We were a traditional Baptist Church.
We were a contemporary Baptist Church.
We were a non-denominational Church.
We were a progressive Christian Church.
We are not who we were.
We are an ever-evolving spiritual collective.
To get at who we are it might be helpful to see who we’ve been.
This is the evolution of our identity and mission statements over the years.
2006
Vinings Lake Church exists to invite people to Come, Connect, and Commit to Christ.
2015
Vinings Lake Church is a living, breathing, life-giving, system confronting, empire subverting community of Jesus followers committed to the universal flourishing of ALL things.
2018
Vinings Lake is a non-denominational community of followers of Jesus committed to joining God in the restoration and renewal of all things.
2019
Vinings Lake is a progressive, fully inclusive, diverse, and non-denominational spiritual community joining God in the restoration and renewal of all things.
2021
Vinings Lake is an ever-evolving spiritual collective waking up to beauty, truth, and goodness wherever it is found.
We are…
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Have you always seen the world exactly as you do now? It’s likely you have grown up, matured, and changed over time. Everything that is alive and healthy is evolving, changing, and growing: people, religions, societies, organizations, the universe, all of it. The same is true for us. We are not who we were. Who we are is not who we will be.
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Our collective is made up of many diverse individuals. We have self-proclaimed Christians, post-Christians, agnostics, nones, dones, conservatives, liberals, democrats, republicans, independents, spiritual but not religious, religious but not spiritual, formless, and everything in between.
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Hinduism calls it enlightenment, Buddhism calls it liberation, and Jesus calls it salvation. This is our common point of interest. We are continually being born again and again. For us, waking up implies seeing in a way you have never seen before. It is the arising of consciousness.
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Love is the essence of who God is. Love is the center and source of all things. Love has the power to soften the hardest heart, shatter the strongest addiction, melt the mightiest ego, and remove the tallest barrier. We hope to be waking up to a perfect love that has the power to transform everything.
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Thomas Aquinas said, “All truth is God’s truth.” Because of this, we claim truth, embrace truth, celebrate truth, affirm truth, and own truth wherever we might find it. Indeed, the truth can and will set us all free. We hope to be waking up to the ancient wisdom that can lead us into greater wholeness.
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Universal human flourishing is what our work is about. We are channeling our resources for the greater good of our community and our world. We hope to be waking up to ways we can join the God of the oppressed by fighting injustice, advocating for the marginalized, outcast, and alone.
We value church clarity
We not only value it, but we also believe it is an ethical responsibility of the institution to provide as much clarity around who we are as possible.
We are proud to have a verified clear rating on churchclarity.com, an organization dedicated to rating churches based on their actively enforced polices.
Vinings Lake is unequivocally LGBTQIA+ affirming, committed to the empowerment of women, committed to the social, political, and economic liberation of people of color, and to the welcoming of immigrants and refugees with or without documentation.
We CELEBRATE all persons of gender, race, ethnicity, age, physical or mental capacity, education, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic or marital status. We don't have religious gatekeepers that decide who is in and who is out. We believe love sent out the invitations and set the table for the WHOLE world.
Get to know us
Cody + Katie have been a part of VL since its origins. They helped navigate the transition from New Hope to VL in 2005. Cody has served as lead pastor since 2015. Katie has served as lead facilitator for music since 2015. Cody holds an MDiv from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology. They both have a desire to point people toward a path of healing, wholeness, fullness, harmony, and a life full of vibrancy.
For more on Cody’s work visit:
www.codydeese.com