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Vineyard Church North Phoenix | VCNP Leadership Monthly for August, 2007

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VCNP Leadership Monthly for August, 2007

Brian's Corner

Leadership in the Vineyard

In this leadership e-mail, I would like to remind you of some things I learned early on from John Wimber about leadership in the Vineyard movement. John Wimber, for those of you who don’t know, is the late founder of the Vineyard movement. He was a very gifted and godly man.

He laid out these seven values for leading in the Vineyard which are still true for us today in our Church:

  1. Spiritual leaders are lovers of God.
    The Core motivation of Vineyard leaders must be to fulfill the greatest commandment - - which is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mk. 12:30). Psalm 42:1-2 beautifully expresses this ardent love which leaders are given as a gift from God: “As the deer pants for water, so my soul thirsts for you, O God. My soul thirsts for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?”


  2. Leaders must be saturated in the Word of God.
    Paul admonished Timothy to, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15).

    Those who lead in the Vineyard must know the Scriptures, the inerrant Word of God, our only infallible rule for faith, life and practice. Not only must leaders have a high view of Scripture, giving it positional or doctrinal authority, they must also allow Scripture to have functional authority in their daily lives. It is not enough to give mere mental assent to Bible information. Leaders must seek formation and spiritual transformation through a deep knowledge of the Word.


  3. Leaders are called to a life of service and self-sacrifice.
    In the Vineyard, we perceive leadership not as a position, or title, or power, or authority, or respect, or privilege but rather an obligation to service and self-sacrifice. This was Jesus’ model: “Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mk. 10:43-45).


  4. Leaders must be full of the Spirit, good character, wisdom and faith.
    Leaders must be people of good reputation who demonstrate fullness of the Holy Spirit, wisdom, and faith.

    Leaders must be capable and respected, mature in the faith, tested in character with proven ministry ability.

    “An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, uncontentious, free from the love of money. He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity…not a new convert…and he must have a good reputation with those outside the church” (I Tim. 3:2-7).

    Mature leaders are trustworthy. They resist being bribed or bought. Their spiritual immune system is healthy enough to fight off the infection of greed that so pervades our culture. “Select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain” (Ex. 18:21a).


  5. Wise leaders are accountable, able to accept reproof, and willing to repent.
    Willingness to be judged by strict standards and to accept reproof is a sure sign of a maturing leader. “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgment” (Jas. 3:1).


  6. Leaders who are true shepherds have a God-given love for people.
    Remember the Lord’s words to Peter after his miserable failure and lack of loyalty? “Jesus said to him, ‘Tend my sheep’” (Jn. 21:17). But leaders who persist in denying the Lord end up like malevolent wolves among the sheep. The Lord has harsh words for these: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock! I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them” (Ezek. 3:2, 10).


  7. Good leaders are humble team players.
    A leader must be willing to be a “team player.” Good leaders make it their aim to equip others so that they succeed in fulfilling their calling. A leader who understands “Team Vineyard” is secure enough to let others play what would normally be his position - - even if the new guy does not play it as well.

    Team players are thankful - - not jealous - - when God raises up a “star player” to lead the team for a season; they understand that when one player shines the whole team advances. “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others” (Phil. 2:3-4).

I think it is good for us to remind ourselves of these things every once in a while and evaluate any areas we need to work on!

Love,

Brian

Update on Recent Events

Vineyard Kids’ Camp

Kids’ camp went extremely well. We took 80 kids up to UCYC, where Mark Carter actually spoke. The theme was DRIVE, which was a NASCAR theme, and dealt with issues of; "Do you have a crew chief?", "Are we using the right tools?", and "Teamwork." The worship band came from Christ Church of the Valley; the kids enjoyed worship immensely. We had incredible times of ministry. Out of the 80 kids, we had possibly 15 kids who gave their lives to Christ for the first time and 30-40 kids rededicated their lives to Christ. We had a special night of ministry where the Holy Spirit just showed up and ministered to the hearts of minds of these kids. No matter how many times I see that, it always amazes and blesses me. It's quite a beautiful thing to watch a child experience the presence of God. Many great relationships were also developed between our Children's Ministry volunteers and the kids. I've seen that carry over into the classrooms on Sunday mornings and Saturday evenings.

-Mike Denk, Children’s Pastor

Girls’ Night Out

"Friday Night Live" was the theme of our annual Women's Ministry "fun" event, "Girl's Night Out." The VCNP drama team put on a stellar show with video and skits. "Elvis" and his band even made an appearance. With well over 250 in attendance, it was a fun way to spend the evening with women of all ages and possibly win one of over 20 door prizes.

-Thora Anderson, Associate Pastor

4th of July Celebration

Our 2007 4th of July outreach was a huge success! Over 2500 people from our community came to celebrate Independence Day with us. We had several events, including several games and free food! We gave away many prizes, were entertained by clowns, and laughed as our kids splashed down water slides. We enjoyed entertainment by a guest band, Wilby Dunn. At the end of the night we enjoyed a great fireworks display compliments of the City of Glendale.

I am so proud of how we as the Vineyard family blessed our community. Keep up the good work!

-Dave Johnson, Associate Pastor

  

Events and Highlights

Here are some major events that we can expect to see soon:

Upcoming Classes:

 
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