It’s Coming!

Building Update # 2

Just a quick video update on the progress of VCC’s new building renovation.

Vineyard has a new home!

Finally, after a long and unexpected journey, Vineyard Community Church has a building to call home. The former Aldersgate United Methodist Church is now the Vineyard, beginning Christmas Eve 2010. We couldn’t be more excited. Stay here for more updates on renovation progress and vision for the coming months ahead. Thank you for your prayers and support through this journey, and we ask that you continue to pray and give as the next phase of this journey begins. We are more excited than ever to move forward as we follow Jesus as a community of faith, hope, and love.

Good news! Appraisal comes back good….

After a long wait, the appraisal of the Aldersgate Facility has come through, and it came back well. This was perhaps the most significant remaining hurdle in the Vineyard’s attempt to purchase the facility, and so needless to say, we are both excited and relieved. Barring any other major obstacles, we will close on the property within the week. What does this mean?

God willing, Vineyard Community Church has found it’s new facility to call home.

After a tough year, we are ready to move forward and begin renovations on the facility, which will begin immediately once the closing takes place. We’ll have more to come in the coming days and weeks, including renovation updates, pictures and videos, and vision as we move forward.

Thanks so much for your continued prayers, giving, and support. We continue to need them as the journey continues. For now, we celebrate this major step towards finding ourselves in our new facility. Stay tuned, and we’ll update as more news comes!

Moving Forward: The Aldersgate Facility and Vineyard Community Church

As you are probably aware, the road to identifying and securing the Vineyard’s next facility has been a difficult one. From our pursuit of the former Rainbow Bread Factory on the corner of 6th and Jefferson to the former J.R. Ewan Elementary School, the pastoral staff and leaders have been in the process of pursuing our next location now for almost two years. After pulling out of our attempt to purchase, the J.R. Ewan facility, we continued this pursuit, leading us to the former Aldersgate United Methodist Church on Eastland Parkway. This facility is only 2.3 miles from our current location on Winchester Rd. An offer has been made on the facility, subject to the impending appraisal, with hopes of finalizing the purchase by October.

As with any facility, the Aldersgate location holds both new opportunities and challenges. The facility is only around 15,000 square feet, compared to our current 22,000 square feet on Winchester Rd. However, there is opportunity for expansion in the future upon the 3.1 acre property. The Eastland Neighborhood is both economically and racially diverse, opening up new and greater opportunities to love and serve our city more than ever before. As it was within the Fairway neighborhood, we eagerly look forward to showing the Eastland area our commitment to not only be a good neighbor, but to exemplify Christ as a community of faith, hope, and love.

As we have asked from the beginning, please pray. Pray for the process of purchasing this facility, as we face a limited amount of time for renovations before the end of our current lease. Pray for your pastors and leaders, that God would refresh them in the midst of this long process and give them wisdom moving forward. Pray for the Eastland neighborhood, that God would begin to open doors and provide new avenues for our Church to be the body of Christ in this community.

It hasn’t been easy, but we are truly grateful for God’s grace in this process, as He has continued to unite and empower our Church through this difficult road. “Forward” hasn’t been simply a slogan – it’s been an act of faithful obedience and trust, as we truly seek to follow Jesus as a community of faith, hope, and love.

Moving on: What’s next for VCC?

The past  few months have been a long and difficult process for the Vineyard community as we sought to purchase the J.R. Ewan facility. Between the onslaught of persistent opposition and the media coverage of the events, what we expected to be a relatively simple process turned into far more than we had ever expected. But with the announcement this past weekend of our attentions to back out of our attempt to purchase J.R. Ewan, we’re ready to put the controversy behind us and continue to move forward in our mission to follow Jesus as a community of faith, hope, and love.

It would be easy to continue to dwell upon the controversy and conflict, but doing so will do nothing to further our mission or help us move forward. As Paul encouraged the Philippians, our hope is in “forgetting what is behind, and straining toward what is ahead (Phil. 3:13).” While we are disappointed in the recent outcome, our hope is not in what is behind us, but in what God has for us as we move forward, trusting His wisdom and leadership.

Our hope for the Vineyard community is found in Romans 12:12: “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Even in the midst of struggle, the joy that we display in spite of our circumstances will be a beacon of hope to our city. Hope and joy are intricately connected – when we are looking forward with hope to what God is leading us to, we are free to experience His joy in the present, not matter the circumstance. In the same way, our joy and hope allow us to be patient in our struggle. And as we wait upon the Lord to provide, we remain faithful in prayer to sustain us and empower us to move forward.

