About Us
About Us
Carrickfergus Vineyard - A Place of Hope
Our journey at Carrickfergus Vineyard began in October 2010 with a small group of people who longed for the church to be a place of hope where lives could be changed by the love of God, and for this to overflow into our town and community.
We are grateful that we are a church where lives are changing. A place where people can come as they are but don’t stay as they are. A place where people are giving their yes to God, experiencing life in a new way and generously giving it away to those around them.
Vision + Values
Vision + Values
Our vision is to be a place of hope where people can find life that Christ gives and in turn generously share it with the community around them.
Values
Connection
We believe we are to love God with all that we are and all that we have. We find we meet with God and are changed as we sing worship songs to Him together, and also hear from God’s Word, the Bible, and pray for one another. We value connection with God and being in His presence.
Community
We love to share life together and facilitate authentic community where we can journey life’s ups and downs.
Our community environments include life groups, events, parties, any excuse to have fun together!
Compassion
As we experience God’s love for ourselves, we can’t help but give it away to others. We long to care for those who are broken, hurting, poor or far away from God, in Carrickfergus and overseas. We aim to show God’s mercy and see Him change our community one life at a time.
Our Team
Our Team
Our Team
Come, meet our team!
Below are all of our staff, as well as our ministry co-ordinators.
Jonny & Jenny Norton
Welcome Coordinators
Paul & Judith Jervis
Hospitality Coordinators
The Vineyard
The Vineyard
Carrickfergus Vineyard is just one of over 130 Vineyard Churches in the UK & Ireland, there are now hundreds of Vineyard Churches worldwide in both western and emerging nations.
History of Vineyard
The Vineyard story is about ordinary people who worship and serve an extraordinary God. The Vineyard is simply one thread in the rich tapestry of the historic and global Church of Jesus Christ. But it is a thread of God's weaving.
From the beginning, Vineyard pastors and leaders have sought to hold in tension the biblical doctrines of the Christian faith with an ardent pursuit of the present day work of the Spirit of God. Maintaining that balance is never easy in the midst of rapid growth and renewal.
John Wimber
John Wimber was a founding leader of the Vineyard. His influence profoundly shaped the theology and practice of Vineyard churches from their earliest days until his death in November 1997. When John was conscripted by God he was, in the words of Christianity Today, a 'beer-guzzling, drug-abusing pop musician, who was converted at the age of 29 while chain-smoking his way through a Quaker-led Bible study' (Christianity Today, editorial, Feb. 9 1998).
In John's first decade as a Christian he led hundreds of people to Christ. By 1970 he was leading 11 Bible studies that involved more than 500 people. Under God's grace, John became so fruitful as an evangelical pastor he was asked to lead the Charles E. Fuller Institute of Evangelism and Church Growth. He also later became an adjunct instructor at Fuller Theological Seminary where his classes set attendance records. In 1977, John reentered pastoral ministry to plant Calvary Chapel of Yorba Linda.
Throughout this time, John's conservative evangelical paradigm for understanding the ministry of the church began to grow. George Eldon Ladd's theological writings on the kingdom of God convinced John intellectually that the all the biblical gifts of the Holy Spirit should be active in the church. Encounters with Fuller missiologists Donald McGavaran and C. Peter Wagner and seasoned missionaries and international students gave him credible evidence for combining evangelism with healing and prophecy. As he became more convinced of God's desire to be active in the world through all the biblical gifts of the Spirit, John began to teach and train his church to imitate Jesus full-orbed kingdom ministry. He began to do the stuff of the Bible that he had formerly only read about.
The Beginnings of the Vineyard
As John and his congregation sought God in intimate worship they experienced empowerment by the Holy Spirit, significant renewal in the gifts and conversion growth. It became clear that the church's emphasis on the experience of the Holy Spirit was not shared by some leaders in the Calvary Chapel movement. In 1982, John's church left Calvary Chapel and joined a small group of Vineyard churches. Vineyard was a name chosen by Kenn Gulliksen, a prolific church planter affiliated with Calvary Chapel, for a church he planted in Los Angeles in 1974. Pastors and leaders from the handful of Vineyard churches began looking to John for direction. And the Vineyard movement was born.
World Wide
Twenty-five years later, there are more than 1,500 Vineyard churches worldwide, 550+ in the US, over 100 in the UK & Ireland, as well as Vineyard Music helping thousands of churches experience intimacy with God. Many churches have been equipped to continue Jesus’ ministry of proclaiming the kingdom, demonstrating the kingdom and training disciples.