Vinegrowers gives you the strategies and resources to build a healthy disciple-making culture in your church
If you’re one of the tens of thousands of church leaders who have read The Trellis and the Vine and come away from it thinking “Yes, that expresses what I believe church ministry ought to be about”, you’re in the right place—this page is for you.
So… how is the vine growing? How much progress have you made in transforming the culture of your church into a disciple-making one? Have you seen a surge of new disciple-making disciples being raised up and deployed?
Of course, moving a church in a gospel-driven, disciple-making direction isn’t easy.
Being a good Bible teaching church is a vital first step. But how do you ensure you’re a church full of good Bible learners? How do you pass the love of the word of God from the pulpit to the pews? How do attentive listeners to the word of God become prayerful, enthusiastic and opportunistic speakers of the word of God?
The comprehensive roadmap for achieving that sort of change was set out in The Vine Project—the follow up book to The Trellis and the Vine. And many churches have pursued that project with vigour and rigour, and with encouraging results.
But maybe you’re not familiar with The Vine Project yet, and would love to know how it could help your church. Or perhaps you looked at The Vine Project and decided it wasn't the right time for your church to take the process on. Or maybe you gave it a try, but you hit lots of roadblocks early on and progress stalled. Or the innovations you tried just didn’t seem to work as you hoped, and now you’re not sure where to head next.
Wherever you and your church find yourselves, we’d love to offer you some help.
About Vinegrowers
The members of our Vinegrowers team have years of experience in thinking about these issues and talking to pastors and other church leaders about them. They understand that there is no ‘program’ that’s going to turn your church culture around. They know church cultures don't work like that. They know it’s God and his gospel that transforms people and churches. Yet they also know there are resources and strategies which, under God, have helped many churches become far more effective in making disciples.
Vinegrowers offers a free 45-minute call with one of our team, during which you will receive a fresh and objective perspective on your current situation, and some clear and concrete recommendations for next steps on your journey to being a disciple-making church.
Beyond the initial free consultation, we do also offer ongoing support via partnership calls on a paid basis. However, our capacity to provide that continuing service is sufficiently limited that our goal is always to provide as much help as we can to as many churches as we can through the initial free call.
There are some other things we offer (see below), but the free consultation is the heart of it all, because it's where we can really develop a personal and meaningful gospel partnership.
How to sign up for the free consultation
1. Send us an expression of interest using the form below.
2. We will then send you a questionnaire to fill in and return to us, which helps us form a picture of where you, your church and your church culture are currently up to.
3. Once we have reviewed your questionnaire responses, we will offer you some appointment times for your free consultation call. These calls will last from 45-60 minutes, and could be with just you, or with a small leadership team (of up to three people).
4. At the conclusion of our call we will email you a written summary of our recommendations. We may also include information about any ongoing paid services we can provide as you continue on your change journey.
Why choose Vinegrowers?
We understand that there are multiple organisations and people these days who provide consulting services to churches, many with impressive expertise. So why would you choose to work with our Vinegrowers team?
The answer is short and simple: because our goal is to help you with a very specific implementation, that is, applying the principles you found yourself heartily agreeing with in The Trellis and the Vine.
Other consulting or coaching services will have their own ecclesiological goals and assumptions—whether conscious or unconscious (all too often the latter). We very intentionally work from the principles of The Trellis and the Vine.
Furthermore, because we work from the Matthias Media platform—a publishing ministry laser-focused on providing ministry resources purposely designed for implementing The Trellis and the Vine vision—we know the helpful resources that are available and how to make best use of them. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask using the form below.
"I would wholeheartedly encourage people to join in the free consultation! I found the pre-questions thought-provoking and useful. And I found the interaction and recommendations to be very significant and helpful." - John B (Michigan)
What people say...
Our Vinegrowers team
Marty Sweeney
Executive Director
Matthias Media US
Marty started Matthias Media USA in 2006 and continues to lead its operations. He also plays an important role in the global work of MM as the overseer of all content. Since 2011, Marty has been a pastor at Old North Church in Canfield, Ohio, where he has played a key role in developing a culture of disciple-making and training.
Ian Carmichael
Publishing Consultant
Matthias Media AU
Ian has spent over three decades as a key leader in Matthias Media's publishing ministry. Along with leadership roles in various churches and on the Board of the Ministry Training Strategy (MTS), he now has many years of thinking strategically and practically about disciple-making within a church context.
Lindsey Yeagley
Marketing Director
Matthias Media US
Lindsey's main focus is to convey a clear message about the mission of Matthias Media and Vinegrowers. She enjoys leading Bible study in her home and discipling others one-to-one. Lindsey has been on the Matthias Media team since 2017.
You can learn more about the background of Marty and Ian in this post on our blog ("The Vinegrower's Trellis"). The blog is basically an archive of our regular email articles, as well as a home for other useful Vinegrower resources.
Other ways Vinegrowers can help you
EMAILS
Regular encouragement and ideas to help you keep developing your disciple-making culture. Sign up now:
Nth America/Rest of world or
Australia/Pacific
DIGITAL LIBRARY
You can find lots of useful and free digital resources to help with church culture change in our Vine Project Library. (You do not need to register to use the library and download resources.)
WORKSHOPS
Opportunities for you to bring your leadership team and engage with us in an interactive day of thinking and planning. Sign up to our email to be notified about these workshops.
RESOURCE ADVICE
We're happy to help at any time in finding the right resources to meet your ministry needs. We can also suggest the best ways to use many of these resources. Use the form below to contact us.
Contact us / Register your interest in a free consultation
Vinegrowers is a ministry of Matthias Media (Australia) and Matthias Media (USA).
Copyright Matthias Media 2023.