Welcome to Exeter Vineyard Church
We’re a friendly church based in the lovely city of Exeter in Devon.
We believe church should feel like extended-family; a loving and supportive community, which is fun and life-giving, while we try to make the world around us a better place.
If you’re looking for a church family, you’re really welcome to check us out. Look at the “I’m New” page of the website for how to start.
Please Note: Due to the Coronavirus situation we have suspended all public meetings - but our community is still very active... just more distant. You can find out details in the News section.
What We Do
Church is a family, and just like natural families, we're always part of our family, even when we’re not together at an organised activity.
This is the same for Exeter Vineyard. We see ourselves as being God’s church all week long. Because of this, we tend to think of being ‘church’ in two environments; gathered and scattered.
We ‘gather’ most Sundays in our Sunday service, where enjoying spending time together while we focus on God.
On the first Sunday of the month we ‘scatter’ across the area to meet in Hubs.
And, during the week, we are scattered in homes, workplaces, schools and so on, and in all these places we are still God’s church, with a role to bring his goodness wherever we are.
We meet every Sunday, except the first Sunday of the month, at St Leonard’s Primary School.
Our Sunday service starts at 10:30am and ends around midday. Our atmosphere is relaxed and down-to-earth. You’re really welcome to sit and observe or to join in. Our Sunday service is a great place to start if you’re wanting to check us out.
During our service we're led by a band to sing songs that help us focus on God and express ourselves to him. Someone will look at the Bible and think about how it impacts our everyday lives today. There is also an opportunity to receive prayer.
We have fresh coffee and tea available before and after the service, with cookies and fruit served at the end. This opportunity to hang out, meet people and catch up with friends is an important part of our time together.
Under 18s
Children are fully part of our church family and we really want them to enjoy their time as they learn about God. There are activities for children of all ages.
Children over 3 have their own groups that go on during the service. We have Little Launch for ages 3-6, Launch for 7-11, Elevate for 12-14 and Elevate+ for 15-17
Hubs are like mini-churches within the church. They are a smaller group of people, often multi-generational, who form around a purpose to ‘bring God’s goodness to’ a place or people outside of the church.
They meet at least twice a month, including on Hub Sunday.
The aim of Hubs is to provide a place for us to learn and practice living a Jesus-sized life. Hubs help us focus on what we think are three vital ingredients of living a Jesus-sized life; (1) being God-centred, (2) part of a loving community and (3) co-working with God in his mission.
Our Purpose
God’s plan for the church isn’t a club for Christians. He started the church as the way he wants to make the world a better place. We see church as a place to bring transformation and make a difference in people’s lives, whether this is practically or spiritually, but usually, both.
This process of experiencing this difference, and being the sort of person who God uses to bring it to others, has four elements, which we constantly cycle through. We want to learn to live this cycle in every area of our life, which we call this learning to live a Jesus-sized life.
Our Team
Dave & Sarah
Dave & Sarah lead the team at Exeter Vineyard. They met while studying art in Exeter and have been involved in Exeter Vineyard since it started. They took on the role of senior leaders in 1995 in some sort of divine hijacking of their own plans! They have two children. Dave is a Spurs fan and loves kebabs. Sarah is very artistic and enjoys peace and quiet.
Alan
Alan is our Assistant Pastor with a focus on our Sunday service. Alan also works as a head teacher of a local secondary school. He is married to Jane and they have two grown up boys. Alan is a fan of F1 and definitely drinks too much tea.
Adam
Adam is our Assistant Pastor with a focus on Hubs. He also oversees our under-18 activities. He works for us one day a week and spends the rest of his week as a Marine Biology researcher. His speciality is micro-plastics and their effect on the environment (spoiler: it’s bad). He has a Phd, so technically he’s a doctor, but don’t show him any suspicious rashes or expect help if you’re choking. He is married to Hannah and they have cats as child substitutes.
Rachel
Rachel is our Operations Manager. She works 2 days a week, making sure everything works smoothly behind the scenes. She is married to Alex and they have two teenage boys and one overexcited dog. Rachel is the master at getting the coolest clothes in charity shops.