Striving to become….
Vintage Faith Church strives to be a different kind of church community in Santa Cruz, one that approaches the teachings of Jesus and Christian spirituality in a fresh way. We are living in an increasingly post-Christian culture, and VFC is philosophically designed to reconnect with and engage the emerging culture of Santa Cruz and the surrounding areas.
There is an incredible openness to Jesus and spirituality in our emerging culture, but unfortunately there are many misconceptions about what Christianity is all about. Approaches to ministry and church that used to be effective (and sometimes still are in certain contexts) can often alienate and even build mistrust with those in this culture. A major motivation for this church community being in existence is the increasing need for a different type of church with a different approach.
Vintage Faith is rethinking church and ministry and trying to live out our faith as missionaries would, engaging with the people around us and understanding how to communicate Jesus’ love in the language of the culture. We hope that God will use the Vintage Faith Church community to be the light of Jesus here in Santa Cruz and beyond.
Before we go into more detail about the unique vision and mission of VFC, we want to remind everyone what “church” really is according to the Scriptures. Church is the Greek word ‘ekklesia’ which means to be “called out” or an “assembly.” The “church” is not a building, the “church” is actually the people of God, who worship Him and who are on a mission together as community. To understand the mindset of our vision, it is critical to grasp the concept that you can’t attend a church. You can’t go to a church. You are the church.
In our culture, however, most people think church is something you go to, like an event or a building. This thinking is why so many of American churches have lost the mission Jesus sent us on and don’t really grasp the reason He created the church in the first place. It is easy to fall into thinking that “church” is primarily about the times we gathering together with other Christians. Our American culture has also become increasingly focused on consumerism and individualism, which has impacted the way followers of Jesus live out their faith, causing us to often see the church primarily as a means to meeting our own personal needs and wishes, instead of seeing the church as a supernatural community and family serving one another and on a mission together, here to serve God and serve others before ourselves.
“The church is the only institution that exists solely for the benefit of nonmembers.”
- G.K. Chesterson
“. . . Our motto degenerated from ‘We are the church, here to serve a broken world’ to ‘What does the church have to offer me?’. . . are we too much about us getting fed and too little about us exercising our faith?” -From “An Unstoppable Force” by Erwin McManus, Pastor of Mosaic Church in Los Angeles
The very first thing Jesus said His disciples was not “be cozy and huddle together in isolation from the hedonistic, immoral world,” nor was it “create a Christian bubble and sub-culture.” It was actually the very opposite: He immediately tells them that following Him means having an outward focus:
“As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to catch people.”
- Matthew 4:18-19
The last recorded words Jesus said before He ascended to heaven (“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Acts 1:8) were about being on an outward mission. This is why Vintage Faith Church and First Presbyterian exist… we desire to be on the mission that Jesus sent His disciples on. But as we are on that mission, it also means caring and shepherding for the believers of the church: growing them, helping them cultivate community, teaching them to be theologian.
We are asking God to transform us into a...
(click on the word for a more complete description of each value)
