Building Thriving Communities in Our Church, Our Local Neighborhoods and Around the World 

What is Community Development?

Jesus said it best when he summarized God's priorities as both loving God and loving our neighbors as ourselves. Community Development is all about loving our neighbors in the context of building healthy, sustainable communities within our own church, in our local neighborhoods and around the world. The Bible gives us a glimpse of heaven and reveals a joyful place where there is no poverty, oppression or suffering and where a diversity of people are worshipping God together in unity. That's not only an inspiring and compelling vision of what is to come, but it's also a reality that God wants us to experience in the present as we make connections with God and to each other!

We’d love to pursue this through awareness, education and training, caring for those in our church and reaching our neighborhood (and beyond!).

Awareness, Education and Training

The first step towards developing a lifestyle of service can oftentimes be just opening our eyes to what’s going on in the world around us.  And once we start engaging with issues of compassion, justice and reconciliation, education and training equips us with practical skills and a deeper understanding of all the complexities.  Specific classes can be found here.   A recommended reading list can be found here.

Caring for Those in Our Church

Designed to support our small groups and to complement our other pastoral care ministries, Vineyard Cares is a collection of ministries that seeks to love those in our own church who are struggling with difficult circumstances in practical ways.  More information about Vineyard Cares can be found here. 

Reaching Our Neighborhood (And Beyond!)

One of the core dreams of the Greater Boston Vineyard is that we would tangibly and effectively promote compassion, justice and reconciliation.  Two of the main ways that we are doing that now is through our Community Offerings and our Community Youth Programs. There are plenty of opportunities for you to get involved, ranging from local to international offerings.  More information on how you can get involved can be found here. 

More information about our church’s vision and approach to community development can be found here or by contacting Danny Tao, Director of Community Development.