We believe in the one true God who exists in three persons—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19)

We believe in the full humanity and deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His substitutionary atonement, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory. (John 1:14-18, 1 Cor 5:21)

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, who among His various ministries—regenerates, sanctifies, guides and empowers through His gifts to all believers. (1 Cor. 12:4-11; Gal. 5:16, Tit. 3:5)

We believe that the Bible is the inspired, infallible Word of God and that it is our guide for faith and practice. (1 Tim. 3:16-17) We believe that all men and women are sinners and can only be justified by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. (Eph. 2:1-10) We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor. 12:12-13) We believe in the resurrection of all men and women to the final judgment: eternal blessing for the righteous, and eternal punishment for the wicked. (Matt. 25)

Vineyard Values

Relationships of Intimacy & Trust

• Relationships are of the highest priority to us - first with God then with others. (Mt 22:36-40)
• These relationships are based on honesty and trust.
• We come to God just as we are, believing that He loves us and desires to know us intimately. (Lk 15:20-24)
• This same foundation of trust and openness, combined with a strong belief in mutual submission, leads us to relate  honestly and openly to one another. (Eph 4:15,16, 25; 5:21)

  Doing What the Father is Doing

• A natural outcome of intimacy with God is that we will desire to do the things that God is doing.
• Jesus always obeyed His Father. (Jn 5:17,19-20)
• We too place a high priority on listening to, and obeying, the Father's voice.
• We believe that we have the privilege to work with God rather than working for God.

 The Equipping of the Saints

• We believe that God gives gifts to all His children (Jn 10:14, 27-29), and brings His Kingdom to bear on the earth  through ordinary men, women and children.  In our philosophy, “everyone gets to play” in a Kingdom that is not a  spectator sport, but an opportunity for divine participation.  We value those willing to serve and equip others with  their gifts for the works of the Kingdom of God.
• We believe that God has given the Church a mandate, and has also given each of us vision for various ministries that  He wants to have happen in the local church through us (Eph 2:10).
• We believe that ministry is accessible to all believers (men, women, and children), and therefore attempt to make  room in our structures for all to be involved (Gal. 3:26-29; Mk 10:13-15).

 The Mercy of God

• We value the unending mercy of God – toward us personally, and toward those in need of experiencing His mercy.
• The Mercy of God is extended in the world through people who are willing to do the work of the Kingdom of God as  outlined in Isaiah 61:  to preach good news to the poor, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the  captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.  In simple terms, extending God’s mercy is extending his love  to those who desperately need it. 

 The Inside-Out Work of the Holy Spirit

• The Holy Spirit is God.  We believe that God, by His Spirit, ministers to our hearts the way that no one else can.   We invite the Holy Spirit to work in our midst, as the changes that he brings in our lives are always more lasting  than the changes we make.
• We place a much higher value on the Holy Spirit 'capturing' the heart of a person, and producing a change in  motivations, than we do on external change in behavior produced by discipline (Ezek 36:26, 27).

Jesus is the Head of His Church (Col. 1:18; 2:8-10).

• We seek to ask Him what our priorities should be rather than asking God to bless what we have done for Him.
• We always reserve the right for Him to redirect, restructure or even put a stop to anything that we are doing in His  name.
• Therefore, while we do not mean to show disrespect to tradition, we hold it lightly, recognizing that God may lead us  in a new direction.

The Church is Not a Building

• The church is not an event or place where we meet, rather it is who we are.
• It is a living organism, a body of people who have responded to Christ's call to be an army--His instrument in  extending His kingdom to the world.  (Eph 2:19-22)
• Therefore, we place a high value on being the church rather than going to it.

We Are Not People-Keepers

• The local church's responsibility is to be primarily that of discipling, gathering, healing, teaching and training  believers to be workers in the harvest field. (Mk. 3:13-15)
• Therefore, it is not our intention to hold on to anyone in the Cambridge Vineyard.
• As soon as people are sufficiently trained, many will and should leave to plant churches, etc.
• We will continue to release people with the same blessing and appreciation with which we received them.