In this thought, we ask you to join us in moving forward in forgiveness, grace, and hope. Buildings are buildings, and we are the Church. More than where we are in Lexington, it matters who we are in Lexington, as we seek to be the hands and feet of Jesus wherever we are. Together, we confidently move forward to love and serve the city of Lexington as we follow Jesus as a community of faith, hope, and love.

Official Press Release Regarding Vineyard and the J.R. Ewan Facility

This past weekend, the leaders of Vineyard Community Church announced that our Church was backing away from our attempt to purchase the J.R. Ewan facility. We will elaborate more on this in the coming days here at the Forward Blog, but for now, we’ll simply post the press release regarding the situation. Stay tuned – more info to come!

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The leaders and staff of Vineyard Community Church entered the process of pursuing the former J.R. Ewan Elementary with high hopes. The prospect of inhabiting such a historical building in a beautiful neighborhood in the heart of Lexington was an incredible opportunity for our community. Our prayer was that the Fairway community would consider their neighborhood a better place as a result of our presence, and we looked forward to serving and welcoming the community with open arms.
We had no idea that the prospect of our movement into the J.R. Ewan facility would be met with such vocal and visible opposition. However, in the face of this opposition, we continued to move forward, doing our very best to build bridges between our Church and the Fairway neighborhood through open and honest dialogue. We chose to continue our pursuit for two reasons. First, we knew that not everyone in the Fairway community was against our move, despite the vocal opposition. Second, we felt a majority of the opposition was founded on rumors and misinformation about our Church and its intentions for the facility. With this in mind, we continued to move forward in our attempt to purchase J.R. Ewan.
With the Board of Adjustment hearing approaching, we are confident that our Church would be approved for its conditional use permit. But despite our confidence in this approval, we understand that an appeal of this ruling from the Fairway Neighborhood Association is almost certain. Even assuming that our case would win this appeal, it is highly unlikely that the fight against our move would end anytime soon.  The neighborhood has a history of fervently protecting and fighting against anything it feels would infringe upon the sanctity of its history and heritage.
The Fairway Neighborhood presented several conditions and restrictions for our impending use of the building, many of which were approved by the Board of Adjustments staff. However, these conditions (including limits on the number and size of events, services, membership, and outreach) would prevent any Church from effectively using the building, let alone Vineyard Community Church. What has been perceived by some as an unwillingness to cooperate with the neighborhood has simply been our continued resistance to compromise the core values and mission of our Church in the face of these restrictions.
Our Church and its leaders never intended to bring about any form of contention and conflict in these matters, and while we are disappointed by the response to our Church, we sincerely regret the division this issue has caused. We are not angry or combative people, and our heart has never been to be a divisive issue among the Fairway Neighborhood and for us to push forward in the face of continued conflict would undermine the very mission of our Church – to follow Jesus as a community of faith, hope, and love. With this in mind, we feel it is best for our Church community to pull away from our attempted purchase of the J.R. Ewan facility. We feel it would be a disservice to both our Church and the Fairway neighborhood to continue to pour our time, energy, and resources into the continuing legal dispute. As a Church, we don’t have the budget nor the sufficient funds to sustain this ongoing litigation.
Please understand that we are not angry or against the Fairway neighborhood. We hope for only the best for what we’ve come to know as a beautiful and historic community. Our prayer throughout this journey has been to display that followers of Christ aren’t angry and combative in the face of adversity. We hope that our city has seen that our posture throughout has never been about what we are against, but instead what we are for – faith, hope, and love. We look forward to wherever God leads our community next, and trust that He has even better things ahead for Vineyard Community Church, as we look forward to loving and serving our city for years to come.

An update on last night’s open forum meeting…

As many of you know, last night the Fairway Neighborhood Association hosted an open forum to allow the Fairway neighborhood to voices questions and concerns about the Vineyard’s potential purchase of J.R. Ewan Elementary School. We expected a large crowd, and were not disappointed, as the room filled up with over 200 people, filling up the seats and overflowing around the entire room. The format of the meeting allowed both pre-submitted questions as well as open-mic comments and additional questions. The VCC staff and several leaders did their best to roll out the red carpet, providing coffee and refreshments, a welcome table, and opportunities for the community to write prayer concerns and ideas for the facility. (To read the Herald Leader article on the event, click here.)

