is to see GOD transform us into a   WORSHIPING COMMUNITY of MISSIONAL THEOLOGIANS

What makes this church unique?

• Vintage Faith Church strives to reflect the ancient roots and values of early Christianity

  Christianity is not a modern man-made “organized religion”, but one that is organic, community-oriented and has historical roots going back to the very beginning of the Bible. We have gone back into the New Testament and looked at church history to see what the “vintage” early-church was like, and are attempting to translate those values of the early church vision into a church for Santa Cruz in today's culture. It may look a lot different today, because we are not living in the culture of the first century. But we still strive to see our values and biblical teachings hold true to the “vintage” values and teachings in Scripture and then translated into the culture of Santa Cruz.

• Vintage Faith Church is about "Being the Church" vs. "Going to Church"

  Nowhere in the New Testament do you read that the followers of Jesus "went to church." What you do read is that the church (the people) gathered together. There is a big difference between the two. The church is the people, not a place or a meeting you attend. We believe that in the modern world, the "church" has become known as a place that people go to vs. a people on a mission for God. We cannot underestimate the power of how words shape our understanding of what a "church" is and how it is supposed to function. Vintage Faith Church has large weekly worship gatherings, and will have various other classes and meetings that happen at a "place"- but foremost, we will function as a community of “people” who are living as the church all week long (1 Corinthians 12).

• Vintage Faith Church is a multi-generational church, comprised of individuals and families

  Vintage Faith Church is open to anyone, of any age, who connects with the heart of the church community and its philosophy of ministry. Due to the nature of the worship approach and philosophy of ministry, it will probably be very attractive in particular to emerging generations and younger families. However, we are finding that the approach to "vintage-Christianity" we have taken is resonating with hearts from all generations. Our core leadership group is comprised of all ages. A very high value in this church is honoring the older generations, who we view as mentors to the younger generation.

• Vintage Faith Church is a holistically designed, family based church

  We are developing a holistic family ministry at Vintage Faith Church. Approaching the family holistically means that we will have very strong children's and youth ministries. We will strive to creatively think through ways in which families can worship all together as one and connect together through events and retreats. Our youth ministry will also be uniquely designed, as we are extremely passionate about youth and many of our core leaders have a strong background in youth ministry. Youth ministry has been undergoing a transformation in America, and we see Vintage Faith Church at the forefront of this movement, seeking out ways that teenagers can be uniquely ministered to, while also remaining fully part of the larger church community.

• Vintage Faith Church has the arts and creativity in our blood

  From the very beginning, Vintage Faith has had incredibly talented artists in its midst and many of them serve in leadership. We see beauty and the arts, not as a program of the church, but something that is ingrained in who we are. We believe that God created us in His image and that God's creativity should be reflected in the church. We are passionate about expressing our faith and communicating the Scriptures through creative means. Art, music, poetry, photography, dance, and acting are all encouraged and in the fabric of the church's worship expression (Genesis 1, Exodus 31:3-4).

• Vintage Faith Church is missional
  

  Being "missional" simply means being outward and others-focused, with the goal of expressing and sharing the love of Jesus. Jesus told His followers not  to remove themselves from the world and create an isolated Christian sub-culture. Rather, He taught His followers to be engaged in the world with people (John 17:15). The church was not created for itself, but was created to worship God and to spread His love to others. We each were created for a missional purpose. Therefore, we won't have a specific "missions department" because the whole church itself is a mission. Jesus clearly told the church to "go and make disciples" (Matthew 28:18-20). For us today, this command is not exclusive to overseas missions alone (which we support wholeheartedly since global missions is extremely important) but is foremost to be lived out in our own communities, families, and day to day lives (Colossians 4:5-6). Because of this mission…Those who are part of this church serve each other so that we experience true community (Acts 2:42-47; John 13:34-35). We are passionate about helping people discover that they are a very valuable part of the "body of Christ" and each has an important role to serve in (1 Corinthians 12:27). Those who are part of the church are taught how to be serious “disciples” (apprentices) of Jesus, as we represent Him to those around us (2 Corinthians 5:20). Making disciples (as Jesus called it in Matthew 28:19) will be the primary ultimate goal of this church. Those in the church are taught how to be serious students of the Scriptures, not content with knowing the Bible only at a surface level, but desiring to have a deep understanding of the entire Bible. Church leadership is committed to seeing that Scripture is taught deeply and encouraging those in this church to become "self-feeders" of the Scriptures (Hebrews 5:11-14). The family is highly valued, taught about and supported through various developing ministries (marriage, family, children etc.), as the family is critical in the shaping of our society and culture (Matthew 19:4-6, Deuteronomy 6:4-9). Those in the church have hearts that break for those who have not yet experienced the love and grace of God and joy of knowing and following Jesus (2 Peter 3:9). We want to see people and love people as Jesus did (Matthew 9:35-38). Those in the church have a heart for being involved in our local community and in activities that express the love of God outside of our internal church events. This church does not measure success by attendance, professionalism or production, but instead measures our success based on how we are constantly seeking to increase our love for God and for people (Matthew 22:37-39). At Vintage Faith Church, the "church" is not something you go to, but is something you are.