Church Unity

• There is One Body of Christ in our city, made up of many churches and congregations.
• We understand that we are one with the whole Body of Christ, regardless of our different styles, values and  doctrines. The Lordship of Jesus Christ is our center for unity.
• There is no distinction between believers from Christ's perspective.
• We teach our people regularly that we are only one expression of the Body of Christ in this area.
• We believe and teach that no one church has a corner on the truth, or on how one should do the work of ministry.
• We want all believers who come in contact with us to find the part of the Body of Christ where they feel they can  most effectively receive the ministry of the Holy Spirit and extend the Kingdom of God.
• We believe in actively blessing other churches within the body of Christ.

Church as an Empowered Community

• We believe that the Church of Jesus Christ is meant to be an active force throughout the world today, changing the  thinking and influence of our culture by our involvement, intercession and intervention.
• To that end, while we recognize that the Church can be seen as a field to bring others to, we set our plans and  strategies to “going there” instead of asking people to come to us.
• What we do as a Church is affected by our deep conviction that we are to bring both the words and works of Jesus to  our community.
• We desire to influence and impact our community with the love of God through Jesus Christ. 

Church Planting

• We believe that anything that is truly organic and alive grows and multiplies; the Church of Jesus Christ has  historically followed suit.
• We see church planting as an effective way to do evangelism.
• We see new churches as a blessing to others and to the community rather than a threat to existing churches.  This is  because our focus is to win the lost (to reach those people who do not yet know Jesus), rather than to grow from  transfers from other churches.
• We believe in sharing our God-given resources with other Vineyards in the region.

 To Lead is to Serve

• “Whoever wishes to be great, let him be the servant of all.” – Jesus (Mk 10:42-45).
• Our understanding of leadership is that it is, first and foremost, a ministry of serving.
• No serving task is "beneath the dignity or status" of our leaders.
• Our leaders are approachable.
• Our goal as leaders is to help other people surpass us in our walk with the Lord.  We desire to champion the team.
• We want to help others do the things God has called them to do, so that the Body of the Church may be fully  operational as God intended her to be.
• We seek to recognize those that God has already ordained as leaders.

Character above Giftedness
 
• The credential of a true servant leader is integrity.
• Confidence without Arrogance; Humility without Apology.
• We seek to lead as people who are confident in God’s redeeming grace and His willingness to intervene powerfully in  our lives (Heb. 11:6).
• We are committed to leading boldly, yet making sure that we are walking in humility before God and others.
• Godly confidence is marked by a genuine humility that is easy to identify and to follow.
• Will walk in humility with one another and seek to be quick to repent in our interpersonal relationships and in our  congregational roles.
• Embrace a life of submission to those in authority.
• Walks in a life of generosity.
• Will look for opportunities to share the message of Jesus.
• Will speak the truth in love and respect.

• Will submit to God and resist the devil.

Leaders are Free to Lead

• When we recognize a leader and see that they have a burden for an area of ministry, we seek to place around them a  structure (parameters); specifically a "care structure" of relationships, so that they can be free to minister within  the vision of the Church.  As long as they are walking in healthy relationships with their leaders, and there is a  submissive spirit in regards to those over them, they will have much freedom to serve/lead (1 Thess. 5:12-13).
• We, as pastors, elders and leaders, choose to not have our hands in every piece of the pie.

  Come As You Are

• We approach God and each other in a truthful and straightforward manner.  Intimacy necessitates that we are  vulnerable, honest and open as a people, accepting and loving those who enter our midst.
• God accepts us as we are; there are no generational, cultural, educational or stylistic prerequisites.  We encourage  people not to try to attain to some level of self-purity or religiosity before they come to God, but to come to Him  as they are.
• Our dress, music and demeanor is informal, as we want all people to feel like they can be a part of our church  without fashion or protocol being an issue.
• We encourage honest speech (Lk 18:9-14). 
 
An Authentic Environment

• As John Wimber puts it, the founder of the Vineyard movement, we are committed to a “dialed-down, no hype, no  manipulation” atmosphere in our church.  From the way we handle praying for those who come for ministry at the end of  our services, to the way we lead the musical expression of worship, our style is non-directive and simple.
• We have great faith in the Holy Spirit's ability to release the works of the Father and we recognize that He does not  need our assistance in that matter (Jn 14:12-14).
• We believe our ministry times should be marked by quiet confidence in God's faithfulness to His people. 

 The Church was made to Function in Smaller Groups

• An unconnected Christian is like an ember separated from the fire; we may glow for a while, but eventually we will  die out.

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