“We’re a people who are saying yes to Jesus and to finding a fullness of life in His presence. We dream that all in our communities would know that God loves them. We dream of communities being transformed and given hope, one life at a time.”
Since Riverside Vineyard Church (RVC) was planted in 1988, God has given us a vision to impact a region. The past 30+ years have been an amazing adventure, seeing people come to faith and grow as disciples of Jesus. We’re so grateful for what the Lord has already done, and at the same, expectant for the future because with Jesus, there is always more!! We want to see more people come to life in Christ and more communities renewed and restored.
From early 2016, the staff team have been exploring multi-site church as a vehicle to help us press into our God-given vision to impact a region.
So what is a multi-site church?
It’s simply one church that meets in multiple locations. It is different to a church plant, where a new church is planted from an existing church and has its own leadership, vision and values. Instead, we will remain as one church with the same leadership, vision & values across all our sites.
Why would we become a multi-site church?
The simple answer is that we believe that God has spoken and we want to respond by saying yes and fully committing ourselves to this stage of our journey.
There are many benefits to us becoming a multi-site church. Here are our top four:
1| For those not here yet People who don’t yet know Jesus are much less likelyto travel more than a few minutes to join us in Feltham, either on a Sunday or at other times during the week. Having more sites means that we can more effectively reach those people.
2| Greater local impact More localised expressions of RVC will be better placed to meet the needs of the local community in whichthey meet. We can have greater local impact whilstbenefiting from centralised resources.
3| Doing family well Sites allow us to grow whilst keeping that family-feel.RVC will continue to be a large church, and at the same time, smaller sites make it easier to welcome, involve and pastorally support people.
4| Everyone gets to play More sites mean more opportunities for people to get involved and use their gifts & skills. It releases moreleadership, creativity & opportunity.
STAINES - UPON - THAMES
ONE CHURCH, MANY PLACES
As part of Riverside Vineyard Church, each site will carry the same vision & values, expressing our DNA. We’re family!
Sunday Services
The preaching series will be the same across sites. Andy & Bethan will split their time as equally as possible between locations, preaching at all sites, supported by the site pastors and other members of a growing preaching team. Ash will oversee worship for the whole of RVC, ensuring that each site has good quality worship. Services at each site will have the same general format; worship, news, Bible talk, ministry time. There will be great refreshments at each site too!
Children & Youth
It’s so important that our children’s & youth ministries continue to thrive, indeed, we want more children & young people to encounter Jesus. Our children & youth pastors & teams will continue to organise our weekend service programs across all the sites. The groups will have the same names across sites.
All-church events
We’re hoping that at least once a year, we’ll be able to get together as one church family to celebrate all that the Lord has been doing. There will also be other activities & events that run across sites, for example, church conferences & Bible days, leadership training & ministry gatherings, men’s & women’s ministry events, worship & prophetic circles, and special children’s & youth events
Storehouse
Compassion Ministry This will continue to be based at the church centre. As sites develop, we expect new compassion projects within Storehouse to emerge that reflect the needs inthe localities served by new sites.
Small groups
These will continue to run centrally and as now, you will be able to join whatever group you like. Some community groups may be linked to a particular site.
Finances
All that you give will go into one pot to support the ministry of RVC. Resources will be allocated to each site to enable them to run effectively.
Communication
We will continue to communicate as one church, with one website and centralised social media (though there may well be some local accounts too). Our newcomer resources & welcome will be the same at each site. We will be sharing stories of what other sites are up to because we’re “One church, many places”.
Riverside Vineyard Church Centre in Feltham
Organisation & support activities will remain centralisedThe church centre will be a fantastic facility for midweek events & training, and our pastoral, ministry andadministration staff teams will be based at thechurch centre.
Leadership
Andy & Bethan Chapman (Senior Pastors) will be the acting site pastors for Riverside Vineyard - Staines. They will continue to lead the whole church, spending equal time at weekends between the sites.They will preach across sites, oversee our Site Pastors, lead the staff team, communicate vision & guard the values and culture of RVC.
Cathy & Rob Winmill will be the site pastors for Riverside Vineyard - Feltham, serving with a wonderful team of service pastors (Alareen, Michael & Sophy, Hannington & Julie, Rubens & Kenia) to lead & develop the Feltham site.
Launching Riverside Vineyard - Staines
Our initial launch was due to be in September 2020, but due to the covid pandemic we had to put that on pause. We still believe that there is a need for a Church like Riverside in staines. Indeed there are already many Riversiders in the area,so we’re not moving in, we’re already there! There won't be any Sundays just yet but, we'll be getting together in small groups, prayer and outreach gatherings.
So how might this impact you? At the end of the day, which site you go to is up to you! People are free to move between sites but we think that in the long-term it’s best to make a commitment to one site and be part of that community. So…..
If you live near the new Staines site
We would strongly recommend you be a part of the site as it launches. We anticipate that many Riversiders already in that area will become part of the new site.Please contact us at staines@riversidevineyard.com to find out more about how you can be involved.
If you live elsewhere
We’re 100% committed to seeing our Feltham site thrive & grow. If you currently serve on a team at a Feltham service and are planning to stay at the Feltham site, please don’t worry - we will not be asking you to travel between sites! The Staines site will have their own Sunday service teams.
What about future sites?
Once the Staines site is up and running and thriving, we will look to launch our next site. In the meantime, we willcontinue to pray about possible locations including Slough, Weybridge and Hayes. Our aim is to have identified a site and site pastors by September 2021, and then work towards a site launch the following year.
How can I be involved?
We’re very aware that change can stir a mixture ofemotions. Some of you will be wildly excited whilst others may be quite unsettled. There will be a cost for us all as relationships change. At the same time, there’s anopportunity for us to have a greater Kingdom impact and space for us all to grow in our God-given gifts.This is such an exciting opportunity!
Here’s a few ways in which you can actively participate:
Pray: that we would all thrive in this season of change, that relationships would be strengthened, plans come together & resources released
Serve: more sites with more services means more teams and more leaders! If you’re not currently on a Sunday service team, we would love you to join one and playyour part as family
Give: later this year, we’ll be inviting the whole RVC family to give generously to this new chapter in our story.Please be asking the Lord what He wants you to give
Expect: whilst everything is unlikely to be perfect on day one, please expect that Jesus will do some amazing things that take our breath away
Remember: this is all about Jesus! We’re dreaming that all in our communities would know that God loves them and would find a fullness of life in Jesus
