Read more about how & why we ended up at St. John’s here.

This is a “joined” service, because we’ll just have a Super Bowl Party at Trash Bar (no Trash service).

Why are we doing this? Because we believe it’s going to help you discover an important thing about God and giving. God says in the book of Malachi that his people can test him on this. That when we’re generous with our offerings to his work he will “open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in!” (Malachi 3:8-10). Those of us who do regularly give have experienced it! (Ask around… we think you’d be hardpressed to find someone who does give & doesn’t think it in some way enhances their life).

Signing up below ensures that your offerings over the next 3 months will be kept to the side as part of the challenge. Email finance@northbrooklynvineyard.org at any time with any questions.

Come and join us.

I immediately called our Advisory Team to fast and pray, each member covering a day of the week, until he found a new home for our church. Well great news, St. John’s Lutheran, a beautiful old, neo-Gothic-style church located in neighboring Greenpoint, has graciously agreed to allow us to become their tenant congregation!

A God-thing

This is definitely a God-thing. In November, before we ever received notice that we were being kicked out of the school we had a prayer meeting in the basement of the St. John’s. Afterwards I went upstairs and stood in the front of the sanctuary. As I looked out over the pews in the dark something came over me and I got this strong sense that God wanted us to be there. A new home and a new beginning.

A couple of nights later I mentioned this to our leaders at our monthly team meeting and you know how when God speaks the room gets all energized? Well that’s what happened. Suddenly we were full of hope and new possibilities that frankly had been missing for a while. We allowed ourselves to dream a bit about what a new home and a new beginning might mean for our church… The ability to catch public attention; to meet in a space conducive to worship; new possibilities for neighborhood ministry; being in a community more open to what we were offering… Visibility, growth, and stability.

I hadn’t seen the team that pumped in a long time. But I quickly reminded everyone not to get carried away. After all there was no door open to us. St. Johns hadn’t given any indication that they’d be open to such an arrangement. Oh well, it was nice to dream…

A little help from a friend

But what I didn’t mention to you was that I had made friends with a guy who’s on St. John’s board and he just so happens to be in charge of their building. He was the one who arranged for us to have the prayer meeting there. Sowhen three weeks later we received the bad news of our impending homelessness I went to him and asked if he would act as our advocate. He caught the vision and went right to work, petitioning the other board members while our team prayed. A week or later he called and told me  that he had gotten permission for us to rent the church! In the short span of little over a month God changed the situation, opened the door and got us a new home.

The next step

So as of February 5^th we’ll be meeting Sundays at 12 noon at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 155 Milton St.,right off of Manhattan Ave in Greenpoint (Google Map). This move does not affect our Trash Bar service in any way. This may seem like the case of a new home and a new beginning, but I believe it’s more. I believe it’s the next step of an adventure God has had planned for our church all along and I’m excited to see what’s in store for us.q

On Thursday evening, January 19th we’re holding a prayer meeting at the church from7:00 – 8:30pm in order to seek God’s continued help in this time of transition. Come and join us.

God bless,
Pastor Mike

In the morning there will be  breakfast & a service.

This will affect some 160 religious groups in the city. What this means is that as of Feb 12th, we’ll no longer be permitted to rent P.S. 132 for our Sunday morning services.

Now what? Well after getting over the initial shock I got in touch with our Advisory Team to put together a plan. This is what we’ve come up with so far: We’ve initiated a facility search in the Williamsburg and Greenpoint areas.

Several members have been assigned to put together a list of prospective locations. We’re looking at churches, synagogues, community centers, private schools, colleges, and any other family-friendly we can think of. Once we get the list we will begin the cold calling to see what opportunities we have open to us. A location has to be fairly easy to get to. It must be able to fit around 100 adults. It must have space for children’s ministry as well as a bit of storage. And most important, it must be cheap! If you have any ideas or have a contact who might be helpful please let me know.

In addition I have called on the members of the Advisory Team to fast and pray one day a week until we find a new home for our morning service. I invite the rest of you to join us if you’re so inclined.

This is serious but it’s not the end of the world. The church is a community of people committed to Jesus and to each other, not a building. Yes this will be probably be a season of inconvenience and sacrifice but it could be the very conditions that brings the best out of us and causes us to experience the Lord’s presence and power in ways we’ve haven’t up to now.

So take heart. The Advisory Team and myself are committed to maintaining a healthy community life that will include meeting together on Sundays. We do have a temporary fall-back space in case nothing comes up by mid-February, but it doesn’t offer separate space for children or nursery so we’d have to all meet together in some creative way until we found an adequate home. Other churches have gone through similar crisis and gone on to thrive. So all hands on deck. If you’ve been away now’s a great time to show up and offer your support. Let’s close ranks and pray. I will keep you in the loop as things progress.

Sincerely,
Pastor Mike