What’s the latest?

This month our design team made the decision to expand the kitchen facilities by relocating the footprint of the kitchen and toilets into the adjoining 284 Tuam St building. Hospitality is a value we hold dearly in the Vineyard. We want to show people the love of Jesus and one the key ways we can do that is through biblical hospitality. People connect when we sit down and share a meal or a cup of good coffee together.

Our enlarged commercial kitchen layout will make it easier to host everything from larger seated catered events through to small group gatherings and Sunday services.

To meet the growing demand for digital content our New City Campus will now house purpose built spaces for recording video, sound mixing and producing programmes like Grace at Your Place. There’ll also be space for our growing number of media staff and volunteers.

Over the last couple of months our media team have met to plan how we can best utilize the space available. The online content we produce literally has a global reach and helps thousands of people every month draw closer to Jesus (well beyond the walls of our campuses in Christchurch).

The concept design for Stage One is now completed. Over the last five years, we've worked behind the scenes developing the current concept design. We've taken inspiration and ideas from the best new church facilities and public buildings throughout New Zealand, the UK and the USA. Visiting many new buildings has helped us separate the 'must have' design elements from the 'nice to have.'

The sizes and layout of all the spaces need to serve not only our current needs but also, as much as possible, the ministries we're looking to expand in the future.

Stage One does not include offices for staff and local trusts. We looked at constructing a mezzanine floor to accommodate office spaces but reached the conclusion that a separate building in Stage Two is a smarter option. Our Stage One plans allow for the Stage Two office block in the future. It’s more economic to build offices separately and means our main building can be dedicated to hosting all the various groups, activities and ministries within the life of the church.

Click here to view our site plans

Over the last twelve months we raised a further $1.38m towards the fit out of our New City Campus thanks to the amazing generosity of so many people. We are so grateful for the sacrificial investment individuals have made into this amazing tool for mission that will serve such a key role in helping our grandkids (and the generations beyond) reach people for Jesus.

The New City Campus site in Tuam Street is already serving the community via the amazing work of Kairos Food Rescue. You can read more about it here www.kairosfoodrescue.org.nz

Kairos Freestore began serving the community in 2019, by giving away rescued cafe food out of a small shipping container located in the St Asaph Street car park. The operation expanded into Unit 3/142 Ferry Road as services increased to include warehousing and distributing bulk rescued food. Kairos quickly outgrew this space and needed a new home.

The drive-through car park building at 284 Tuam Street now houses this amazing community ministry. An enclosed space of 1300m2 allows Kairos to offer:

• A welcoming cafe-style space to collect food, sit down and connect with others/build community

• Increased warehouse capacity to enable housing of equipment, pallet storage of bulk food and distribution to community foodbanks

• Office space for staff and a comfortable working environment for volunteers

• Facilities to offer public access to toilets, hot showers and washing machines through collaboration with Orange Sky.