While the conversation remained entirely cordial for the most part, there was plenty of vocal opposition to our move. While (hopefully) clearing up the false rumors of our intentions to open a homeless shelter/soup kitchen, the primary concern turned to the issue of parking and the traffic impact on the neighborhood. Our staff did everything possible to communicate the specific intentions and proposed uses for the building, and while we acknowledge some neighborhood impact, we tried to calm fears that we felt were being overblown concerning the traffic.

Beyond these primary concerns, some in the neighborhood simply don’t see the need for our church (or any church) in the neighborhood. Some expressed that since our church cared so much for the poor, we don’t belong in a neighborhood where there essentially are no ‘needs.’ Others expressed fear concerning our churches growth and the impact in the coming years of more and more people coming to the Vineyard. One woman even asked how much money the neighborhood would need to raise for us to back out of our contract to buy the building. Another proposed a contract that would limit the types of activities and the number of members our church could have.  Needless to say, the opposition was strong and very vocal.

However, not all in attendance were opposed to our move. Many expressed support for our move both publicly and privately, and were excited about the possibilities of the partnership that could take place. Some expressed the hope that the Vineyard could help restore a sense of true community again in the neighborhood, something they felt had been lost over the years.

All in all, it was was a positive step forward, despite the opposition. We hope that much of the misinformation has been cleared up in the minds of the community, and hopefully last nights meeting will serve to build a foundation of future trust. As the dust settles, we are moving forward, encouraged by what God is dong in our midst – despite the controversy that surrounds us.

Why are we encouraged?

We are being labeled as a growing church that cares deeply about the poor and marginalized. Our response? Guilty! Hundreds of people who had never even been to our church know us as a church that is growing and deeply ingrained in issues of the poor. This is an honor, and one we are glad to be labeled as.

Through the publicity and media, the city and region are seeing that Christians don’t have to be angry and combative – even when they are opposed! We are committed to lead with love, not anger and defensiveness. We believe our posture will display Christ as much as our message.

In the face of the opposition, we are not compromising our mission and calling as a church. As mentioned earlier, one attendee approached the mic with a proposed contract to eliminate certain church activities on the grounds (including concerts, the Christmas Store, a food pantry, etc.) and have a cap for the number of members. Our response? No. Even under the pressure of opposition on all sides, Kevin spoke for us passionately and without compromise in regards to what God has called us to.

It still comes down to LOVE.

Now more than ever, it’s important that the Vineyard be a people of love. Whether on websites or blogs or in public conversations, we ask you continue to take a posture of love and compassion, not judgement and combativeness. Join us in continuing to pray for the Fairway and Kenwick communities, for our church and leaders, and for wisdom leading forward. One thing is certain – God is sovereign, He is good, and He is leading us; and we trust Him. Together, now more than ever, we move forward!

We need you to pray!

As many of you know, tonight at J.R. Ewan the VCC staff will be a part of an open forum for the Fairway and Kenwick neighborhoods concerning our potential move to the facility. This gathering will be an opportunity for the neighborhood to voice their concerns about the move, as well as ask questions concerning our intentions in the facility.

Needless to say, this is an important meeting! Our hope is to bring clarity to the many misconceptions, rumors, and assumptions about our Church and the move, and hopefully begin the process of building bridges of cooperation and support within the community. As we’ve said on several occasions, we are not angry and combative, and we aren’t approaching this meeting with an ‘us-against-them’ mentality. Instead, we hope to be open, honest, and loving in our communication of why we feel our presence would only enhance the neighborhood and our city.

Note: Many have asked if they need and/or are allowed to attend this meeting. As this is intended to be for the Fairway/Kenwick Neighborhoods, we prefer our congregation not attend the meeting. Our staff and leaders will represent our community well in this gathering. What can you do?

We need you to pray!

Obviously, we need you to pray. As we move forward, we are trusting God to lead and accomplish what we can’t in our own power. So how can you pray?

Pray for the Fairway and Kenwick Neighborhoods. Pray for God’s favor among the community – that He would break down walls and barriers between us in order to build a lasting trust.

Pray for your staff and leaders. Pray that God would strengthen us and speak clearly through us to bring clarity and trust to this community. Pray that  we would lead with courage, humility, and love.

Pray that God would use this experience to display His love for Lexington. As the publicity inevitably comes, pray that God would use our example in our city and region to show that Christians are a people of faith, hope, and love – not angry, combative, and defensive.

