Spotlight: Palo Alto Vineyard: Fulfilling a mission of compassion
Palo Alto Vineyard Church has a long history of supporting its local and global community organically. Their list of ministry and outreach partners numbered more than twenty-one, yet according to Director of Compassion, Julie Young, there was no focus as a church on how to serve; “people were spread out and there was really no sense of unity as a church in what we were doing.”
To address this, lead pastor, Susan Van Riesen asked the church’s Missions Board to find a focus. They met and prayed together until God revealed His plan. “We spent a whole year asking God where He wanted us to put our time and attention,” Julie recalls.
This process of discernment ultimately revealed four guiding mandates for the church’s missional effort:
Volunteerism
Prayer
Education
Relationship
These would be impossible with all 21 named partners, so the Board decided to commit to three that were local: Hope Horizon East Palo Alto, Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy (CIC) of Santa Clara County, and Reach Potential Movement.
A mission of compassion
It was at this time that the Missions Board also decided to change its name. “During the pandemic our church took a deep dive into all things related to justice and a lot of us realized the word, missions, no longer really fit what we were doing,” Julie explains. “When we consider that word today, it is often associated with the archaic term, imperialism.”
“Missions” became “Compassion and Justice “with this vision:
To engage with our Community Partners on multiple levels, including prayer ministry, volunteer work, and education about the justice issues that impact the people the organization serves.
We desire depth in both personal and organizational relationships, with the intention that individuals will be activated to live out every element of the church mission statement: To Empower People From All Backgrounds to have Intimacy With God and Influence For His Kingdom.
It was important that the church understand the intersection between justice and compassion in serving the three local organizations “We educate the church about the justice topics each organization addresses, and we intentionally build relationships with the people we serve. It’s been phenomenal to see people get connected.”
Ministry impact
Palo Alto Vineyard recently surveyed its members to assess the impact of the new ministry. Sixty-one percent of those responding said they have grown in understanding justice-related issues in the community. Forty-two percent said they are more actively serving now than two years ago and 32% said they’ve developed relationships with the people they’re serving. “They’re not just serving for two hours and then walking away. They now know people’s names and that’s awesome,” says Julie.
Julie also sees some cross-over as Hope Horizon and Reach Potential participants come to church. “Half of the kids who came to VBS last year were Reach Potential connections.”
Ever expanding work
In the two years since the creation of the Compassion and Justice ministry, the work continues to expand. “We are changing our structure. We’re probably going to have a 3-tier approach with three community partners, 8 to 10 ministry partners, and some other outreaches,” Julie says.
Recently Buena Vista Partners, an organization that supports the 300 residents of the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park on El Camino in Palo Alto was added to the list. As one of a limited number of low-income housing options in the city, Buena Vista is often overlooked, but in April 2020, a representative of Reach Potential Movement connected a Buena Vista Mobile Home Park community leader with Palo Alto Vineyard Church initiating a commitment by the church to include the mobile home park in Operation Contagious Generosity. This all-church effort funneled groceries to the under-resourced during the pandemic. Church members who dropped off the food began to get to know the residents which not only built trust, but developed lasting relationships. At the same time an individual contacted Julie with the offer to donate a large sum of money to assist the residents; “That’s when we decided to start the nonprofit, Buena Vista Partners.”
Buena Vista Partners is an independent nonprofit, not a ministry of Palo Alto Vineyard; but the church has just recently voted to include it as a ministry partner.
Compassion 101
As Director of Compassion and Justice, Julie is learning a lot she can pass on to the rest of the church; “the most beautiful thing I’m learning from Compassion ministries is how God works through the one-on-one. As much as we want to pour in money, resources, and prayer, if you’re not actually making friends you’re missing out on the best part.”