Impact Report - Alpha

We are passionate about seeing people come to know Jesus and grow in their faith. That’s why Alpha plays such a vital role in our church. Alpha provides an amazing space where people can ask questions, explore faith, and encounter God in a welcoming and open environment.

In mid-October, we launched our latest Alpha program with four unique tables to meet the needs of diverse groups in our community:

• Farsi-speaking table

• Cantonese-speaking table

• Student table

• English table open to everyone

This structure allowed us to reach people from different cultural and demographic backgrounds, creating a vibrant and inclusive Alpha experience.

We have seen God moving powerfully through Alpha this season:

Several non-Christians joined the program, many of whom were introduced to Jesus for the first time.

Our Iranian community table has experienced remarkable growth, with two participants deciding to give their lives to Christ this month. This transformation is a testament to the work God is doing through Alpha.

We are deeply grateful for the dedication of our volunteers, your generosity , and the prayer support of our church family. Without you, this life-transforming ministry would not be possible.

We look forward to seeing how God continues to move through Alpha in the coming year.

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Impact Report - Finance

We’re so thankful that we are a church where God is working.  Good things are happening in every small group, Sunday space and ministry. We see care and community, answered prayers, discipleship and growth. This month we’ve started another two new small groups and we’ve celebrated baptisms at every site. In each service we have people who are coming to follow Jesus and find a spiritual home in this church. 

“Become part of that story of generosity that will invest in what is happening now and will impact those yet to come.”

This is only possible when people choose to give a proportion of their income each month to support the mission of the church. Each month 133 families or individuals choose to give as an act of worship. This enables us as Birmingham Vineyard to do everything we do. 

That means that a committed core of people are paying for every cup of coffee, every resource used in kids and youth, every space we hire or when we pay other expenses related to ministry. Giving enables every hour of team members paid time to serve in upfront roles or behind the scenes.

If you are one of those people then a huge thank you for your generosity. If you're not yet, then we’re sure that you are grateful and we know you’ll have been blessed (benefited) from someone else’s generosity. The invitation to everyone is to “pay it forward.” Become part of that story of generosity that will invest in what is happening now and will impact those yet to come.

We are a church of 400-450 adults and at least 600 including children and youth. Can you imagine what God might do if we all played our part in this story of generosity? Needs would be met, ministry would multiply and we’d have the resources to do everything we’re called to do. When we give to the local church we have an exceptional level of financial accountability. You get to see the impact of your giving every single week.

“We’re praying for an increase in giving in 2025 so we can invest in the mission of Birmingham Vineyard which is expressed through each site and ministry.”

In 2024 we set a budget that involved spending some of our church savings to enable ministry to grow. We also had some significant additional costs this year in a range of areas from ministry to buildings and other large bills (increased utilities etc). As we approach the end of 2024 our projected regular income is approximately £550,000. Once we have claimed back gift aid from the UK government that figure increases to approximately £650,000.  

We’re praying for an increase in giving in 2025 so we can invest in the mission of Birmingham Vineyard which is expressed through each site and ministry.

To make this specific, we’re praying for an additional £100,000 income in 2025’s budget. That can come from a combination of an increase in monthly regular giving and one off financial gifts. 

Numerical growth and financial growth need to keep in step if we are to keep healthy as we grow. The Bible describes giving like sowing seeds, we’re investing for a greater harvest. When we have the right resources, needs are met, ministry multiples and we see the Kingdom of God advance.

One strategic development is that we believe our site pastors need some dedicated employed time to support the growth and health of the sites they lead. This won’t be full time but it's not right for it to be done in free time (as some do at present). 

“When we have the right resources, needs are met, ministry multiples and we see the Kingdom of God advance.”

We’ve also appointed Liisa Wiseman as our Operations Manager. This is the right appointment at the right time. If we can take some administrative and operational burden off sites and ministries then pastors and ministry leaders can focus on the central leadership job of health and growth. They are called to make disciples, mobilising people and teams, expressing care through groups, reaching people and raising leaders.

If you consider Birmingham Vineyard your church community, we are asking you to prayerfully consider the next step in a journey of generosity.

