Why Vineyard? an introduction

If you’re new to the Vineyard, or have been around since forever, I want to point you toward a great new resource that Vineyard Canada recently published. It is a wonderful tool that will help you understand the history, theology, posture and practices of the Vineyard in Canada. You can view it online, or print it out for yourself – either way, I encourage you to make yourself something warm to drink, settle into a comfy spot, and read this “Why Vineyard?” booklet.

Click here to download the “Why Vineyard” booklet

>>Discover what brings us together.

>>Explore what holds us together.

>>Experience the Jesus way together.


Community Gatherings with David Ruis

We’ve been mentioning for awhile now that David Ruis (our National Director and WCV founding pastor – both roles shared with Anita) will be with us the weekend of May 11 – 12. We now have a few more details for you to put in your calendar and hopefully stir you up.

We’ve had David and Anita, as well as a few other National and Regional Vineyard leaders (Joyce Rees, Ruth Rousu, Nathan Rousu, Rik Berry) be with us over this past season. These visits have infused life in our community and have been very helpful for the leadership team. While their times in Winnipeg have been super helpful in encouraging and advising the leadership, we know that the rest of the community gets limited interaction  with these guests on Sunday mornings. This time around we want to maximize community time with David. To that end, we want to invite you to an afternoon with David, Saturday, May 11 from 2 – 5pm. This will be an intentionally curated time together during which members of the Leadership Team (Pastoral & Lay Elders and BOD) alongside David will be able to address issues, answer questions, provide feedback and offer support as needed. We will be holding space address topics like building trust, leadership, WCV health, forward vision, and others, with lots of opportunity to give and receive feedback. Additionally, David will share some exciting perspectives on Vineyard Canada, what God is up to among our wider Vineyard family, and some foundational stories of WCV.

The primary purpose of this time is to create a non-hurried space for dialogue as a community and with David. We hope to see you there!

He will be sharing with us on Sunday morning as well (May 12).

>>Saturday, May 11, 2pm – 5pm

>>782 Main St.

Metanoia Reflections

I had the privilege to be involved in Vineyard Canada’s Metanoia West gathering in Langley about a month ago. It was a great time of coming together with other Vineyard friends from across the Prairies, the North and BC. We gathered in the historic Friends Langley Vineyard. It seemed significant that we were there in the first Vineyard in Canada, which birthed so much. Yet, we weren’t nostalgic, nor caught in sentiment. There was a palpable sense not only of God’s presence with us, but his passion, excitement and vision for us as a Vineyard family in Canada for the future. Building on a wonderful foundation – and continuing. How do we continue well? What is he inviting us into? Who has he specifically called us to become? How might God be inviting us to reimagine our future? Who are we becoming as we practice following the way of Jesus? – all questions that were asked and that I’m left asking. Answers will come as we continue to follow Jesus and pursue his Kingdom.

Below are videos of the first two sessions. The first is David and Anita Ruis orienting us around the theme “Health Begets Health”. The second is Jared Boyd unpacking the Sermon on the Mount. He does a great job taking a second look at these verses that are quoted so often, yet mostly misunderstood and misapplied. There are two other sessions available here.

I was there representing WCV, part of the Regional Leadership team, and as a national catalyst for Vineyard Engage.

Vineyard Metanoia – National gatherings and you’re invited

Here are a few National gatherings that you may want to participate in this Fall.  We hosted the first Metanoia gathering a few years back and they are wonderful times of engagement, worship and encouragement in a unique format (they’re not typical conferences).  Jared Boyd (our friend who taught in the first School of Spiritual Direction we hosted) will be a special guest leading us through a series of experiences (and the first 50 people to register get a free copy of his new book).

If you’re interested in going to the Metanoia West, let Andy know (he’s going).

Go here for more info.

A Message from Vineyard Canada – David Ruis

Here’s a shout-out from David Ruis, Vineyard Canada’s National Director (along with Anita).  Here David looks forward to 2017 and gives a few key points points about what to look forward to in 2017.

David Ruis gives end of ’16 address to the #VTribe; looking forward to ’17 from David Ruis on Vimeo.

Dwelling in the Borderlands – You’re Invited!

Here’s an invitation to the Vineyard Metanoia Event this June we are hosting.  The theme is “Dwelling in the Borderlands”.  Here’s an invitation from David and Anita Ruis (our National Directors):

A “Metanoia Gathering” is more a communal experience than a conference. As we create theatmosphere of a “learning community” coming together, ample room for connection and space to eat; converse; enjoy great art and music is critical.

Up on the 3rd floor of the WCV building will be this place :: a 3rd space.  Come prepared to hang before and after sessions. No need to dash off to a local haunt. Sick around!

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Metanoia ’16 :: general flow
Doors will open each evening at 5:30. Each session will unfold in a two hour window with the 3rd space open afterwards.  Remember, this is a kid and family friendly environment. Here are the gathering “start times”:

JUN 16 Thursday: 6:30

JUN 17 Friday: 9:30 AM / 2 PM / 6:30 PM

JUN 18 Saturday: 9:30 AM

 

Open Worship Night (open to the public):

JUN 18 Saturday: 6:30 PM

 

Register today – Space is Limited!

(pst – we want locals to be able to get in!)

Vineyard Metanoia

A Common Prayer

A prayer for our Vineyard Canada family… and ourselves…

Father – we are your children.  As we lead in your kingdom and serve the Vineyard Community, may we never lose the wonder and simplicity of childlike trust.  Heal us of the distortions of the soul we carry from dysfunction, abandonment and abuse in our earthly families and grace us with renewed vision to see who You are and what You do that we may obey.

