Membership as Involvement

If you want to explore what belonging to our community means, then there are six or seven things we would ask you to do:

1. Attend Sunday services This is a chance for our whole community to gather together in one place to worship God, pray for each other, and hear God's story retold and explained.

2. Join a Homegroup As you get to know us, you'll discover that our community is made up of lots of smaller ones that meet in people's homes during the week. These groups are a place to know and be known, and work with a small group of other people in reordering life around following Jesus. Each of our groups share the same values but are unique in terms of where and when they meet together and who is part of them. Feel free to try any or all of them.

3. Find somewhere to serve Serving others is something we value deeply, and is a great way of becoming a part of our community. There are lots of opportunities to serve with the various outreach ministries, projects and events within the life of bristol vineyard. in addition, there are a number of teams involved in serving at our main meetings, through the small groups, as well as many more possibilities in the community as a whole. We want to be a bunch of activists, and as the church develops we will be able to achieve a great deal if we roll up our sleeves, use the gifts we have and serve one another where help is needed.

4. Pray regularly One of our community's core values is prayer and the lifestyle of continued dependence on God for companionship, guidance and help. An individual's inward journey draws much from the activity of prayer, and we hope that each person who considers them a member of this community pursues the habit of prayer. There are also many opportunities in the community to pray.

5. Give a portion of your income regularly We see the whole of the Bible's story to be about God's extravagant generosity in giving again and again to His people and calling them to lives of consistent generosity. inspired by this, we seek to be a generous community. One aspect of this generosity is financial, although there are plenty of other ways of giving to God and His world: our time and our energy to name but two. We are a community that loves to be generous both locally and globally. We are committed to freely giving away all that we have freely received from a generous God. We invite you to join us in regular acts of generosity. We believe that the Bible gives practical advice on financial giving. The best way that we can capture the spirit of biblical generosity is to say to ourselves not how much must i give, but how much dare i keep? Not shall i give, but how much of the money that i hold in trust for Jesus can i take for my private use? The question is not can i afford to give, but can i justify the life-style that consumes all of my income? And behind that is the question: Do i love to use God's money to spread justice, mercy and hope in the world, or do i prefer to use His money to purchase more and more personal comfort? Everything that happens in bristol vineyard is funded by the giving of the members of the community. We are an entirely self-funded body. This means that all the stuff we do is paid for by our giving. it also covers those who are salaried by bristol vineyard and the running costs of the office. bristol vineyard also seeks to give away at least ten percent of our income: to our community, to other projects in Bristol and those based nationally and internationally.

6. Finally, get the blessing of your former Church Lastly, if you are moving to us from another church in the Bristol area (obviously this doesn't apply if this is the first church you have regularly attended, don't worry) it is very important to us that you go to your leader there and ask them to release you with their blessing before becoming a member of bristol vineyard.