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So, what’s your next step? 

Initial - Make a start

Maybe you’ve never considered that your giving can make a difference. The heart and attitude is more significant than the figure, as “where our treasure is our heart will be also.”  Matthew 6:21 

Planned - Make it regular 

It makes it much easier to steward and plan our church budget when we see planned giving. 1 Corinthians 16:2

Faithful - Make it part of your budget & a percentage of your income

Biblical giving is proportional and God never singles out big figures but the generous hearted who trust him in the journey of generosity.  Luke 21:1-4

Radical - Make it a way of life

Be expectant the Holy Spirit will lead you.  2 Corinthians 9:6-11

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If you have any questions about the governance and handling of church finances you can reach out to our trustees. Learn more here.

You can also talk to your Site Pastor or any member of the staff team.

If you’d like to start giving or make changes to your current giving plan you can visit the Giving Page on our website.

Impact Report - Worship

Our worship and production ministries exist to help people follow Jesus by leading them in worship, and facilitate accessible and distraction-free spaces whenever we gather. If you’ve ever been led in worship, if you’ve ever heard anything through a microphone, or if you’ve ever seen a slide or video, these ministries have made it happen!

We have a team of 74 amazing volunteers who lead worship sets and make our gatherings happen across our four sites every Sunday, as well as spaces for youth, young adults, alpha, and any other space where worship happens or tech is used. That means that our ministry has reach into every area of our church.

By your generous giving, you make it possible to support two part-time staff members (myself and Nathan Catley) focussed on these areas, and this year have two interns supporting these areas too. Additionally, your generous giving enables us to empower all of these areas with the gear that they need, which is important, because music gear and production gear is not cheap at all!

We’re so grateful for your continued support in financial giving, and without it, our ability to lead worship and facilitate spaces for people to engage would be significantly affected.

If you want to be part of this story, you can pray, you can serve on one of our teams, or you can give, by going to bvc.so/giving

Thank you for your generosity!

Impact Report - VCUKI

Birmingham Vineyard is part of a growing family of churches called Vineyard Churches UK & Ireland (VCUKI).  There are currently 140 church locations and each year an average of 5-10 new sites or churches are planted. As a church we manage our budget so that we can give generously to the work of Vineyard Churches. That giving enables Vineyard Churches to serve and strengthen local churches and it helps the planting of new churches.

This happens through a wide range of excellent conferences and events, fantastic theological training and a huge range of resources for crucial areas of church life like worship, kids and youth. VCUKI has a key focus on the oversight and health of pastors. Healthy leaders lead healthy churches so nationally VCUKI offers each pastor opportunities for soul care, coaching, spiritual direction and formation. There is also pastoral oversight, training and ongoing leadership development in many forums locally and nationally.  

We believe in Jesus and we believe in the importance of the local church to reach people and to make disciples. Your giving means we can invest in the health and growth of many churches across the UK and Ireland.

If you’ve not engaged with some of the great resources that VCUKI  has produced, take some time to explore these. 

Some excellent resources: 
Vineyard Training platform
Vineyard Churches UK & Ireland website
Theology Training modules 

Event websites:
Vineyard Leaders Gathering (for leaders and those aspiring to lead)
Cause To Live For (for young adults)
Dreaming the Impossible (for youth)

Impact Report - Sozo

One of the ministries we offer at Birmingham Vineyard is Sozo. ‘Sozo’ is a Greek word meaning “to save or make well or whole” and Sozo ministry is a unique, inner-healing prayer ministry, which allows the Godhead of Father, Son and Holy Spirit to release people from the impact of wounds and lies that hinder them from walking in their true kingdom identity, calling and freedom.

Our wonderful Sozo team is made up of 4 trained lead members and 1 trained support member. In the last year, they have delivered 62 appointments with both members of Birmingham Vineyard and people from other churches across the region.

These appointments, with fully trained and experienced Sozo practitioners, usually last about 2 hours and have a profound impact on those who book and attend them. 

