For more information about Vineyard churches' statement of faith, theological and philosophical statements, and a list of shared values, please visit The Vineyard: A Community of Churches at this link.

who we are: in a nutshell

We are ordinary people with ordinary challenges, problems, and defects whose lives have been touched by God’s extraordinary mercy. We are falling in love with God as he is revealed in Jesus, learning to trust him as a perfect Father, and expecting to see his Holy Spirit at work in us and even through us. In the process, God is making us into a family, a church.

It’s our prayer that while Jesus teaches us how to live in God’s kingdom, he will use us to create breathing room for others who are separated from God’s life. Because inertia in the opposite direction is so strong, we follow Jesus’ example in leaning intentionally towards those who are disconnected from God, the less privileged, and the young.

 Why do we call ourselves a Vineyard Church? Vineyards are often used in the Bible as vivid pictures of God’s kingdom. Jesus taught his first students the importance of being intimately connected to him just like branches are connected to a vine. We want to be a vineyard like Jesus describes, where people can be vitally connected to God and each other—a vineyard that produces lots of fruit.

who we are: the more in-depth version

We are a community oriented church. Worship celebrations tend to get the most press, but the real life of the church is experienced in small groups and ministry teams. We seek to foster personal relationships that enhance spiritual growth and are committed to serving the local community. The Milan Vineyard serves around 2000 lbs of supplemental groceries to families in need through Compassion Ministry each week. Our sister church in Ann Arbor hosts an extensive ministry to single moms and their families. We believe that service to the less privileged is a hallmark of Jesus-style ministry.

We value an innovative approach to ministry, with multi-media enhanced worship celebrations, an active web-site, and an entrepreneurial approach to launching new ministries. In a town that is just a touch cynical about the church enterprise, we reach out in ways meant to surprise and disarm. For example, we've washed bathrooms, massaged feet, and handed out cold drinks to express the kindness of Christ. No lectures, no religious tracts, just a practical expression of God’s love, no strings attached.

We are passionate about making Christianity accessible to people with no previous God-connection. We seek to overcome the cultural barriers that unintentionally exclude those who haven’t committed themselves to the path of Jesus Christ. This makes the journey more invigorating for all concerned. We provide practical help to people seeking to understand the hows and whys of Christian life.

We embrace an active and contemplative approach to spirituality. We aim to pray for the sick as Jesus did - in a low-key, non-hype ministry style. We value the empowering presence of the Spirit and a vibrant practice of the spiritual gifts. We also value the spiritual disciplines of silence, solitude, and fixed hour prayer. In fact, our church web site is the host for The Divine Hours by Phyllis Tickle, a flexible and contemporary approach to praying at regular intervals through the day, adapted from the Book of Common Prayer.

We identify with the historic Christian faith as articulated, for example, in the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds. We appreciate the diverse riches of the Christian tradition across social, racial, and denominational boundaries. We participate in The Vineyard: A Community of Churches, which includes about 600 churches in the United States and another 800 churches internationally (see Vineyard Statement of Faith). Locally, we participate in the Milan Ministerial association.

who we are: vineyard churches

The Vineyard: A Community of Churches is a diverse group of churches that partner together to advance the kingdom of God by communicating the Gospel of Jesus Christ in word and deed. Through many localized expressions, Vineyard churches aim to:

• Worship God and stand on the ancient truth of the Scripture, the guide for faith, life, and service.
• Grow as a people of both the Word and Spirit, imbued with power for the purpose of making and nurturing mature disciples of Jesus Christ.
• Create reproducing missional communities of worship, discipleship, evangelism and service.
• Serve the Father in the power of the Spirit, following Jesus' holistic and incarnational ministry of proclaiming and manifesting the kingdom of God .

The international Vineyard movement is a growing and diverse one. For information on the global Vineyard family, go to www.vineyard.org.

who we are: a brief history

The Vineyard Church of Milan officially began life as an independent congregation November 1, 2003, but our shared history with our sister church, the Vineyard Church of Ann Arbor goes back a few decades.

The Milan / Ann Arbor Vineyard began as a small group of University of Michigan students, meeting in a dorm room on Sunday mornings for worship in the mid 1970's. They soon moved into the living room of Ken & Nancy Wilson's Ann Arbor home (Ken and Nancy are Jesse Wilson's parents; Jesse was 5 years old at the time). This group of friends were part of what was then called the Jesus Movement, a religious awakening in the late 1960's and 70's, emphasizing the pursuit of Christ in everyday life, an open, informal style, with a decided de-emphasis on religious form.

For many years the church was simply a place for Sunday morning worship, without a well developed infrastructure (small groups, ministries, etc.) In 1990, Ken Wilson became the full-time pastor, and the church (called Emmaus Fellowship at the time) began to develop into a fully functioning church. After meeting for several years in Cleary College Auditorium in Ypsilanti (now a Walgreen pharmacy!) the church purchased its Milan facility from the Milan Free Methodist church in 1993. By 1994 the church affiliated with the Association of Vineyard Churches, and became Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Milan.

By 1997 we were quickly outgrowing our Milan facility. Rather than simply purchasing a larger building in Milan , we decided to begin the process of planting an Ann Arbor area church. In 1999 we raised nearly a million dollars from over 200 individuals and families in the congregation for this purpose. As our first step in this process, we moved our weekly Saturday evening service to a rented facility in Ann Arbor (Covenant Presbyterian Church). After a year of searching, we purchased the current Ann Arbor facility (previously the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre) in which we began holding our Saturday evening and Sunday 11:30am celebrations in April of 2001.

We functioned as one church in two locations until November 1, 2003, when we officially became two Vineyard churches. Ken Wilson remained senior pastor of the Vineyard Church of Ann Arbor, and Jesse Wilson (who had been on staff as an associate and youth pastor since 1996) was invited to serve as the senior pastor of the newly formed Vineyard Church of Milan.

The rest, as they say, is history in the making.

 

More specific questions? Email our senior pastor Jesse Wilson.