Announcement
SVV Announcement from 21 September 2025:
Hello Church Family,
Over the past 4 years, the Lord has done some amazing things. He’s grown the church, He’s grown all of you! We exited the pandemic and took up the charge to steward the church that Andrew & Emma so carefully planted; they’d established such a welcoming, worshipping church, with a heart for the poor and needy in the centre of Sudbury, a precious thing. During our time here there has been the birth of new ministries, new places for learning, thriving places of community and the Presence of God in our Sunday Gathering has been palpable. God has been doing His thing, setting people free, healing the broken, saving the lost, and blessing the community through generosity and service. The Lord has brought breakthrough, giving us a place on Market Hill for HOTS; providing us with a new place to live when we lost The Vineyard Centre in Ormiston. He’s provided and come through again and again. And through all the changes, He has remained faithful and true. Change can be hard, and many of you have weathered much change during our time together at SVV. King Solomon had great wisdom for us when he writes in Ecclesiastes 3 “to everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…”
We’ve been seeking the Lord earnestly because of the changes we’ve been sensing in our hearts and the very real knowledge of what that would mean for you all. After much prayer, discerning and conversation with mentors and experienced pastors, we believe that the Lord is now leading us to a new chapter beyond SVV.
This may come as a shock, and for that, we are sorry. The Lord has been clear with us in our need for obedience, which as you know, we try our best to do without delay.
This is a time of seasons changing, some things are coming to an end, but we trust that the Lord is also ‘doing a new thing.’ Change always involves some loss, even when it’s a good change and even when it’s the right thing. We recognise that different ones of you will process the change in different ways and at different paces, and that’s okay. We want you to know that we’re here to talk if you need to and that we will do what we can to support you through this process.
We know that the Lord loves Sudbury and He loves SVV. We know that He has good plans for you and that He will not let you down. We know that He has your best in mind
And it is that confidence that allows us to follow His leading - because we trust ourselves and you to His faithful care.
We recognise that a big change like this also brings up lots of questions and wondering what happens next. We understand there may be questions regarding the continuation of the church and how it works within the Vineyard Movement. Right now we are working with the Trustees to ensure the best way forward for SVV. The church is receiving support and guidance from Vineyard National. This is includes our Regional Leaders (Steve and Tammy Gee) and the Successions team (for our area that is Mark Harbour from Cambridge who many of you will know from area worship nights and mens weekends).
The Lord is doing really good work at SVV and our leaving doesn’t change that. We believe the Lord wants to continue to do His good work here. And we are working to put sustainable teams in place so that the church is as prepared as it can be for our departure, for what will likely be an interim period of finding new pastors and for the beginning of the next season with those new pastors.
The trustees will be sharing some next steps with you in the next couple of weeks but first we wanted to share this news with you. You’ll have probably questions and the trustees encourage you to reach out to them.
Please feel free to email any of them – they would welcome a conversation with you:
Charles Vernon (Chair): charles@stourvalleyvineyard.org
Malcolm Buckland: malcolm.buckland58@gmail.com
Helen Forth: helenlforth@gmail.com
Ruth Woodman: ruth@stourvalleyvineyard.org
Some questions that might immediately spring to mind for you…
QUESTIONS:
How long have we got with you?
We have a 3 month notice period and so we’ll be with you until the end of November.
Where will you go?
At this time we do not know where the Lord is leading us, we are in a faith moment of discerning our next steps. We have heard the Lord say GO… and sometimes you have to GO in order to find out the WHERE. Our plan right now is to take a sabbath period of time of preparation for what the Lord has next for us and to make sure we walk our kids well through this big transition. Please pray for us and our children as we discern what might be next.
What does this mean for the church?
We want to be clear that the fact that we are being called away, does not mean that you are being abandoned. The Vineyard movement is very familiar with pastors being called away from a place and new pastors being called to that place. That’s their expectation. That’s our expectation. That God has new leaders for you who will be the best leaders to take you into the next season. We recognise that moments of change are hard and change always involves loss of some kind. Difficult moments like these require a faith response. This is where we need those memorial stones like we saw Jacob set up at Bethel two weeks ago. This is where we need to actively and intentionally remember that God has been so incredibly faithful to this church. Through every season and in the midst of every change, the Lord has been good and He has been faithful. And His character has not changed.
Now to Him who is able to do more than we could ask or imagine, according to His power at work within us, to Him be glory in in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!
With all our love and blessings,
Kady & Joel