One person said, “I am so grateful to the people who sat and prayed with me and led me through being released by the Lord from a feeling of oppression that was really holding me back. I walked out of that appointment with a huge burden lifted and such a sense of lightness and freedom, which hasn’t left me since.”

“Past traumas have been healed and I feel liberated from anxiousness and overwhelming feelings that used to take over. I have no confusion but more discernment for decisions I make on a daily basis.”

— A Sozo Attendee

This wonderful team delight in bringing freedom to the many people to whom they minister, and you can book an appointment on the Birmingham Vineyard Website, under the ‘Sozo’ section of the drop down menu. Also if you are interested in being trained up and joining the team of this wonderful ministry, you can contact Jo, at jorh@birminghamvineyard.com

Impact Report - International Partnership

Did you know that there are Vineyard churches all over the world?

In fact, there are three healthy Vineyard churches in Malawi, Africa that Birmingham Vineyard have a special relationship with. Chippo and Janet started a small group in 2017 which grew to become Malingunde Vineyard. Matsimbe Vineyard was soon planted out and then Nduala Vineyard too. There are currently two small groups in other villages we hope may grow into church plants.

The main focus this year for Malingunde Vineyard has been Kingdom ministry seeing 183 people come to faith, 224 healings and 24 baptisms! Rhodess and Janet lead a women’s ministry of about 25 women and have been teaching how they can use their gifts and abilities to nurture those around them.

Matias and Loveness lead Nduala Vineyard. Matias lost his job last year and his family was struggling, so Malingunde Vineyard supported them financially to start a small business.

“‘I thank God for being supported and trained through our Vineyard family. In the past I was not open to other leaders, so to be able to grow and now lead with transparency has helped me to work well in a team. I am enjoying things being much easier working with my fellow leaders.’ ”

— Matias

Due to your generosity Birmingham Vineyard is able to relationally and materially support these Vineyard churches. Through their ministries over 500 people came to faith this past year and 744 people received healing, children are being sponsored to attend school, widows and orphans are receiving care and support, whilst leaders are receiving monthly training.

Please pray that through these growing churches people will come to know Jesus and be discipled as they follow Him. If you’d like to learn more about our partnerships in Malawi you can contact Tom Husbands at thomashusbands@dalitsotrust.org or speak to Bill Dixon or Tom and Kat Densham.

Impact Report - Youth

- ACCESS - DOWNLOAD -

- UPGRADE - TRANSFER -

The vision of BV Youth is for youth to access Jesus and the church easily, to download Jesus into their hearts with everything that He offers, to be upgraded by the power of the Holy Spirit for transformation, and to go and make disciples by transferring the Good News to others!

On Sundays, we have around 30-40 youth across all sites! On Fridays, we consistently have 30-40 youth coming AND inviting their friends! At our last Network Camp (sleepover at the church), we gathered 50 youth with around 5-6 of them who were new to church!

We have so many spaces for youth to grow in their relationship with Jesus but also have spaces where they can invite their friends! 

After taking our youth to DTI in the summer and DTI road trip (a mini 1 day DTI) we have seen amazing growth in the youth, both in numbers and in their faith. Recently we had to cancel the talk at one of our Friday night youth gatherings because the youth wanted to continue worshipping and being in the presence of God! We had one hour of worship, and young people were still hungry and thirsty for the presence of God. God is doing something in their lives! God is moving in this generation, using and transforming them.

It is so exciting to see so many people stepping into leadership, setting aside their time to create welcoming spaces where they care for and invest in our youth.

“I love seeing young people grow in their faith and go deeper in their relationship with Jesus. And it’s a privilege to be in that journey with them.”

— One of our Youth Leaders

THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU WHO GIVE, ENABLING US TO CREATE A SPACE for Young people to ACCESS, DOWNLOAD, UPGRADE, TRANSFER

If you want to be a part of this story , whether that’s through giving, serving or praying, get in touch with Narek who oversees our youth ministry::

Nareka@birminghamvineyard.com

Impact Report - Small Groups

Small groups are an essential part of all we do at Birmingham Vineyard as we seek to follow Jesus, live life to the full and make a difference.

Other than Sundays they are the main place that people find community. As well as being the main way we deliver pastoral care and discipleship.

