Encountering Jesus
Sundays are special
We make space to be with God and each other, to lift Him high in worship and to rest in His loving presence. From here we head into the week, partnering with God in extending his kingdom in many and varied ways. If this is all new and maybe even a bit strange, that’s absolutely fine. We’d love you to join us as God’s invitation is for everyone, everywhere.
There’s no need to dress in any particular way, simply come as you are.
If you’re exploring becoming a part of the Hope Vineyard family we’d encourage you to come on Sundays for a month and join in with some of our other gatherings. This will allow you to get a real feel for who we are and what’s important to us.
1st Sunday (10:00am)
Sunday Breakfast
At 10:00am doors open and we serve breakfast until 10:30am. Soon afterwards, we introduce the theme for the morning with a short story.
Children, along with their parents/guardians are then invited to creative activities or active games, which explore God’s big story for the world and our lives.
The rest of the adults have the opportunity to continue conversations on tables and we respond to questions on the theme, learning from each other’s life experience. Whatever your background or experience of any faith, we hope these conversations are open, and will inspire us all. We finish at 11:30am.
2nd, 3rd, 4th Sundays (10am start)
Sunday Services
At 09:45am doors open to the main hall. With a 10:00am prompt start, Sundays begin with a time of worship involving music and songs, encouragements from the week, a talk based on scripture passages from the Bible and the opportunity to receive personal prayer to finish at 11:30am. Afterwards, we have free refreshments and relational time together. For our primary and secondary school age kids, we have Hope Kids (aged 4+, every week), and Hope Youth (year 7+, Weeks 2 & 4) running alongside the service.
Our Sunday Services are livestreamed. Head to the Livestreams page for more information, and also to see our previous talks.
Hope Kids
‘Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.’ (Jesus, recorded in Matthew 19:14, New Living Translation of the Bible)
Jesus was radical in his cultural context for the care and significance he afforded children. We want to do the same, offering safety, nurture and guidance whilst championing children and young people as equal partners in the work of extending God’s kingdom. We love the fact that God is drawing lots of children of all ages to Hope Vineyard!
At Sunday Services we provide groups for children aged 4-11 years old, where they can build relationships, have fun and explore what it looks like for them to develop friendship with God and share his love with the world. When you arrive please sign your child in and they will be taken to their group by our wonderful Hope Kids team after a couple of songs of worship. Activities for children are also provided during Sunday Breakfast on the first Sundays of the month.
Hope Youth
Our young people (school years 7+) meet on Sundays (2nd and 4th Sunday of the month) during the service to eat, talk, be creative, play sports and consider what life with God might look like for them.
Like Hope Kids our youth, join the rest of our church family for a few songs of worship before heading off for time together. On the 3rd Sunday, youth join us for the service, which includes sharing the Lord’s Supper together. During Sunday Breakfasts on the 1st Sunday of the month, after the story, we gather the youth together to reflect on the theme for the morning, play some games and eat plenty of pastries!
We love being part of a movement of churches that values and invests in the lives of young people. We take Hope Youth and any of their invited friends to ‘Dreaming the Impossible’ (DTI) youth festival in the summer. It’s an intergenerational thing, as a number of adults from Hope Vineyard volunteer with our young people, or on the DTI Dream Team. It’s a privilege to play a small part in making the event happen and witnessing what God is doing in the lives of young people across the UK, Ireland and beyond.
Supporting families
Valuing family relationships and children who may need additional support
Parents/primary carers are the most important people in a child’s life, providing the foundation for them to thrive emotionally, physically and spiritually. We appreciate that bringing up children and young people is far from easy and we want to support parents and carers in this precious work. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to help you as a parent/carer or to ensure your child
feels safe and is able to engage during our gatherings. We appreciate that some children and young people need extra support or things done a bit differently. If so, do have a conversation with those leading Kids or Youth so that we can try our best to ensure everyone is valued and able to flourish.
Babies & Toddlers
Preschoolers
During our Sunday services there is a parent/carer supervised play area in the main hall available for those of preschool age (under 4’s). We love having babies and very young children in our services and because of the nice carpets, we have a special area for baby feeding.
During the week, as part of Community Wednesdays, we host groups for preschool aged children and their carers. These happen in Small Steps – Hope Oxford, in Templars Square Shopping Centre. We would love to see you there!
If you’d like to learn more about our provisions for younger children, or come and volunteer with us, then click below to learn more about our Small Steps provision.
