Reimagining Our Future

A Message From Phil On Reimagining Our Future & Reorganizing

A Message From Phil On Reimagining Our Future & Reorganizing (Spanish)

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Why ReOrg?

Refocusing For The Next 40 Years

Many months ago, Phil Strout, our National Director, felt very sure that the Lord was challenging the Vineyard to gratefully consider its past and look bravely to its future. He called the Vineyard in the words of Jeremiah 6:16 to “stand at the crossroads and look, ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, walk in it, and find rest.”

We are indeed standing at a crossroads – with the realization that what got us to this point will not take us where the Lord is leading us next. We have responded to God’s calling for the last forty years. We now need to refocus on how we continue to do so for the next forty.

There is a greater need today in the church and the world for the gifts that the Vineyard brings. The world has changed dramatically in the last forty years and the pace of change is now even quicker.  There are new challenges to reaching people and more demands on our pastors than ever.

We have to be better at responding to the changing culture around us, and smarter in how we do so. Phil and the Executive Team of Vineyard USA posed the question, “How then do we best equip, encourage, and empower our local church pastors for the work of ministry?” So, in September 2019, they commissioned, a diverse, intergenerational group of seasoned Vineyard leaders to serve as the ReOrg Team to provide some answers. Their job throughout 2020 and 2021, is to make a series of carefully considered recommendations to the Executive Team, who will consider them and make the appropriate decisions. The ReOrg Team will look at all of the systems and structures relevant to the operation of Vineyard USA. This means that, as Phil Strout put it, “everything is on the table.”

Since last March, the ReOrg team invited all Vineyard USA pastors to give their views, consulting  almost 100 Vineyard USA Regional Leaders, Area Leaders, Pastors, and Leaders over a number of occasions. The ReOrg Team also spoke to numerous leaders from other movements, denominations, and organizations, seeking the widest counsel and best possible wisdom available.

Between 16 months and two years. As issues are identified and options provided to the Executive Team, decisions will progressively be taken, but feedback is invited at every stage.

ReOrg Team is a diverse group of seasoned leaders from across our Movement. The work that they are doing will have a profound and lasting impact on the Vineyard, and on our ability to fulfill our mission.

STEVE NICHOLSON
Steve has been a pastor for 44 years at the Evanston Vineyard in Chicago. He served on the Executive Team for over twenty years, leading our church planting efforts.

BRIAN ANDERSON
Brian is a on the Executive Team, and he and his wife, Thora, are the founding Pastors of Vineyard Church of North Phoenix, which has planted thirteen other Vineyard churches in the Phoenix area, in Delhi, India, Honduras, and Puerto Penasco, Mexico. Brian is also the Vice President of Vineyard USA and the Regional Coach for all 16 Vineyard USA Regional Leaders.

MARK FIELDS
Mark has been a part of the Vineyard from the beginning, and serves on the Executive Team and as the Director of Global & Intercultural Ministry for Vineyard USA. Formerly, he was the Senior Pastor of the Vineyard Community Church in Pomona, California, for more than twenty years.

JOSH WILLIAMS
Josh Williams is a member of the Executive Team and Lead Pastor of the Elm City Vineyard Church in New Haven, CT. He is also an Area Leader for Connecticut and the Hudson Valley Region of New York.

BUBBA JUSTICE
Elgie “Bubba” Justice is the National Coordinator of Vineyard USA (VUSA) and serves on the VUSA Executive Team. He supports the National Director, Phil Strout, in strategic planning, pastoral care, and overseeing the Vineyard Service Group in Houston, TX. Formerly, Bubba was the senior pastor of the Inverness Vineyard Church and before that worked in the financial world as a C.P.A., a financial manager, and chief financial officer.

JAY PATHAK
Jay is the Lead Pastor of the Mile High Vineyard, planted in 2001 in Denver, Colorado. He has served as a member of Vineyard USA’s Executive Team.

JULIA PICKERILL
Julia serves as one of the Associate Pastors at Vineyard Columbus. In 2021, alongside her husband, Eric, Julia will assume the role of co-Senior Pastor of Vineyard Columbus. She planted and pastored a Vineyard church in Amsterdam, Netherlands for seven years.

CARMEN SUAREZ
Carmen, with her husband Marvin, is the founder and co-Senior Pastor of La Viña Mayagüez, the first La Viña Church in Puerto Rico, in February 2000. Carmen holds a BSBA from the University of Puerto Rico. She worked as a Supply Chain Manager and in Project Management in Hewlett Packard for over 28 years.

CALEB MASKELL
Caleb has been part of the Vineyard movement since 1996. He has been a pastor, church planter, and worship leader in Vineyard churches in Chicago, New Haven, and suburban Philadelphia. He leads the Society of Vineyard Scholars and the Vineyard Education Initiative.

If you have any further questions, please talk to your Vineyard Pastor. Our ReOrg team has been in communication with all Vineyard Pastors throughout this process.

Both the ReOrg Team and Executive Team would greatly appreciate your prayers in this process.

Click here to watch the most recent Vineyard USA ReOrg Roundtable videos for the most recent update on the Vineyard USA Reorganization.