23rd May 2017 

Building
Having had our offer accepted, we are continuing with negotiations for this purchase.  The process is rather more complex than, say, an individual looking to purchase a building to live in.  As a charity, we are overseen and regulated by the Charities Commission, and this provides a robust framework within which we need to operate to ensure correct and responsible handling of monies and funds donated to the charity.  Please pray that these negotiations continue smoothly.  Pray that we will follow God’s leading, stepping out in faith, whilst balancing the need to be good stewards of the resources we have been given and astute business people.
 
Research
We are delighted to have our own Amanda Shaw now leading the research project.  She will be checking to see what other community based research has been done locally in recent years, and then building on this to commission a professional research company to actually carry out our own research project.  The aim of this is to determine what the perceived needs are of the people in and around Headingley.  As we listen to God’s call to us as a church, together with this information from the research project, we will be able to discern the best and most effective ways to serve the people of Headingley in the coming years.
 
Community
We already have friends who are involved with Heart (on Bennett Road) and Left Bank (on Cardigan Road).  We anticipate that these two organisations will be key partners for us going forward, as they are already very active providing a wide range of community services and enriching the local area.  We praise God for connecting us with these people, who are keen to work alongside us as we develop our plans for the building and the future.
 
Ideas
If you have your own dreams/visions/prophecies for this project, then please contact the Leeds Vineyard office, so that we can continue to gather inspiration and understand better what God may have planned for us in the coming months/years, as we tread with excitement and anticipation down this new path.

Phil Hicks