in order to grow.
Passionate
Discipleship doesn't happen without passionate and intentional commitment. Our intention to follow involves our whole heart and soul and mind and strength. Effort must be consistently exerted. To be passionate is to be internally motivated. One gives, shares one's faith, enters fellowship, worships, prays, studies, not because he or she is forced to, or is manipulated, but because he or she loves Jesus and wants to serve him.
Mature
Discipleship is not the product of one class or ten classes or a certain set of experiences. We never arrive in this life at full obedience or complete imitation of Jesus. We commit ourselves to a lifelong journey. Every individual is responsible before God for their own growth, but growth only occurs in the context of loving relationships in the church.
Reproducing
Real disciples impact their world. We do this by expressing our faith and acts of love. Maturity and reproduction, depth and growth are part of discipleship. Every disciple is called to be a participant in God's pursuit for those that are distant and estranged from Him. We are joining in Jesus'mission when we help others into His kingdom.
Caring People
We want to be a church that does more than just simply verbally express our faith or stay within our building to hold services. We are called to show God's care and compassion by serving others. We want to be a church that transforms our community by God's power demonstrated in love and good deeds. We want to be a genuine expression of Jesus' care by serving whenever we can, to whomever we can, as often as we can, for as long as we can to the glory of God.
Connecting with God
We want to be a church that leads people to a vital connection with God's generous forgiveness and healing. We want our family, friends, and community to connect with the purpose and destiny that comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ and His church. Our connection with Christ and His church empowers us to experience God as more than just a theory, but rather in a fresh, personal and relevant way.
Changing Lives
We want to encourage and support the dynamic change that occurs in lives as they connect and grow in relationship with Jesus Christ and the world around them. We want to direct our efforts towards helping people navigate their way deeper and deeper into that meaningful connection. This is the process by which we become the passionate, mature, reproducing disciples of Jesus that God calls us to be.
Our story: VCF of Irondequoit
1983 - The story of the Vineyard Church in Irondequoit began in a bible study in the Rochester suburb of Irondequoit. The group was eager to see a vibrant church planted in their community among their neighbors. As a result the Irondequoit Assembly of God church was started. After moving about from various temporary meeting places land was purchased on Portland Avenue and a building was erected in 1986.
1995 - The church leadership felt directed by the Lord to formally join the Association of Vineyard Churches. This union with the Vineyard came at a time of significant spiritual renewal in the church. During this time many in the church became aware of the empowering work of Holy Spirit and life-changing power this brings to one's relationship with Jesus Christ.
2001 - After several years of severe challenges and difficult circumstances the Vineyard began a steady climb back to a vibrant and enthusiastic church. We purposed to be a church that is expressing care for the community, inviting people to connect their lives with the good news of God's love and embrace the empowerment of God's mercy and grace to bring positive lasting change in the quality and meaning God has for life.
Present - The church continues to grow and learn what it means to be the kind of church God intended. We will by God's grace be a church that seeks to worship God, communicate the gospel, teach the Bible, pray for the sick, make disciples and care for the poor and needy. We're convinced this adventure that began two decades ago with a handful of people is far from over. We hope you decide to be a part of our story.
Our Values
What we think is important:
Every house is built upon a foundation. Vineyard is built upon the foundation of our theology (how we think about God), which in turn establishes our values (the kinds of ideas and attitudes that we feel are important).
Values concern what a church feels like. Values concern the atmosphere of the church. It is possible for two churches to believe exactly the same doctrine, but to feel very different due to the differing value systems of the churches. Below is a list of Vineyard Values.
We value:
1. Responsiveness. We believe that Jesus is our Head and the Holy Spirit our Counselor and so we seek to be responsive to the leading of the Holy Spirit in every area of the church's life and ministry.
2. Reality. We want every expression of ours - whether speech, music, architecture, or manner - to be non-hyped, natural, and reality based.
3. Relevance. We want to use music, terminology, and outreach methods that are in touch with the current culture of our community.
4. Relationships. We don't want just a collection of individuals or a large crowd. God is looking for a people, a community who share a corporate value system. Following Jesus happens in the context of relationships, not in isolation.
5. Righteousness. We seek completely truthful, consistent and open relationships with God, with others, and with ourselves.
Our Vision
Vision is what we see the church being and doing.
Vision is the product of God working in us. He creates the vision and we receive it. Vision becomes our rallying point, a goal toward which we move as His people. Vision comes to us as a deep dissatisfaction with what is and a clear grasp of what could be. Below are some of the things God has worked into our hearts and is stretching us to become:
Vineyard's Vision: Our vision as a church is "to be a church that connects up to God in passionate worship; that connects into each other through relationships and devoted service; and connects out to the world in sacrificial love."
Connecting Up
- A church in which people passionately worship God with all that they have: their hearts, their intellects, their words, their bodies, their money; everything.
- A church that submits itself to the Bible concerning all that we do and believe.
- A church that is characterized by individual and corporate prayer.
- A church that's every endeavor is marked by excellence, integrity and love.
- A church that values historical disciplines and the process of spiritual formation.
Connecting Into
- A church in which individuals are connected to each other through a small group.
- A church where ministry is done by every member, not just the pastor.
- A church where people can easily take off religious masks and find reality and healing in Jesus Christ.
- A church that provides people with training both for ministry and for life.
- A church that loves and devotes a large share of its time, energy and money to serve the needs of children.
- A church that builds up families and supports marriages.
Connecting Out
- A church where things are clearly presented to make sense to a thinking follower of Christ as well as the person on their way to God.
- A church where the power of God is present to heal people.
- A church that cares about and actually does something for the poor and the needy.
- A church that grows by the power of the gospel demonstrated and presented to those distant from God
- A church that is able to influence the culture of this community.
- A church that plants many churches in western New York.
- A church that is actively engaged in world missions and in planting churches.
- A church that welcomes people from racially diverse backgrounds and is committed to becoming increasingly multicultural.
