WHO WE ARE
Each church has its own character, shaped by the people who attend it.  Many attributes could characterize who we are and the type of church we have become.  Listed below are some of the characteristics we want to see at the heart of our community:

RELATIONAL
  people are very important to us
GENEROUS
  giving time, energy, and money for others
DIVERSE
  living reconciled lives without regard to class, race, and
  gender
PASSIONATE
  100% devoted to Christ
CONTEMPORARY
  showing the relevance of Biblical truth to daily life
REAL
  living and worshipping God authentically
EXPECTANT
  expecting God to touch and change our lives
CASUAL
  inviting people to come as they are
COMPASSIONATE
  extending God’s mercy to each other and the world
FREE
  free in Christ to be, look and feel differently

OUR TEAM 
At the Hyde Park Vineyard Church, we believe that its members should do the ministry of the church.  The pastor's role is to lead and equip Christians to serve God in their daily lives and use their spiritual gifts to serve the church and the world.  Many people, therefore, are involved in every aspect of the church.  Worship, small groups, drama, administration,  the Alpha Course, dance, events, socials, retreats, conferences, ministry to the poor, intercession, hospitality, setup for Sundays, Web design, benevolence, youth ministry, financial management, leadership, and much teaching are all done by members of the church.  There are many ways to get involved.  Everyone has gifts that God has given them and passions in their heart.

THE HISTORY OF THE VINEYARD CHURCHES
The Association of Vineyard Churches is one of the fastest growing church-planting movements in the world. The Vineyard story is about ordinary people who worship and serve an extraordinary God. The Vineyard is simply one thread in the rich tapestry of the historic and global Church of Jesus Christ. But it is a thread of God’s weaving.

From the beginning, Vineyard pastors and leaders have sought to hold in tension the biblical doctrines of the Christian faith with an ardent pursuit of the present day work of the Spirit of God. Maintaining that balance is never easy in the midst of rapid growth and renewal.

John Wimber was a founding leader of the Vineyard. His influence profoundly shaped the theology and practice of Vineyard churches from their earliest days until his death in November 1997. When John was conscripted by God he was, in the words of Christianity Today, a "beer-guzzling, drug-abusing pop musician, who was converted at the age of 29 while chain-smoking his way through a Quaker-led Bible study" (Christianity Today, editorial, Feb. 9 1998).

In John's first decade as a Christian he led hundreds of people to Christ. By 1970 he was leading 11 Bible studies that involved more than 500 people. Under God’s grace, John became so fruitful as an evangelical pastor he was asked to lead the Charles E. Fuller Institute of Evangelism and Church Growth. He also later became an adjunct instructor at Fuller Theological Seminary where his classes set attendance records. In 1977, John reentered pastoral ministry to plant Calvary Chapel of Yorba.

Throughout this time, John’s conservative evangelical paradigm for understanding the ministry of the church began to grow. George Eldon Ladd’s theological writings on the kingdom of God convinced John intellectually that the all the biblical gifts of the Holy Spirit should be active in the church. Encounters with Fuller missiologists Donald McGavaran and C. Peter Wagner and seasoned missionaries and international students gave him credible evidence for combining evangelism with healing and prophecy. As he became more convinced of God's desire to be active in the world through all the biblical gifts of the Spirit, John began to teach and train his church to imitate Jesus’ full-orbed kingdom ministry. He began to ‘do the stuff’ of the Bible that he had formerly only read about.

As John and his congregation sought God in intimate worship they experienced empowerment by the Holy Spirit, significant renewal in the gifts and conversion growth. It became clear that the church’s emphasis on the experience of the Holy Spirit was not shared by some leaders in the Calvary Chapel movement. In 1982, John's church left Calvary Chapel and joined a small group of Vineyard churches. Vineyard was a name chosen by Kenn Gulliksen, a prolific church planter affiliated with Calvary Chapel, for a church he planted in Los Angeles in 1974. Pastors and leaders from the handful of Vineyard churches began looking to John for direction. And the Vineyard movement was born.

Twenty years later, there are more than 850 Vineyard churches worldwide, an international church planting movement, a publishing house and a music production company. Vineyard worship songs have helped thousands of churches experience intimacy with God. Many churches have been equipped to continue Jesus' ministry of proclaiming the kingdom, healing the sick, casting out demons and training disciples.

The Vineyard's journey has not been a straight path. It winds through many trials and triumphs. If interested in more, we recommend Bill Jackson's book, "The Quest for the Radical Middle." This readable history explores the events, issues and people who shaped the Vineyard in its first two decades.

THE HISTORY OF THE HYDE PARK VINEYARD CHURCH
In January 1996 a house group Bible study in Hyde Park led by Jordan and Sonya Seng formed out of the Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Evanston. This house group was mainly comprised of college students from the University of Chicago. Through answered prayer and a series of Divine appointments, Rand Tucker (founding and current senior pastor) met this group and joined the house group in October 1996. God seemed to make it clear to all that a new Vineyard church should be started in Hyde Park.

After a long season of prayer and planning, the first Sneak Preview Service of the Hyde Park Vineyard Church was held on October 5, 1997. God’s blessing was present and the timing seemed right, so the group hosted its first Sunday Morning Gathering on January 11, 1998. Eighty-five people crowded into a small room at the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club. Although some of those present were just there for moral support, the church had a strong base of 65 people who stayed with the church.

From the very beginning of the church, however, the emphasis of the Hyde Park Vineyard Church has not been on the number of people who attend its programs; rather, we see ourselves as a missional community set apart for God’s purposes. We believe that “God’s mission through the Hyde Park Vineyard is to produce world changers and world changing churches who are 100% devoted to Jesus and each other and others in the world.” Almost all of those who helped start the church have moved to new cities, started new careers, and joined new churches, but the fruitfulness of God’s ministry through this church continues to multiply through both the lives of our alumni and our current members.

ABOUT OUR SENIOR PASTOR
Our senior pastor, Rand Tucker, was born as the grandson of two pastors; however, while growing up, only one parent of his had a relationship with Jesus Christ. Rand made a profession of faith in Jesus at Vacation Bible School as a young child. His Christian faith was challenged in his teenage years through his parents’ divorce and worldly temptations. In January 1987 as a senior in high school, Rand committed his life fully to following and serving Jesus. His call to pastoral ministry came just two years later.

Originally from Southern California, he studied psychology at the University of California, San Diego. After college, Rand pastored in youth ministry and was a volunteer staff member for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Rand moved to Chicago to attend Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. While in seminary, he served in urban ministry. After graduating at the end of 1997, Rand moved to Hyde Park to partner with a group of college students to start the Hyde Park Vineyard Church. While starting the church, Rand worked part-time for two years at the University of Chicago publications office. Rand and his wife, Aimee, were married in December of 2001. Aimee is on staff with Hyde Park Young Life ministering to area high school students. They have one child.

Rand’s personal mission statement for ministry is “to expand God’s kingdom through starting new churches and new ministries within the church, to equip God’s people and leaders for life and ministry, and to expose God’s word through preaching and teaching.  Click HERE to email Rand.

MORE INFO?
For more detailed information about our church, including our Statement of Faith, please click HERE to download our Hand Book.  "Vineyard" is a licensed trademark of the Association of Vineyard Churches.