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Multiple churches
One family

About us

We had the joy of started Central Vineyard in 2006, which grew over time to become a large church meeting across five services in four different locations. Whilst we were grateful for the lives impacted and numerical growth, what we longed to see was even more multiplication.

As we began to reimagine what multiplication could look like, we went from being defined as one church meeting in multiple places, to multiple churches functioning like a family. It was in the midst of this transition that we started to sense God's call on us personally to go again, so after 16 years of leading the Central Vineyard, in the summer of 2022 we resigned as the Lead Pastors and later that year relocated to Milton Keynes to church plant once again.

Transitioning to become to something that links more like a family has enabled us to simplify our structures, giving each church location more local identity, enabling us to go further than we'd previously imagined, whilst remaining convinced that we are better together than we are alone. Now as a family of churches we're aiming to raise up a generation of new leaders who are united around a shared mission and vision to see churches established across the Northants and MK region, rooted in our shared history, legacy and DNA.

Steve & Tammy Gee
Founding Pastors

Steve & Tammy Gee
Steve & tammy Gee

Steve & Tammy have been in ministry together for over two decades. They planted their first church, Daventry Vineyard in their early 20's and went on to launch the Central Vineyard in 2006, which has since multiplied in to three churches. Together they also serve the wider Vineyard as Regional Leaders and Steve is part of the Multiply Vineyard team, helping prepare those getting ready to church plant. They live in Milton Keynes, and lead the Garden City Vineyard.

Our journey

Since 2006, when Central Vineyard began with just five adults and three pre-schoolers, our journey has been one of steady growth and development,  from launching in a single location, to hosting multiple services, to expanding across several sites, to eventually multiplying into autonomous churches that continue to work together like a family.

Our Commitments

1. UNIQUENESS

We recognise each church serves a unique community, so we want to champion unique expression, meaning:‍

Each church will function with their own local identity.

Each church has their own articulated vision and strategy.

Each church will give and receive assistance for the overall health of one another.

2. RELATIONSHIP

Our bond is mutually beneficial, rooted in relationship, meaning we will work toward:

Regular moments to be relationally connect together.

A willingness to share our events and resources with one another, so we all get to benefit.

A commitment to learning together and sharing best practices with one another.

3. Church Planting

One of the primary purposes for our connection, is to plant even more healthy reproducing churches, by:‍

Proactively participating and budgeting toward multiplication through church planting.

Developing church planting pipelines in each local church context.

Participating in the training opportunities, for our teams and potential planters.

churches

There are currently three Vineyard churches gathered in four locations across the Northants and MK region.

Central vineyard

Town Centre

Established February 2006
www.centralvineyard.co.uk

Central vineyard

East

Established April 2025
www.centralvineyard.co.uk

Garden city vineyard

Milton Keynes

Established July 2022
www.gardencity.mk

Nene Valley Vineyard

East Northants

Established October 2021
www.nenevalley.church

Church Planting

In order to see more churches planted, we want to cultivate church environments that act as a catalyst for potential planters to be identified, trained and released to plant even more churches. Our Church Planting Residency Programme invites those who sense a call to church planting or pioneering leadership to join us for a period of 24 months, for an intense season of preparation and training. This will help potential planters become immersed in the life and leadership of a local church, giving them ministry experience and the support needed as they prepare to launch a new church,

OUR RESIDENCY WILL INCLUDE:

RESIDENCY APPLICATION

FAQ's

How does the leadership structure work?

Each local church has its own Lead Pastor, leadership/staff team that serves the church, oversee its ministry, set its budget, carry out governance, hire future staff, and lead the mission in its community.

Is there a leader of leaders?

Yes, Steve & Tammy Gee serve as the Founding Pastors and give relational oversight to the other Lead Pastors.

How do finances work?

Each church is expected to be self-supporting, with it own legal identity (obviously, this takes time for new church plants). Each church gives 5% to Vineyard Churches UK & Ireland and each church contributes a small percentage to centralised operations for accounting, payroll and other shared services.

What remains is available for the local church to budget and spend as needed. These funds pay for staff salaries and ministry expenses. In a genuine way, this allows those giving at a local level to know that what they give is supporting the mission of their local church, It is also important to note that what is given to Vineyard Churches and to the central operations is equally being used to extend and support the ministry of the local church.

How does teaching work?

Each church has regular live teaching, overseen by their Lead Pastors. Since we believe in multiplication and leadership development, each church will aim to develop a teaching team to equip others for present needs and future planting opportunities.

What are the benefits of this structure?

Firstly we believe we are better together! and in serving together, we are reminded that we are joining in with what God is doing, not building our kingdom. Lead Pastors are better together because they have a team of others to do life together with in the same role who are supporting and encouraging each other.

Staff are better because they have colleagues they can engage at other churches who are doing similar work. Church members are better because they have localised neighbourhood churches to invite friends and co-workers who live in other parts of our region.

Newer churches and church plants are more successful because they have a community of churches to lean on (especially for admin and ministry), and they have the support and strength of a family behind them.

*We don't know where every church will be, and this map simply gives a visual representation of what it could look like.

In order to see more churches planted, we want to cultivate a church environments that acts as a catalyst for potential planters to be identified, trained and released to plant even more churches. Our Church Planting Residency Programme, invites those who sense a call to church planting or pioneering leadership to join us for a period of 24 months, for an intense season of preparation and training.

This will help potential planters become immersed in the life and leadership of a local church, giving them ministry experience and the support needed as they prepare to launch a new church, this will be aided by the discernment process and training offered via the Multiply Vineyard team and the contented distributed via the Vineyard Training platform.

OUR RESIDENCY WILL INCLUDE:

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