Our society has an epidemic of loneliness, where people feel over connected but not seen or known. We think small groups done well are the solution to this. They are places of authentic friendship, where you are known, encouraged and supported.

Each week we have around 300 people attending small groups. In short if you aren’t in a small group, you are missing out! We now have 38 groups, across the city, so there should be one near you.

Early last year we set out the goal of starting one new group a month, and over the last 12 months we have seen 17 new groups started and have trained over 40 new small group leaders.

It is so exciting to see so many people stepping into leadership, setting aside their time to create welcoming spaces where they care for and investing in others.

Your giving enables us to deliver training as well as provide discipleship resources for our groups. Thank you to all those who invest their time, talents and treasures in this ministry by giving to the church, attending, hosting or leading one of our groups.

Impact Report - Sites & Multiplication

Our Sunday services are environments where we encounter God together. Several hundred people gather across our 4 weekly Sunday services, which each have their own feel and flavour. We’re united in our commitment to worship Jesus, centre on His Word and welcome the work of the Holy Spirit to help us become more like Christ. Drawing from diverse ages and backgrounds, we’re learning each week to love God and love each other. In a fragmented world, that’s a powerful picture of faith, hope and love in action.

Each of our services is led by a great team of site pastors, and they are actively training new site pastors and teams who will launch new sites in other communities in Birmingham.  We’re committed to planting more groups and sites where people can encounter God and learn what it is to follow Jesus.  

We are fortunate to own one of our Sunday venues and have a small mortgage on the car park. We hire all the other spaces we meet in. Our fixed costs for venue hire, maintenance and utilities are about 50k per annum.

Every time you serve, pray and give, you are investing directly in the story of God expressed through this church! 

Impact Report - Compassion

It’s been an extremely exciting year for Compassion at Birmingham Vineyard!

Our Foodbank is run by Lucy Beneton. Last year we gave out over £6000 worth of food and vouchers either directly through our Foodbank Champions or via partner agencies like Birmingham Solihull Women’s Aid and the Edge Academy. 

Our Growbaby has expanded. We now have two drop-in sites, one in the City Centre and one in the East. Ruth Allen, who runs our East site Growbaby has seen a huge rise in the number of families visiting them - since setting up, they’ve helped 188 families with over £8000 worth of donated clothes, equipment and basics like nappies and toiletries.

Rick Hill and his team in Northfield have been running a warm spaces community meal since the start of the fuel crisis in 2022, with around 20 people now coming and being welcomed and fed each week. We’re also partnering with Safe Families to support volunteers looking after ten different families with complicated needs.

If you’re part of this story because you donate money, food or children’s equipment, or because you’re on the team then thank you so much!

It is an incredible privilege to be able to witness to the love of God through practical help and offering prayer through Compassion ministries! If you’d love to be part of that story, have a look on the giving pages of our website or get in touch with the team about volunteering!

Impact Report - Kids & Families

In our Kids & Families ministry we are all about connecting with each other, encountering God, supporting parents, and teaching children good theology.

One of the ways that this is expressed is through our Sunday Kids groups.

Each week we have an average of 82 children coming along to groups, across all four services, led by over 45 volunteers.

These children are not just the church of tomorrow, they’re the church of today, with time spent each week worshipping Jesus, learning about God and the Bible, and spending time in prayer and ministry (alongside the games, snacks and crafts, of course!).

Kids is such a rewarding ministry to be a part of, bringing so much to the children’s relationships with Jesus, but also to the team members.

“Being on the kids team has been a fun new adventure for me, it is wonderful to feel a part of teaching the children about God and seeing their faith journey. One particular moment stood out to me, when asking a group if they would call themselves a Christian, one girl said "yes" and the other said "no you're not!" To which the first girl said "I am now!" A wonderful moment to witness!”

Thank you to all of you who give, enabling us to create a space where children can both be discipled and have fun together, amongst so many other things!

If you want to be a part of this story, whether that’s through giving, serving or praying, you can get in touch with Lauren, who oversees our Kids & Families ministry at laurenm@birminghamvineyard.com