In the middle of October, we hosted a healing conference here at Vineyard Columbus. A Vineyard pastor from Northern Ireland, named Alan Scott, led the conference. More than four dozen people took the time to write a brief testimony of healing that either they or a family member personally experienced. Here are a few of those stories.
Over the last few years, religious groups have found themselves on the defensive as a result of increasingly aggressive actions from a variety of government and private actors. Consider the following:
A person doesn't have to read the Bible for very long before discovering that one of the main businesses of life is prayer. The gospel writer, Mark, tells us that in the morning a great while before day, Jesus rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed. The apostles didn't allow themselves to get distracted with the busyness of life. Instead, they determined to give their attention to the Word of God and prayer.
One of the very first hires I made when I became Vineyard Columbus’ first senior pastor was to hire Linda Heselton to oversee our VineyardKids’ Ministry. And for 25 years we’ve worked side-by-side in serving this wonderful church.
The conversation concerning the appropriate roles for women in the church today starts, unsurprisingly, at the beginning of the Bible in Genesis 1 - the fundamental creation text:
Every two years, Vineyard Columbus takes a survey of our congregation. Our most recent survey was taken in March 2014. What did we discover about our church?
Recently, I've been doing a series at Vineyard Columbus titled Strength in Weakness: Leadership Lessons from the Life of Paul. Many Christians ask themselves the question: "Am I called to Christian leadership?" Some feel called to pastor, some to missions, some to lead a small group, some to lead children or teens. Some Christians feel called to lead regarding issues of justice, such as poverty, racial reconciliation, immigration reform, valuing life or sex trafficking.
Vineyard Columbus is part of a larger association of churches known as Vineyard: A Community of Churches, which is comprised of approximately 550 churches in the United States. Two years ago, the leaders of the Vineyard movement put forth an audacious goal: to plant 750 new Vineyard churches in the next decade. This goal means that the Vineyard movement is seeking to more than double the number of Vineyard churches in the U.S. by the year 2022.
Personal Note from Rich: This past month, Women's Ministry hosted a conference titled "Make Us One." The conference was about the biblical message of unity - across races, across classes, across genders, across economics and family situations, etc. Our Women's Pastor, Marlene Nathan (who is also my wife), wrote the following. I found her thoughts to be worth sharing with you, so I decided to use Marlene's letter for my monthly newsletter.
There are few things more painful for a parent than watching a child walk away from faith. As a pastor, I've had dads and moms break down in tears in my office as they recount the story of their child's departure from Christian faith.