Our mission is to move to the city of Amsterdam in order to share the message of Jesus in a fresh way and to start a vibrant church community that sets its sights on starting other vibrant communities of faith across Europe.

Our team will be comprised of two groups of people. These groups will work together as one to love the city of Amsterdam, share the message of Jesus, and to start a church.

First, there is a group of Dutch nationals in Amsterdam who have welcomed us to partner with them to start a new church in the city. This group of Dutch Christians is associated with the churches of the Vineyard Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg).

The second group will be a full-time mission team of seven people led by Eric and Julia Pickerill from the Columbus Vineyard. Additionally, up to ten others (besides the full time mission team) may move to Amsterdam to settle and work in the city to participate in the mission.

Starting a church (or church planting) is central to our mission because it is our conviction that God is calling a people of faith, and not just individual persons of faith. We envision this church embodying several important values:

A Church Family. We envision a church that acts like a family. There are many metaphors used for the church in the scriptures, but the most prevalent is the picture of a family. We don't just envision a "family friendly" church, but one that strives to become and behave like a family: loving one other, caring for one another, and becoming responsible for one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. In this way, we will benefit from sharing in the love of God and will offer our guests the loving relationships they are longing for.

An Outward Focused Church. We envision a church that exists for others and is passionate about extending God's glory by sharing the good news of his redemption through his son, Jesus Christ. We see a church that does not exist for itself, but for Christ and for the world. God has called his church to be Christ's visible body in the world; therefore, we see a church that continues Jesus' work of extending God's kingdom in the world through sharing "good news" and doing "good deeds" and engaging in church planting and global missions.

An Empowered Church. Because it is God's presence among his people that distinguishes them from every other gathering of people in the world, we envision a church that regularly welcomes the presence of God to lead the church and release spiritual gifts to strengthen the church and to extend God's mission in the world. We envision a church uses all the biblical gifts of the Spirit, including the so called "supernatural" gifts of healing, tongues, and prophecy, yet does so in a "naturally supernatural" way. Spiritual gifts are not for the church alone, though; we envision a church that longs to extend God's welcome through empowered outreach and service to the community.

A Creative Church. We envision a church that is full of people using their creative gifts to worship God and reach the world. Creativity is a sign of the presence of God, a way to bring him glory, and a means to relevantly communicate the gospel to the world. We envision a church using the arts to glorify God in worship and communicating the gospel in fresh ways to a postmodern world.

A Church for the City. We envision a church that exists for the whole city of Amsterdam and embodies the best ideals of the city. Amsterdam has a rich history and unique values, many of which are reflected in the character of God. We envision a church that seeks to redeem that history (including the rich Christian heritage) and those values (e.g. tolerance, freedom, justice, a place of refuge) for the sake of Christ. We envision a church that is a friend to the city of Amsterdam. As to our attitude and involvement with the surrounding community and city, we desire to be a friend rather than an enemy or ambivalent bystander.

A Church that Serves. We envision a church that is a serving church, a church that embodies the heart of God to serve and care for those who are the neediest in the church and the community, particularly the poor. We do not envision a cozy, comfortable church where people only come to "consume" and get their needs met, but a church where everyone serves and gives sacrificially. We see a church filled with people who desire to serve one another and the surrounding community with sacrificial love.

A Diverse Church. We envision a church that loves the diversity of God's creation and celebrates the diversity of His kingdom. We envision a church with many different faces from varying situations in life gathering to worship and serve God. Amsterdam is a city with rich ethnic and socioeconomic diversity; we envision a church that reflects that diversity by being a multi-generational, multi-cultural, bi-lingual church (Dutch and English, as the lingua franca) where all people are welcome regardless of their background or status.

A Grace Oriented Church. We envision a church that demonstrates to each other and to the world the grace of God. As those who have received the grace of God in Jesus Christ, we recognize that we have "tasted the powers of the coming age" yet are still living in this broken world and struggling with our earthly desires, many of which are hostile to God. Therefore, as we relate to each other, we relate to each other as ones in need of the grace of God. As we relate to outsiders and guests, we do not relate to them as enemies of God, but as potential friends of God as we demonstrate God's grace toward them.

A Growing Church. We envision a church that is ever growing, both in the quality of our love of God, one another, and the world, and in the quantity of people God brings into relationship to himself through our church. We recognize that Jesus' desire for his church is to continue to grow into his likeness, so we will strive to live his life by his power. And we will also strive to have Jesus' "thirst for souls" as we continue to welcome more and more people into our fellowship. We do not see a limit to the size of the church.

The Goal

The goal of the mission is to start a healthy, vibrant church in Amsterdam that embodies these values. It is our plan to establish a church and fully transition the leadership to indigenous Amsterdammers within five to seven years. At that point, the mission will be completed and the mission team will return home.