Pray for God to unite our Church as one in heart, mind, and mission. Pray that our unity would display God’s love in Christ as Jesus prayed in John 17.

Pray for God to provide for our financial needs to move forward in our relocation. Pray for joyful and sacrificial giving as we unite for the mission God has called us to.

Thank you for joining us in praying and trusting God to lead. We wholeheartedly believe that this facility can be a tool and launch-pad to love and serve our city and world. Here we go!

How Do We Respond?

It’s been an interesting couple of days around the Vineyard. On Monday night, the signs seen in the above picture were placed in several yards in the Fairway Neighborhood, which surrounds J.R. Ewan Elementary School, which we are in the process of purchasing. On Tuesday morning, the local news picked up on the story, followed by the Herald Leader covering the neighborhood’s displeasure later in the day. We were, needless to say, very surprised and blown away by the signs and the amount of time and resources that had gone into this effort. So why all the fuss, you ask?

The Issues at Hand

There are two primary concerns that form the heart of the opposition to our move to J.R. Ewan. First, the level of parking and traffic that will accompany our move is thought by many in the neighborhood to be an unwelcome change. While parking is going to be a legitimate concern at any site, the current available parking meets the allotted number of spaces according to city code. Along with the assistance of a parking team, we believe that we can serve the parking needs of our church without causing major problems with street parking and access traffic. We have been diligent from the beginning to make parking a priority in the pursuit of our next facility.

The second major concern raised is the product of misconceptions and rumors concerning the types of ministries our church intends to house in the next facility. Unbeknownst to us, the perception that we intend to use our next facility as a homeless shelter and soup kitchen has been widely circulated among those who oppose our move. This belief is likely based on the Vineyard’s reputation of being active in ministries to the poor and the marginalized – a reputation we are proud to earn and stand by. However, the Vineyard has never facilitated or pursued the idea of becoming a homeless shelter or soup kitchen, and has never had the intention to do so. Why? We already joyfully partner and volunteer with ministries that served the homeless and hungry well! The Catholic Action Center, Lexington Rescue Mission, and Lighthouse Ministries are already doing an amazing job. Rather than trying to recreate something new, we go where God already is. It’s our heart not to concentrate ministry in one facility – but to go outside the walls of our church where the need truly is.

How should we respond?

In any situation in which we feel misunderstood or misrepresented, it’s easy to fall back into a posture of judgment, fear, or defensiveness. However, we must understand that in moments like these, the world around us will see Jesus as much through our posture as through the message we bring. In other words, it’s not just what we communicate to people, it’s how we communicate.  Our mission at Vineyard is simple: to follow Jesus as a community of faith, hope, and love. In exploring the heart of our mission, we can more fully understand how to respond to the opposition.

We are a people of faith. As the writer of Hebrew states, faith is “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Heb. 11:1).” As a church community, we place our faith in God to lead us through this process, knowing that He alone will provide for us everything we need. In response to opposition and suffering, 1 Peter reminds us in chapter 3 to “set apart Christ as Lord.” He’s the One we look to in times of trouble. If we mistakingly think that our fate lies in the hands of committees, councils, and governments, we will live in fear of man. As we continue to move forward, it is imperative that we place our trust in God as a provider, defender, and hope. Where He leads us, He will provide for us, bringing all things together for His glory and our good.

We are a people of hope. Hope is looking forward with an expectation. Our hope looking forward is to see our next facility at J.R. Ewan Elementary be a place of passionate worship and a sending point to love and serve our city. As we’ve seen, some in the community do not share our hopes. How do we respond? We see, then, in 1 Peter that we are to “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have (v. 15).” As we look forward with hope in what God will do through this facility, we do so believing that God will use our church to love and serve this community in ways that it cannot see. And so we hold fast to this hope, trusting God to lead the way.

We are a people of love. Peter doesn’t just tell us to know the reason for our hope. How we communicate this hope matters too. He tells us to do this “with gentleness and respect (vs. 15).” The posture of our relationship with this community has to be one of love, grace, gentleness, and respect. Jesus tells His disciples that they are to be known by love, and if we fail to embody this love in the way we encounter this opposition, we will undermine the heart of what God is calling us to do in the first place. If God is our defender, we have no need for defensiveness. In every act of service and in every kind word, we display the God who loves this community.

As we move forward, our prayer is that every member of Vineyard Community Church would embody the faith, hope, and love that still serves as the foundation of our mission. We move forward together, trusting God to lead the way.