Vintage Faith Church strives to be a different kind of church community in Santa Cruz, one that approaches the teachings of Jesus and Christian spirituality in a fresh way. We are living in an increasingly post-Christian culture, and VFC is philosophically designed to reconnect with and engage the emerging culture of Santa Cruz and the surrounding areas.

There is an incredible openness to Jesus and spirituality in our emerging culture, but unfortunately there are many misconceptions about what Christianity is all about. Approaches to ministry and church that used to be effective (and sometimes still are in certain contexts) can often alienate and even build mistrust with those in this culture. A major motivation for this church community being in existence is the increasing need for a different type of church with a different approach.

Vintage Faith is rethinking church and ministry and trying to live out our faith as missionaries would, engaging with the people around us and understanding how to communicate Jesus’ love in the language of the culture. We hope that God will use the Vintage Faith Church community to be the light of Jesus here in Santa Cruz and beyond.

Before we go into more detail about the unique vision and mission of VFC, we want to remind everyone what “church” really is according to the Scriptures. Church is the Greek word ‘ekklesia’ which means to be “called out” or an “assembly.” The “church” is not a building, the “church” is actually the people of God, who worship Him and who are on a mission together as community. To understand the mindset of our vision, it is critical to grasp the concept that you can’t attend a church.  You can’t go to a church.  You are the church.

In our culture, however, most people think church is something you go to, like an event or a building. This thinking is why so many of American churches have lost the mission Jesus sent us on and don’t really grasp the reason He created the church in the first place. It is easy to fall into thinking that “church” is primarily about the times we gathering together with other Christians. Our American culture has also become increasingly focused on consumerism and individualism, which has impacted the way followers of Jesus live out their faith, causing us to often see the church primarily as a means to meeting our own personal needs and wishes, instead of seeing the church as a supernatural community and family serving one another and on a mission together, here to serve God and serve others before ourselves.

“The church is the only institution that exists solely for the benefit of nonmembers.”
   - G.K. Chesterson 

 “. . . Our motto degenerated from ‘We are the church, here to serve a broken world’ to ‘What does the church have to offer me?’. . . are we too much about us getting fed and too little about us exercising our faith?”   -From “An Unstoppable Force” by Erwin McManus, Pastor of Mosaic Church in Los Angeles

The very first thing Jesus said His disciples was not “be cozy and huddle together in isolation from the hedonistic, immoral world,” nor was it “create a Christian bubble and sub-culture.” It was actually the very opposite: He immediately tells them that following Him means having an outward focus:

“As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to catch people.”
    - Matthew 4:18-19

The last recorded words Jesus said before He ascended to heaven (“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Acts 1:8) were about being on an outward mission. This is why Vintage Faith Church and First Presbyterian exist… we desire to be on the mission that Jesus sent His disciples on. But as we are on that mission, it also means caring and shepherding for the believers of the church: growing them, helping them cultivate community, teaching them to be theologian.

