Vision

‘We are a Christian church passionate about every community within and around Oxford experiencing God’s transforming love and power as people come into contact with inspired apprentices of Jesus.’

This is the vision that brought us to Oxford and it continues to be what stirs our imagination and motivates us to keep on pressing ahead.

There are a few things which influence everything we do as a church. These are our values, our beliefs and a rhythm of spiritual practices that help us follow in the footsteps of Jesus.

Values

Our values influence how we go about things. They spell the word ‘SPACE’ so are hopefully memorable

S

haring whatever we can

(we want to be known for our generosity, practicing what it means to trust God with our resources and joyfully sharing these with others, especially those who don’t have enough)

P

rioritizing friendship

(people matter more than anything to us, both those within the church and also the relationships we have with family, other friends, neighbours, colleagues etc. We will make time to invest in relationships, putting them before the business of church)

A

cknowledging God in all things

(God is central. All we do is for Him, about Him and through Him. We encourage each other to develop rhythms individually and together that keep our focus on God)

C

reatively presenting Jesus

(We want Jesus to be known and believe He alone makes us whole. We look for ways to meaningful express what life with Him is all about in our cultural context)

E

veryone Gets to Play

(Everyone is valuable and has something to contribute to the life of our church as we continue to learn and grow together)

Our Beliefs

Part of God’s family

Hope Vineyard is a member of the family of Vineyard Churches in the UK and Ireland (VCUKI) and more broadly part of the wider Christian church. We hold to the historic teachings of Christian orthodoxy, as articulated in the Apostles and Nicene Creed.

We are involved with the work of Renew Oxford, and Love Oxford Churches and love the whole church in all its rich diversity. We celebrate the very different people God has already brought to Hope Vineyard and we are praying we continue to grow as a diverse community, representative of our city.

VCUKI – Statement of Faith
Book held infront of person in a busy city
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Our Apprentiship

Continually becoming more like Jesus in love

Everything we do as a church is centred around three stages of apprenticeship (or discipleship) to Jesus. We want to be Encountering Jesus both in the everyday and when we gather together on Sundays to worship. We are Being Transformed by our friendship with Him and we are playing our part in Transforming the World around us.

These are not distinct stages we progress through, rather we want to be constantly engaged in all three, returning always to Jesus as both the beginning and the end.