Leadership Structure
In this short document we give an overview of the organizational structure of Vineyard Groningen to clarify the different roles and responsibilities.
The Pastor
The pastor functions as church leader and serves the church by providing leadership, vision, and values; ensure spiritual health and growth of attendees and staff; maintain biblical integrity of teaching; serve as primary teacher and communicator for the church. He is accountable to The Board and Vineyard Benelux who evaluate his job performance annually.
The Leadership Team (LT)
The Leadership Team focuses on the overall spiritual health, care, and direction of Vineyard Groningen.
Their role in the church is mainly to be:
Pastorally present; shepherding people, and serving people where needed.
Empowering team leaders and team leaders in their roles.
Forming the main place for the Pastor to discuss, discern and decide on pastoral situations, vision, teaching direction and other things that concern the church as a whole.
Discerning together where the Lord is guiding Vineyard Groningen.
You can contact the Leadership Team with any questions or concerns that you might have when it comes to the spiritual health, teaching and direction of the church. Their email address is leadteam@vineyardgroningen.com
The Board
The Board, at minimum consisting of a Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer, are representatives from the church community who oversee the work of the Pastor and the LT. They mostly provide practical leadership to the congregation, protecting the church’s vision, spiritual health and financial health. The Board also makes sure that the church abides by all the necessary governmental rules and regulations in order to guarantee a safe
environment for all and is the legal entity which maintains the authority to hire and fire all employees. The Board meets about four times a year and organizes a Family Meeting to report back to the church at least once a year.
You can contact the Board with any questions or concerns that you might have concerning our finances, safety procedures, or the functioning of leaders. Their email address is board@vineyardgroningen.com
Appointing Board & LT members
For appointing both LT and Board members we have certain procedures in place. Appointing new members is first done in agreement with both the current LT and Board members, and then done in consultation with the congregation.
Vineyard Benelux
Together with several other Vineyard churches in the Netherlands and Belgium, we form Vineyard Benelux which is part of Vineyard Global. The pastors of these Vineyard churches regularly connect and once a year there is a Vineyard Benelux Conference. The National Director is in touch with each church’s Pastor, Board and Leadership Team. Vineyard Benelux provides a sense of safety, belonging and oversight over the Vineyard churches in this region but at the same time each church is autonomous.
The details of the relationship between Vineyard Benelux, Vineyard Pastors and Boards of the congregations which are part of Vineyard Benelux are set out in the Affiliation Agreement which is signed by all parties.
Our Approach To Leadership
We strongly believe in leadership as servanthood. Jesus taught us that we should approach leadership and positions of responsibility completely different from how the world does it.
Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:25-28
Because of this, we don’t approach this structure in a hierarchical way, but do maintain clear lines of responsibility. We maintain a high sense of accountability to each other and to Vineyard Benelux as an outside entity, we work on a basis of trust and appreciating each other’s gifts, strengths and calling, and make important decisions unanimously.
