Vineyard Gilbert (Vineyard Community Church in Gilbert, AZ) is a part of the Association of Vineyard Churches. Our ministry philosophy and practice flows from being a part of the Vineyard movement, and our full Statement of Faith can be found on the Vineyard USA Website (HERE). While we embody the distinctives of the Vineyard movement, Vineyard Gilbert has its own personality and ways in which we express these Vineyard values.

We are first and foremost a worshiping community. We believe  worship shapes and transforms us and that worship is what fuels  mission and service. We believe being precedes doing, just as worship precedes service. When we gather we seek to touch the Father's heart and experience the in-breaking of his kingdom in our midst.  We desire to be a church that reflects the heart of Jesus, whose compassion draws people from impossible situations into a circle of hope, friendship, and healing. We acknowledge we all come to Christ broken and  it is the power of the Holy Spirit that heals and mends our souls. This is why we are a community devoted to creating an atmosphere of intimacy with our Heavenly Father, surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ, and friendship with the Holy Spirit, through worship and prayer - in ways that overflow into every part of our lives.

We believe the invitation of the Christian life is to be an apprentice (disciple) of Jesus: growing in the character and competency of Christ. We believe  this spiritual formation is something that happens in community as we intentionally develop sustainable rhythms, both individually and corporately. Things like prayer, silence, solitude, simplicity, and fasting are ways  we can submit to the character of Christ being formed in us through the power of the Spirit.

Pastor and author Jerry Cook writes, “When love, acceptance and forgiveness prevail, the Church of Jesus Christ becomes what Jesus was in the world:  a center of love designed for the healing of broken people and a force for God" (Love, Acceptance, and Forgiveness, 2009). Here at Vineyard Gilbert we desire to be that kind of center of love in our city and world. It may sound simple and appealing, but it is not easy. As a community, our vision for 2022 was: Love, Acceptance, & Forgiveness. Below are teachings focusing on this topic:

We believe part of being a Jesus-shaped community means intentionally pursuing a diverse, multi-cultural expression of worship and community identity. It means reaching out in our neighborhoods, city, state, nation, and world. This means engaging locally, but also globally by partnering with the Gospel in sending out missionaries. Some of the ways  we are intentionally engaging  locally is through our Spanish Ministry (La Viña), and through our efforts to love and serve the Native American community well. To learn more about the mission partners we work with and support, visit our Heart For the Nations page.