As part of ongoing work to clarify the relationship between Vineyard USA, Vineyard churches, and Vineyard pastors, Vineyard churches in the US are engaged in a bylaw update process. This bylaw update process takes place in one of three ways: Revise (churches adopt new bylaws from one of three template bylaws provided by VUSA), Amend (churches add an amendment to their current bylaws), or Discern (churches take additional time to discern whether to Revise or Amend, and if Revise, which bylaw template they would like to adopt). This course is a resource to support churches on the Discern pathway.

This course equips church leadership teams with the knowledge and skills to practice communal discernment around church governance. Over four modules, participants will build a foundation in personal and group discernment, learn about church polity and governance, and engage in a real-life discernment process guided by a trained spiritual director. Each month, participants meet individually with a spiritual director and gather with others on their church’s leadership team to put into practice what they are learning, participate in practices of prayer and reflection, and apply discernment principles to the bylaw update project. By the end, participants will be prepared to carry out communal discernment in a thoughtful and spiritually grounded way, enabling them to move forward with either revising or amending their church bylaws.