our history

Coventry Vineyard is a group of people who are seeking to live Kingdom oriented lives. We want to bring the life of Jesus to the lives of the people in our community. We seek to enable people to have access to the gospel by relevant and authentic means.

We are constantly seeking to find new and creative ways to show God's mercy and love to our generation. We are part of a growing movement of over 1000 Vineyard churches in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and South America.

We believe that God has given the church the ministry of announcing the good news of the Kingdom of God and bringing the reign and reality of Jesus to the hearts and lives of people. God has called us to establish a local congregation here in Coventry, and in the future to participate in the planting of many new churches.

But how did it all start?

Nick and Vicki Sutton met at The Cherwell Vineyard in Oxford. After serving there for 5 years, Nick and Vicki believed God was calling them to plant a new Vineyard church in Coventry.

Under the oversight of the Vineyard church in Birmingham, Nick & Vicki inherited an existing group of 6 people who met regularly as a housegroup from January 1998. The group grew slowly over the next three years. During this time the aim was to build relationship within the team and with people in Coventry. At the same time the Sutton family grew and Nick trained as a Secondary Science Teacher.

In September 2001, the church began to meet weekly on Sunday mornings. The aim was to create a relaxed, informal atmosphere where people could meet together, worship God and receive biblical teaching.

Coventry Vineyard was released by South Birmingham Vineyard on January 6th 2002 to be a separate church. At that time we were a small group of people, with a base of about 20 adults and 10 children.

Coventry Vineyard has met at various venues around Coventry, from Ernesford Grange school, to Newtz Bar, to Bishop Ullathorne School, to Moods Café (The Glasshouse). This nomadic existence helped us realise that church can never be about the building but is about the people gathered together. Coventry Vineyard currently rents the Nexus building on Albany Road as their venue for Sunday mornings.

Today in May 2010, Coventry Vineyard exists as 8 small groups across the city and surrounding countryside. We are very excited about what God is doing in our community, let us know if you want to find out more about us.