Feel burdened by the news coming out of Minneapolis? We do, too.

Consider a gift to our sister churches in the Twin Cities as they distribute to those fearful to leave their homes in these dark times.

 

Alpha is space for exploring questions and doubts about faith, spirituality, and Jesus in an open, social and non-judgmental atmosphere. Alpha runs 10 weeks and each night includes drinks & apps, an episode of the Alpha film series, followed by dessert & discussion of some aspect of Jesus and spirituality from a Christian perspective.

Who is Alpha for? Anyone with questions, doubts, or an interest in learning more about Jesus. At Alpha, you can ask anything—it's a safe space to question life, faith, and meaning. Everyone is welcome.

Can I bring along kids? No, we do not have childcare on site.

How much does it cost? Alpha is free of charge and there is no pressure to come back if you decide it's not for you.

How do I sign up?

What is Alpha? 

• Alpha a 10-week dinner party & discussion group focused on spirituality, Jesus, and faith.
• It’s an introduction to Jesus for non-churchgoers and skeptics.
• It’s without a doubt, the single best way to help your friends and neighbors discover new life with Jesus.
• Alpha is worldwide (160 countries, hundreds of denominations, 30 million attendees to date)

Who could I invite to Alpha? 
All of meet people who would be miraculously transformed by an experience at the Alpha Course: the neighbor who’s new to the area, the co-worker who is battling a bad diagnosis, the lonely cashier we chat with.

Will non-churchgoers really show up? 
Here’s what our Alpha teams have discovered about inviting others to Alpha…

• Despite the fear that people won’t be interested, most people are rather curious about event that combines food, beer & wine with ‘anything-goes’ conversation about life’s big questions—even if it is at a church.
• Despite the concern that people won’t be interested in talking about Jesus and Christianity, most are open to sincere conversation—as long as no one crams it down their throat.
• Despite the worry that people will suspect of of false motives, most appreciate that someone cared enough to invite them—including others is kindness not weirdness!
• Despite the anxiety that people who show up will find it weird, almost everyone that attends Alpha loves it—yes, LOVES IT!

Even those that decide Christianity isn’t for them report that Alpha is one of the most enjoyable and invigorating events they’ve ever attended. Where else can you enjoy good food and drink, positive and supportive new friendships, and completely safe conversations about deeply personal life convictions? Most are pleasantly surprised to find there is no hard sales pitch with Alpha, no catch, no strings-attached, no requests for money, no pressure to respond in any way at all. Just welcome, hospitality, and fun.

Believe it or not, in that environment, many people do discover that Jesus is good news, that God is already at work in their life, and that they’d love to take the next steps toward life with Jesus.

OK, I'm ready to invite someone...how do I break the ice?
The best place to start is with a low-pressure text message (or facebook message if you don’t have their phone #). Text messages are non-intrusive and non-awkward. If people do respond with interest, you can always follow up with a conversation, but you can break the ice with a text message.

You can also send along the link to info & signup, vineyardnorth.com/alpha 

Here are some of my actual invitation texts (feel free to copy & paste them)
To a neighbor I regularly see, but have never talked with about faith or church

Hey _____, what are you up to on Sundays? I’m going to this event at my church called the Alpha Course and I thought you might be interested. It’s a weekly dinner party event with anything-goes discussions about faith, Jesus, and spirituality. Not sure if you’re into that sort of thing, but if you are, let’s chat! It Sunday evenings starting Sunday, January 19, 5 pm and you can drop in just to check it out once if you like.

To someone I haven’t seen in awhile
Hey _____, what’s up!? Been way too long! I was just thinking about you because I’m attending an event called Alpha and I think it would your sort of thing. It’s basically a dinner party conversation group about spirituality, Jesus, and life’s biggest questions. Sounds religious, but it’s actually a group for the curious, the skeptic, and those with doubts to explore questions of faith in an anything-goes environment—all over dinner and dessert. It's Sunday evenings starting Sunday, January 19, 5 pm if you're interested.

To a neighbor that has expressed an interest in going to church
Hey ______, I’m helping out with this event this winter I thought you might be interested in. It’s called the Alpha Course and it’s a dinner party conversation group focused on spirituality & Jesus. It’s hosted by my church, but it’s specifically created for people that don’t really go to church but have an interest in talking about life’s deep questions, God, etc. You mentioned you wondering about checking out church, and if you haven’t yet, Alpha is a really fun way to explore the topic, but over dinner and dessert! If you’re at all interested, it happens Sunday evenings starting Sunday, January 19, 5:00 pm.

So, if you’ve ever thought to yourself…”gee, I really should invite so-and-so to Alpha” don’t delay! Shoot out a couple texts RIGHT NOW. Before you second guess yourself. At worst, you may not get a response—not the worst thing in the world. At very least, it might turn into an interesting conversation next time you see them. Or, it might turn into the best thing that happens to you this fall! Give it a go!

Need more inspiration…check out this video from the Alpha International.

Want to see what an entire Alpha presentation is like? Here’s the video from week 1, which is followed by small group discussion.

Did you hear the rumors? This time last year I had a grand idea: what if we bought a historic cathedral in the city and turned it into a new home for the Vineyard? It's true! I like to dream! But don't be alarmed...at this point there are no plans to buy a cathedral.

What started as a hair-brained idea turned into a year of soul-searching, inter-church dialogue, formal discussion among our Vineyard leaders. The net result was this conclusion: God is inviting us to partner with Bridge Street Ministries to serve marginalized teens & families on Grand Rapids west side.

