About Village Church
We are a Bible-based, Jesus-centred, Spirit-led church family based in Lonehill and Bryanston, Johannesburg.
Where we come from
More than 35 years ago, the well-established and large interdenominational ‘Rosebank Union Church’ identified the need for the extension of God’s Kingdom into the far northern suburbs of Johannesburg.
The Village Church was birthed in Lonehill as a result of that vision, and was shortly thereafter released to seek its own identity and direction.
Over the years, and as a result of our core ‘church-planting’ philosophy, we (Village Church) have planted several other churches including Ridgeway Ministries, The Village Church Fourways, The Village Church Peter Place, The Village Church Chartwell, and most recently, Village Church Bryanston. Each of these churches has gone through their own developments, creating their own histories and individual identities in the wider Kingdom of God.
What we value
As VC, we hold dear a set of biblical values that define our church family and help guide us as we follow Jesus.
Central to everything we do is our commitment to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. He is the focal point of our teaching, gathering, worship, prayer, ministry and daily lives. Our desire is to know Him deeply, to follow Him faithfully, to glorify Him in all we do, and to help others to do the same.
We strive for doctrinal faithfulness, grounding ourselves in the authority of Scripture, understanding it as the revelation of the absolute Truth that shapes our beliefs and actions. Sound doctrine means right living. Expository preaching is therefore integral to our worship services, ensuring that God’s Word is presented with clarity, authority and relevance to our lives.
We believe that integrity and righteousness is critical to leadership, practicing a biblical ‘Plurality of Elders’ model of church leadership and governance to ensure accountability and wisdom in decision-making. Led by the Holy Spirit, we seek His guidance in every aspect of church life, trusting His direction in all we do.
Our church values family and relationships deeply, fostering an environment where every individual feels known and loved. We don’t see people as numbers. Each person has significance, intrinsic value and belongs to the family. We are committed to restoration and healing, offering refuge to the brokenhearted and binding the wounds of the hurting.
We believe in active participation, encouraging every member to engage fully in the life of the church, taking ownership of their own spiritual growth and in the well-being of the church family. Our Sunday services are therefore highly participatory in sharing, prayer, worship and ministry to one another. We intentionally avoid any sense of performance.
Authenticity is key in our community, where honesty and transparency are valued over superficial appearances.
By teaching, equipping, empowering and releasing, we aim not just to make converts but to grow mature disciples who actively serve others, build one another up, and minister using the gifts the Spirit has given them. We are not staff-driven or program-oriented, but nurture a church family that supports and encourages one another as we, together, run the race that is set before us. We encourage each believer to take the gospel to the world around them and make disciples in their own contexts.
Ultimately, our goal is to point one another and the world around us to Jesus Christ, building His church on the truth of His Word, through genuine love and service to others, a witness that reflects His grace and truth, as most gloriously revealed through the proclamation of His gospel.
We believe that by living out these values, we fulfil our calling to be a Bible-based, Jesus-centred, Spirit-led, church family.
What we hope and pray for our future
We hope and pray that in 10 years’ time, this can be said of Village Church:
We steadfastly maintain our core values, caretaking the glorious gospel we have received, and weathering the storms of persecution and worldliness with resilient faithfulness to Jesus and His Word. We are unashamedly counter-cultural, unwavering in our commitment to biblical truth, anchored in the centrality of Jesus, and dependent on the leading and transforming power of the Holy Spirit.
We celebrate our unity in Christ within a diverse, multicultural, multiracial, multilingual, multigenerational, and multi-congregational church family, exhibited most clearly in our corporate worship. Our leadership team reflects this diversity, whilst reproducing leaders that share our core doctrinal convictions and values.
Our vibrant younger generations stand boldly for Jesus, and are equipped through robust mentorship programmes such as our one-year ministry training initiative.
In our commitment to effective discipleship, each person is mentored biblically by a mature Christian, is engaged and growing in their faith, is equipped and released to use their Spirit-given gifts, and participates fully in the life of the church and beyond. Each person is also actively engaged in a ‘fellowship group’, a smaller family unit within the broader church community.
Numerical growth and a desire for the spread of the gospel of Jesus has led us to utilise our facilities to their maximum potential and to expand to five separate campuses with multiple services, while our resources, including the ministry of SATS (South African Theological Seminary), are impacting an increasing number of believers and churches worldwide. In response to God’s gracious and abundant generosity to us, we gladly share the resources with which He has blessed us. We faithfully replicate our foundations, ethos, and values to help build both our church and others, wherever we have influence.
As a haven and beacon of hope, a city of refuge for all, we shine Christ brightly in our suburbs and beyond. We actively seek out the lost, inviting them to meet Jesus, and to find healing, forgiveness, restoration and reconciliation with God, within our church family. We baptise new believers weekly, as more and more people come into a saving relationship with Jesus.