We're a vibrant and relevant church with a passion for you to find hope, and know Jesus.
We are a friendly church so whatever your age, background or previous experience of church, if any at all, we invite you to come along. Join us at our Sunday Services or other activities and receive a great welcome.
We would love to welcome you as friend, a visitor or part of our family..
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Catch up on previous services on our Watch Again page or watch on our Youtube Channel
The style of worship at the Vine is contemporary and informal. The range of music is wide and varied from lively and loud praise to quieter worship songs. Worship is led by members of the worship team and often comprises of drums, keyboard, guitar or Ukele. Everyone is encouraged to take part no matter how off key you might think your voice is.
At the Vine, we try to use language that is appropriate to the situation. So if someone is reading an account from the past it may have thee' and thou's in it but for the most, we use contemporary language and we read from a number of Bible translations including the Christian Standard Bilbe (CSB), the New International Version (NIV), the Message,
The New Living Translation (NLT), and even the KJV.
On most weeks we have Shiners our Sunday Morning Childrens work, find out more about our what to expect at our Sunday Morning Meetings
The best way to keep up-to-date with changes is by subscribing to our Newsletter or join us on social media.
Catch up on previous services on our Watch Again page or watch on our Youtube Channel
Some events and groups will have adaptions to accomodate Covid-19 guidance
I was standing in my kitchen, casually sorting through the post when an almighty crash echoed from the window behind me. In a flash, snake-like green tentacles, edged with sharp teeth, slithered past my legs, leaving slimy trails across the floor. Alien invasion? Not quite. It was just my overly large Aloe Vera plant, which had finally outgrown its pot and decided to make a bid for freedom.
The sight of my beloved plant sprawled across the floor gave me the perfect excuse to take some cuttings and grow a new one – a smaller, more compact, less like Medusa on a bad hair day. With a quick search online, I found instructions that seemed simple enough. Fast forward 24 hours, and 14 fresh cuttings were sitting in pots. My vision of a perfectly sized Aloe Vera plant was well underway. There might even be a few to give away! Four weeks later, the dream died – quite literally. All of the cuttings were dead. So, undeterred, I took some more cuttings. This time, I followed the steps with even greater care. Fourteen soon-to-be plants now sat on my windowsill. Three weeks later, I was left with six dead and two that looked like they were on their way out. An improvement, but still, my dream of becoming Cherry Willingham’s resident Aloe Vera expert seemed a distant hope.
When things don’t go as planned, it’s easy to feel disappointed, get impatient or give up, just as we might when our life dreams don’t seem to be working out. The temptation to yank up a healthy cutting just to check the roots is strong, even though it would ruin its chances.
The Bible is filled with stories of people whose dreams or promises seemed like they were never going to happen. Take Abraham, for instance, who was promised to be "the father of many nations" – a promise made when he was 75 years old and childless. Or Joseph, the one with the famous Technicolor™ coat, who dreamt that people would bow down to him, yet found himself thrown into a pit, sold into slavery, and later imprisoned. But eventually, he rose to become a leader renowned for his wisdom (you can read more about this in Genesis 37). And let’s not forget Abraham and his wife Sarah who, despite their age, had a child together. There are countless examples of dreams and promises that seemed impossible, but two key lessons emerge from many of these stories. First, if God makes a promise, He keeps it. And second, alongside hard work, perseverance and patience play a crucial role in seeing our hopes come to fruition.
So, should I plant some more cuttings? Well, maybe that’s a lesson in perseverance for another day!
Sometimes I don't know...I truly hope that by the time you get to read this, the world will have calmed down a little.
I write this following the tragic events in Southport and the aftermath of violence, fear and uncertainty that has spread the country.
Nearer to home, the last few weeks have been filled with great uncertainty as friends and family go through challenging circumstances. I am certain that others will be going through similar experiences too. In these times of uncertainty, it’s easy to feel lost and unsure of what to do next. Life often demands answers and decisive actions, but there are moments when the right path remains unclear. Whether it’s a personal crisis, a difficult decision at work, or the broader challenges in the world around us, the complexities of life can leave us feeling paralysed by the sheer magnitude of it all.
These moments of uncertainty are a natural part of the human experience. Many of us find ourselves in situations where we simply don’t know how to move forward. Recently, I’ve found solace in a simple yet profound practice. Someone introduced me to the “I don’t know” prayer. It’s a prayer that acknowledges our limitations, our fears, and our uncertainties. It goes like this:
You just go off somewhere quiet and hidden, and you turn to God and you say, 'I don’t know.'
‘I don’t know where to go from here.’
‘I don’t know how to process this.’
‘I don’t know what to do with these emotions.’
‘I don’t know how to handle this situation.’
It covers a lot of 'I don’t knows.
And with whatever dusty, little sand grain of faith you have, you say, 'But You know.'
And you leave it there."
This prayer has become a lifeline for me. In the last few weeks, I’ve found myself praying it often. The world feels more chaotic than ever, and the news has been filled with situations I simply don’t know how to navigate.
In these quiet moments of prayer, I find peace in admitting my limitations. The “I don’t know” prayer is a reminder that it’s okay to feel lost and not have everything figured out. It’s a way of releasing control and placing trust in something greater than myself. By saying, “But You know,” I am reminded that there is divine wisdom at work, even in the midst of chaos. The prayer doesn’t offer instant solutions, but it provides comfort and reassurance that I am not alone in my uncertainty.
So, if you find yourself struggling to know what to do, don’t be afraid to admit it. Even give the “I don’t know” prayer a try and trust that, even when you don’t know the way forward, all is not lost because God does.