Jesus – we follow You.  Head of the “C”hurch and the only hope for the Vineyard Community.  Be our centre.  Be our model.  May we reflect You in all areas of dialogue, spiritual rhythms and strategy that we undertake together.  We open our hands, our minds and our wills to Your transformational presence – Christ in us.

Spirit – we need You.  Awaken our spirits that we may cry “Abba, Father!”  Reveal the Son to us that we may behold His beauty and become like Him.  We surrender to Your wisdom.  We attune ourselves to Your voice of reason and righteousness that we may do the will of the Father and engage in the words and works of the Son.  Equip us to serve the Vineyard Communities.  Empower us to lead with grace and humility.  Employ us that we may love the whole “C”hurch, deliver the captives and disciple sigh communities under our care.
Vineyard Canada Logo

 

Reflecting on Cambridge Metanoia 2015

Screen Shot 2015-06-25 at 3.16.35 PMMyself (Andy), Nathan, Jodi & Mike spent 3 days in Cambridge Ontario last week with about 40 other leaders and pastors at the first “Metanoina” gathering that Vineyard Canada is piloting. It was a wonderful time full of laughter, prayer, tears, food, challenge and a whole lot more. I’m sure they will continue in some form or another given the success of this one. There are many highlights, including a quick skinny-dip in the local stream – but I’ll reflect the more edifying elements here.

Metanoia means “re-think” or “think again”. It seems that the Vineyard in Canada is in a season of not only doing that, but being re-envisioned, re-discovering our identity, re-tooling for our mission, re-forming our leadership, re-capturing our birthright, re-connecting with each other and re-engaging hope on a national level. It’s not that any of these were missing in previous years, but there does seem to be a tangible uplift happening across the country.

We gathered on the stunning grounds of the Cambridge Vineyard. It is situated in an oasis of ancient Screen Shot 2015-06-25 at 3.31.54 PMand towering maple, oak, pine and spruce trees. Nestled in this natural beauty is a collection of old stone buildings, some of which date back 200 years. It used to be a monastery before the Vineyard acquired them. The grounds are surrounded by an old (and crumbling) stonewall. There is a saying that, “we build buildings, and then they build us”. Gathering in such a beautiful spot, certainly enhanced the sense of beauty we experienced in each other and enriched our worship together. It was evident that great care was taken to curate our environment. Various works of art spoke to us from the walls and a series of sculptures pointed us Godward. Even the set-up for communion was lavish – much like our God. It inspired me to think more deeply about our own environments in which we gather. We often say the Eucharist is the central act of Christian worship, but we often act in a way that relegates the Communion table to the periphery. This must change.

Various “catalytic leaders” shared their hearts & ideas with us:

Vineyard Formation – Jon & Beth Stovell from Calgary talked about all the ways theological and spiritual formation is happening across the country. There are specific efforts at providing some synergy and collaboration among the various efforts.

Vineyard Pulse – Anita Ruis shared about this prayer and prophetic initiative, which will hear and pray the heartbeat of God for the Vineyard in Canada. They are taking practical steps to hear, envision and train those involved in prayer in churches across the country.  There is an invitation to re-capture our particular Vineyard voice in these areas which is super exciting.

Vineyard Multiplication & Entrepreneurial Mission – Larry Levy, from Halifax, did a standup comedy routine – um, I mean he shared deeply church planting, citing a few recent initiatives.  Todd Rutkowski, from Calgary, gave us some examples of entrepreneurial mission that might not fall under traditional church planting models, but they are working – so who cares about traditional models anyways, eh!?  It’s wonderful to be part of a movement that can embrace both without being scared or intimidated by the other.

Vineyard Worship – Marc Pusch (New Brunswick) talked about the reemergence of this essential part of our movement, not as a business, nor a record label, but as a genuine reflection of our response to God in song and art.

Vineyard Engage – Beth Wood (Halifax) and myself shared our desire and plans to see the Vineyard in Canada fully engaged and speaking into all kinds injustice at local, national and global levels. I cried (and made others cry). It was a win.

We also heard from representatives of each region across the country. The general sense is that God is on the move. Ellie Mumford (UK) said/prophesied last year at Enlive that “Aslan is on the move!” This appears to be true. While there are varying degrees of loss experienced over the past number of years which varies from region to region, there is agreement across the country that good things are afoot.  They may not be big, but they’re small!  David and Anita Ruis’ leadership is instrumental in this. They’re doing a great job.

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Please notice Caleb’s glasses. 😉

A Prophetic People

We did a lot of listening to each other, with many break-out and “whiteboard” sessions. However, we did have two sessions with Caleb Maskell, a founding member of the Society of Vineyard Scholars. Not only is he a great guy with stylin’ glasses (they’re almost identical to mine), he’s pretty smart and gave us a Spirit-filled challenge. He contended that we should rethink being primarily a “culturally relevant” people to embracing a “prophetic” posture. He said that the church is to be the “institutional memory of the people of God”. That is, we are to remind those around us (and ourselves) what God has done and demonstrate what God will do. Being a prophetic people means showing the world what it means to really be fully human.

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The central act of Christian worship

Rooting ourselves in this kind of prophetic vocation will allow us to influence our cultures on a different level. Instead of getting irreparably bogged down in various issues, perhaps a better way is to call people into God’s story through Jesus. Caleb suggested the Eucharist is our most tangible expression of this, in which we have a “suffering God calling us to life”. We live in the tension that is most saliently displayed in the bread and wine. From this place of worship we extend the invitation to “encounter Jesus and live the story.”

 

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