"worship" = the act of adoring, praising and ascribing worth to God; offering our service to God

Foremost, we are to be worshipers of God. Our desire is to grow in our love for God and worship Him with all we do and with all we are. We want to see our worship expressed holistically through our day to day living and lifestyle. We desire our worship to be expressed in creativity and in beauty, since God is the ultimate creator.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship." 
   - Romans 12:1

To grow in our WORSHIP:

• we seek to be worshipers wherever we are, creating a culture of worship
• we long to break out of a two-dimensional mode of worship during our gatherings and move into variety of ways that we express our love for God and learn the Scriptures, as people have a diversity of learning styles and temperaments
• we use the arts as a creative expression of worship because we are created in the  image of God, who is the ultimate Creator
• we look to the historical church for inspiration and practice spiritual worship, blending the  ancient with present
• we try to incorporate prayer everywhere in our community, as prayer demonstrates our dependency upon God
• we desperately look for the Holy Spirit’s leading and direction for the church and do not only rely on human methodologies for ministry
• we have developed communities for those interested in art, music, theater and film

God exists in community, as Father, Son and Holy Spirit and we as people created in the image of God are also created to exist in community. The church is supposed to function as a family and a community; Jesus instructed His followers to love one another as the primary way others will know we are His disciples. The Christian church should function as a family who encourages, prays, supports and equips one another while on the mission together. The church is not a meeting, nor a place, but a “family.”

The primary function of Vintage Faith Church’s leadership is to focus on training and building into those serving as leaders in the community, so that its not just the “pastors” caring for the community, but the community caring for and sustaining itself. We also value family and want to enable families to worship together so that children and teenagers feel part of the church rather than a segment of the church.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  - John 13:34-35

“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”  - 1 Corinthian 12:27

“It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.” - Ephesians 4:11-13

Because of the complexity of being a larger church, we see “community”  as being broken down into smaller settings, since that cannot happen in a large worship gathering once a week.

To grow in COMMUNITY:

• We have Community Groups (mini-churches) meeting mid-week in homes all over Santa Cruz and the surrounding areas. The heart of these groups is to emulate the Early Church (Acts 2:20, Colossians 4:15) and its practice of meeting in smaller groups to study, pray and do life together. We see the larger weekend worship gathering as a collection of these smaller communities
• We try to create a sense of community among those who serve on ministry teams
• We have a few affinity-communities within the larger community (outdoor adventures, ministry to women, artists) and are in the process of establishing more (parents, men’s, artists, college)
• Children’s Ministry is working toward the goal of having families worship and learn together in the larger gatherings on a periodic basis

The church was never meant to be withdrawn, isolated or exist only to meet its own needs. Instead, the church is to be in the world, but not of the world (John 17). Being “missional” means that we will exist for the sake of inviting others into Kingdom living and eternal life. Vintage Faith doesn’t have a missions department; it is mission.

“..you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  - Acts 1:8

To grow our MISSION:

• We will take the commands of Jesus seriously and do whatever it takes to see others experience the Kingdom of God and the good news of Jesus
• We will remain pure and holy, yet never disconnecting from the culture around us
• We will passionately strive to see those who have rejected the Christian faith experience the light and love of Jesus through us
• We will see missions as holistic -- both local and global and involved in social justice issues
• We will continue to develop the Abbey Coffee, Art and Music Lounge as an art gallery, coffeehouse, and music venue in order to be a positive light in the area
• We will eventually focus on developing a ministry specifically geared for UCSC and partner with existing ones already established such as Intervarsity

“the·o·lo·gi·an” n.  1. A person who is well versed in the study of the nature of God and inquires into religious questions

 We strive to set an ethos of deep Scriptural study and discussion in our community in order to help us grow in our love for God and people. We desire to develop a lens of viewing the world and culture through the story of the Scriptures. We realize that we must become thinkers and theologians if we are serious about being disciples and being missional in today’s culture. 

“...and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that all God’s people may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”   - 2 Timothy 3:15-17

To grow as THEOLOGIANS:

• We offer seasonal VFC “School of Theology” classes to help the community dig deeper into the Scriptures
• We teach through sections of the Bible in our worship gatherings
• Community Groups discuss and study the Scriptures together on a weekly basis
• We have periodic Think-Tanks, open forums and other special learning events
• Book Clubs, film nights and other ongoing venues that encourage thinking and discussion
• Children’s Ministry is developing “Lil’ Theologians”