Alan and Nicola's story.

In 1989 we were invited by some Salvation Army friends to join them in Brighton at a Conference led by John Wimber the founder of the Vineyard movement. At that conference we saw God doing 'stuff' we had until that point in time only read about in the Bible! We believed in the power of the Holy Spirit but had never actually seen Him at work quite so 'up close and personal' before! We went back home to lead our Salvation Army church with renewed vision, faith and enthusiasm.

The Vineyard emphasis on worship, serving the poor, reaching people beyond the church and believing God would break through and change people's lives in powerful ways was the bread and butter stuff of the early day Salvation Army.

One very special weekend in 1990 God spoke separately, yet quite clearly, to both of us. How much did we really love Him? Did we love him enough to step out of our boat and try walking on the water for a bit? After much prayer and soul searching we came to the conclusion that even if we were completely mistaken, it was better to try to obey what we believed to be God's direction for our lives than maintain the status quo!

On Sunday 3rd May we resigned from our beloved Salvation Army.

On Sunday 10th May we turned up at Kings Christian Fellowship, a small group of people, who were meeting in the Potton community Centre. The leaders of that group, now our dear friends Pete and Carol Crouch (currently planting a Vineyard in Ipswich) subsequently attended a special 'At home with South West London Vineyard' to learn all about the Vineyard way of 'doing' church. From the moment they returned to Potton it was clear that this was the style of church we would become and we definitely wanted to be part of that! In the following year we saw more people become Christians than we had seen in the previous 10!

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Many months of parties, socials, supper parties, Alphas, family-fun times, seasonal celebrations, baptisms, prayer meetings and housegroups later in 1999 Kings Christian Fellowship became Potton Vineyard church, meeting at Burgoyne Middle School. Together with our three children, we played a part in the growth and development of the church. We were particularly committed to the task of consuming vast quantities of caffeine and calories!

The Vineyard is a church planting movement so it was never a question of 'if' the church would plant out - more a question of 'when?' And the answer to that when? Is we believe 'NOW!'

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We loved the early days of the church when it was easy to be spontaneous, when we had as much fun planning an event as we did running it, when everyone rolled up their sleeves and got involved and worked really hard! Making mistakes was simply the process by which we learned how to do better next time! Sometimes we didn't have a clue - but it didn't matter because God was with us and, it seemed, desperate to bless us!

Well 12 years down the line we ought to know a bit about church growth But 2004 finds us church planting in a new millennium among a new generation in a new town. So we are pretty sure that there is still lots for us to learn. However, we believe God is just as desperate to bless us now as then. Many people have asked us what we are going to do. Our reply is not, as it might seem, an expression of blind panic, fear or confusion. It is a statement of faith and conviction, a heartfelt belief "God Knows!" We believe our task is simply to find out what God is doing and join in.

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The Vineyard began in 1974 with Ken Gulliksen leading a small Bible study in Los Angeles. It quickly grew making it necessary to start other house-groups and a Sunday service called The Vineyard. In the next few years, thousands of people received Christ or various forms of ministry during the Sunday service as well as in the small house-groups.

Shortly after that, many went out to start other Vineyard churches in California, each having the emphasis on worship, relationships, healing and training. Soon there were five churches led by Ken Gulliksen.

As all this was happening, John Wimber was leading a rapidly growing church called the Church Calvary Chapel in Yorba Linda; which also grew out of a house-group. By this time a number of pastors had gathered around John and they began to buy into his vision; amongst them was Ken Gulliksen. In the spring of 1982, John Wimber and several other pastors joined with The Vineyard. A short time later it became clear that God had called John to oversee, pastor, train and encourage the other pastors under him.

In 1987 the various Vineyard churches formed a formal church association called the Association of Vineyard Churches (AVC). The churches are self-governing, but are overseen and encouraged on a voluntary basis by Pastoral Overseers.

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Prior to 1987 there had been a number of very successful Vineyard conferences run in the UK. However it was not until 1987 that John Wimber released John & Eleanor Mumford to start the first Vineyard church in the UK, the SW London Vineyard.

On the 14 March 1996 John Wimber released the UK as a national grouping of Vineyard Churches in its own right and John & Eleanor were commissioned as National Directors of the Association of Vineyard Churches (UK) - now known as Vineyard Churches UK.

Vineyard Churches UK continues to steadily grow: 12 in 1993; 31 in 1996; 65 in 1999; and 79 in 2002.

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Feel free to contact Alan and Nicola - our details are here