Vintage Church
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Vintage Church is a Christian, non-denominational, Protestant, evangelical Bible church located in Lawrence, Kansas. The pastor is Seth Davidson.
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[edit] History
Founded in August 2004 under the name "Heartland K10 Lawrence", services were originally held in a variety of rooms on the University of Kansas campus, primarily attended by students. After out-growing space available to campus ministries on a weekly basis, the ministry moved to its current location at the Lawrence Arts Center, where attendance is currently between 250-300 on a weekly basis. The church changed its name to 'Vintage Church' in the Fall of 2006. [1]
Vintage Church was originally a church plant of Heartland K10 (now known as 'Restoration Church', currently located in Olathe, KS), which was established by Pastor Kevin Cloud. Heartland K10 planted Vintage Church with the hope of establishing a church with similar values as its own in the Lawrence area.[2]
[edit] Leadership
Vintage Church utilizes a voluntary leadership model, with only one paid, full-time staff member (the lead pastor) as of May of 2008. All ministries of the church are currently lead by 'lay leaders'. The church has a multi-tiered leadership structure as follows: 1) 'Steering Team' (commonly known in most Protestant churches as the 'Elders'), which is currently made up of 6 individuals and has the highest authority in regards to decision making for the organization. 2) 'Operations Team', which oversees finances in regards to decisions voted upon by the Steering Team. 3) 'Leadership Team', which is currently made up of over 25 volunteers who lead the varying ministries of the church. The Leadership Team votes on all major decisions brought to it by the Steering Team, and provides and avenue for feedback and input into the future direction of the church. Information about Vintage Church's leadership team can be found at www.vintagelawrence.com.
[edit] Values
According to Vintage's website, "Vintage Church exists to connect the spiritually-disconnected to an authentic Community of Faith in Christ." In addition, it states "We are committed to building a Community where everyone, no matter where they are on their spiritual journey, can come, explore, and experience Christ in the midst of an authentic and inclusive Church body. We are a small part of God’s Kingdom here in Lawrence, KS, and are attempting to reach our town with the unchanging truths of the gospel in ways that translate into our culture in our day."[3]
[edit] Beliefs
Vintage Church has often used the motto "Modern Art, Traditional Spirituality" on its signage and occasional advertisements. In line with 'traditional spirituality', the church's statement of beliefs gravitates towards the historic orthodox Christian creeds, specifically the Nicene Creed. ref>www.vintagelawrence.com</ref>
[edit] Services
Vintage Church's services typically appeal to a younger demographic, with a majority of those attending services coming from local colleges and the University of Kansas, as well as a growing 'post college' and alternatively, high school-aged crowd. As of May, 2008, services are normally held at 6:00pm on Sunday evenings. According to the church leadership, the evening service time (as opposed to the more characteristic Sunday morning service, held by the vast majority of Christian churches) is intentional, as they believe both students and those from unchurched backgrounds find it difficult to attend a morning service if the individual is not already committed to the Christian faith.
The worship service itself is characteristic of most Protestant churches, in that the service incorporates a time of musical worship, communion, public reading of scripture, and teaching, followed by a closing benediction. Communion is taken at every public service.
The singing and worship portion of the service is often stated as a large draw when asking Vintage members their reasons for attending Vintage services. The worship is lead by Jami and John Flynn (John Flynn co-owns local music store Mass Street Music with partner and store founder Jim Baggett). The musical-style would typically be classified as 'rock' with noticeable influences from a variety of Pop-Rock bands (according to Vintage band members, influences range as widely from 'The Police' to 'Keane' to 'Wilco'), incorporating both originally composed songs and popular worship songs from around the world. Though the musical quality of songs is a clear value of the Vintage worship band, the band's leadership have often been heard to say that the lyrical and theological content of a song are a primary concern when selecting music to be used for public worship.
In addition to music, the teaching and mood of the service draws many. In February 2008, journalist Hailey Osterhaus, with the University Daily Kansas (the school newspaper of the University of Kansas) wrote:
"I recently observed a Christian church called Vintage Church at the Lawrence Art Center at 940 New Hampshire St. The structure of the sermon was extremely modern. I was greeted by a huge group of incredibly warm and accepting Christians. They opened with a talented band playing religious songs that I actually enjoyed listening to. (It was no Radiohead, In Rainbows but nevertheless enjoyable). Then, the preacher said that he was happy to receive the company of those who came to explore their church. As he spoke, there were no implications of what was fashionable concerning religion. He was simply saying that the church welcomed anyone, even if they didn’t have a relationship with God. When the hour was finished, I decided this church was open-minded and tolerant, the way that everyone should be."[4] In the same article, the author states she is agnostic.
[edit] Discipleship and Housegroups
"House Groups" and "Discipleship Groups" play a central role in the 'spiritual growth' of Vintage's members and community. According to Vintage's website: "Here at Vintage we hold community as one of our highest values. God exists in eternal community and has designed us to enjoy and live life in community with others."[5] Housegroups are co-ed groups that meet in members' homes to study scripture, discuss questions on Christian spirituality, and build friendships with others in the community through meals and time together. Discipleship groups are more focused, same-sex groups, that meet specifically to grow in knowledge of the scriptures and to provide an avenue to encourage one another in full out devotion to Christ and His teachings. Seth Davidson, the lead Pastor of Vintage Church, has often stated that attending Vintage services without being deeply involved in the actual community of the church (through House Groups and Discipleship Groups) will be an unfulfilling experience of the Christian faith.