It appears that God may have just used this crazy cathedral idea to help us dream bigger. And to answer a longtime prayer. For the last five, I've been asking God, what's next? What else do you have for us to do...beyond our church's four walls?

If you've been around for 10+ years, you'll remember that there was a season where Vineyard North had an "inner-city" ministry on the East Beltline. For many years, the surrounding apartment complexes were subsidized housing, occupied by those priced out of the gentrifying downtown neighborhoods. During that period, our church launched a dozen ministries to serve under-resourced people: from single mom's programs to automotive repair, addiction recovery, cash assistance, budget counseling, and even a farm garden to support our pantry. It was an amazing season for our church, discovering that God uses the poor to help the rich as much as the other way around. During that season, we concluded that diversity is a gift from God.

Eventually, the economic situation changed: the once-subsidized apartments were bought up by new developers and renovated, pricing out most of those we served. Since that time, I've been asking God, what next? Is there more for us to do in this city? Are we destined to become a sleepy suburban church serving only its own? Or do you have something else for us to do? What I couldn't have known is that we'd spend five years fighting our own battles: tragic deaths and divorces and political divisions—and then a global pandemic. But that was then and this is now.

We believe that the Lord has been beckoning us for the last year or so to "Cross Over", from wilderness to Promised Land. While we're not sure where this will lead, we believe he's opening a door to serve our city through pursuing a partnership with Bridge Street Ministries, serving the lower West Side of Grand Rapids.

There was a time I didn't really care about the West Side. Sure, I liked the restaurants and I was impressed by the cathedral, but little else. Then, in November 2023 a surprising thing occurred. Our foster son and his arriving family from Afghanistan took up residence 2 blocks from our friends at Bridge St. Ministries! Almost overnight, this random neighborhood became for me a place of concern and compassion. By the time we did our staff's annual planning in February, our whole pastoral team agreed, this seems like God.

Starting now, we're taking several exciting steps in 2024 to say yes to what we believe is God's leading. We're calling it "The Bridge Project." The our goal is to build a bridge to a future of more fruitful ministry at the Vineyard, strengthening and mobilizing our church to serve a cause bigger than our own. Here's what is on the horizon:

1. We're hiring a youth ministry director June 1, Matthew Nagle, who will be jointly-employed at Vineyard and Bridge Street Ministries. He'll be serving both our teens and teens enrolled in BSM's West Side afterschool "Resurgence" program. He will be tasked not only with running youth programs, but engaging our teens in ministry to others.
2. We're getting organized in-house, hiring Laura Breese for a "Community Life Admin" role aimed at bringing consistency and clarity to church communications, program coordination, and office resourcing. As you may have noticed, much of our operations has been ragged and messy since the Covid shutdown. This is the year we fix that.
3. We're inviting high school graduates from all over the Vineyard movement to join BSM's 2024-25 gap year program, the Grand Rapids Bridge Year. If you're familiar with YWAM, it's a similar format: a 9-month in-residence ministry training that includes a 2-month mission in Guatemala. Unlike YWAM,  emphasizes vocational and college prep, local church ministry, and theology coursework for college credit (some of it taught by our own Dr. Geoffrey Holsclaw!). In coming years we hope to see many students each year calling Vineyard GR home during their year gap year in Grand Rapids.
4. We're preparing to "adopt" the West Side afterschool "Resurgence" program site, assisting with volunteers, resourcing involved students, and blessing their entire families.

• Join us at 9:00 am Sundays for a special season of prayer aimed at accelerating The Bridge Project.
• From now through fall 2024, we're aiming to increase our giving by 13%, or $4000/mo. If you're new to the church, or if you're in a position to reconsider your giving, this is a season where you can make a big difference. Here's a link to set up online giving.
• Starting this summer, we'll be announcing a variety of ways you can be involved in new ministry opportunities. Stay tuned.

On behalf of our whole pastoral team, I want to thank you to all of you who have prayed for and labored in this church. We believe now is the season to lay hold of dreams God has put in our hearts. And we're so glad to be in this together!

With love & gratitude,
Pastor Mike

Vineyard is launching a new mobile app with an all new feature—group chat! Stay in touch with your groups and ministry teams, share prayer requests, and more. The app also includes church announcements, video livestream and replay of past services, giving, signups, calendar, and a number of free media resources.
Download it in the Apple or Android app store by searching for Vineyard Grand Rapids.

Every month, we serve several hundred local families by supplying them with frozen, canned, and fresh food. This is part of how we LIVE JESUS’ LIFE TOGETHER—working like Jesus.

You can join us for preparation on Friday (2pm-4pm for unloading the truck, and 5pm-6pm for organizing) and/or Saturday for distribution (times needed from 7:30-11:30).

Here are the specific service opportunities

• FRIDAY, 2-4 pm – Assemble boxes, unload trailer, set up tables, set up and prep items on tables.
• FRIDAY, 6-7 pm – Fill boxes with dry goods/staples and stage them by the front doors. Reset tables in the multi-purpose room for meat packing. We moved this forward because the Rise Up: Hearing From God event starts at 6:30pm.
• SATURDAY, 7:30am - 10:30am – Food Prep/Clean Up – Bag frozen meat, prep produce, reset/clean church.
• SATURDAY, 9:00am to 11:30 am – Distribution/Clean Up* – Unload truck (produce and perishables). Stage items for distribution. Reset/clean church.
• SATURDAY, 8:00 am – 10:00 am – Prayer*
• *The distribution and prayer teams will be outside. Please dress for the weather.