Core Vineyard Values Q&A

What are the five core values of the Vineyard?

• The Theology and Practice of the Kingdom of God
• Experiencing God
• Reconciling Community
• Compassionate Ministry
• Culturally Relevant Mission

What roles do core values play in Vineyard USA?

• They give meaning to all we do.
• They drive the purpose of the movement.
• They define the center of our centered-set movement.
• They define who we are to the larger community.
• They remove ambiguity in mission.
• They allow for diversity.
• They define our culture.

Are these values different from what we have had in the past?

Yes and no. Yes, this is a new list of values. We have never stated them in this way before, and the former list in our Theological and Philosophical Statements had many more values than we have listed here. On the other hand, no, there is nothing new in this list. We have endeavored to consolidate the previously stated values so that all of our core values would be clearly identified and so that those values which are secondary would be recognized as such. These core values reflect our intent to clearly identify what is ultimate as far as the Vineyard is concerned.

What does this new list of values do to the list of priorities and values as stated in our Theological and Philosophical Statements?

These five core values replace the list of six priorities and fifteen values given in our Theological and Philosophical Statements. It is clear that, though worded a bit differently, the core values are very much in line with the previous priorities--except for the addition of our commitment to the theology and practice of the kingdom of God. Many of the previously named values are easily identifiable in the new list: for example, "Ministry" is now given as "Compassionate Ministry."

Can a Vineyard church have values other than these core values?

Yes, this is possible--there is room for additional values. But we want to stress that other values should be added with care. The two things that are required is (1) a Vineyard church must embrace and practice all of these core values and (2) a Vineyard church may not adopt values that could be contrary to these core values. It would be best for a congregation to clearly distinguish between the five recognized Vineyard core values and any additional primary values held by the local church. That said, we caution against a church's having too many core values. A church with too many core values can easily become either a confused, unfocused church or a bounded-set church.