Information on who we are, where we came from, where we are going, and how we plan to get there.

Simon was born in Northern Ireland in 1973 and spent the first nine years of his life in this politically tense country until he emigrated to Australia with this family in 1982. A few years later his parents returned to Northern Ireland to live but they moved back to Australia the following year in time for Simon to start high school, realizing Australia had now become home for his family. Mel was born in Queensland, Australia in 1977 where she lived until her parents planted a church just north of Sydney in 1986. It was in Mels Parents church that Simon became a Christian when he was 17 years old and became the Youth Pastor there three years later, making him the youngest Youth Pastor in Australia. Simon and Mel married in 1996 and Pastored the youth congregation of Bayside Christian Life Centre, a completely evangelistic Youth ministry that was active in the three local high schools surrounding the church, seeing hundreds of young people fall in love with Jesus Christ. The Friday night meetings grew to two hundred young people and the style of ministry that they have come to name raw and simple came from these years of working with kids that were hungry to know God in a real way and to do life together. Mel had an incredible job teaching Scripture studies at the local Junior high and was able to point 13 and 14 yr olds to Jesus in class every day and see them discipled in Lunch programs at the school which Simon and his youth leaders ran.

The Forsythe Clan: Simon, Melanie, Zachary, Tobias & Evangeline

At this same time, Simon and Mel were running their regions Youth Alive youth rallies, an outreach of Hillsong Australia Church. Simon wrote music and sang with the Youth Alive band and played to thousands.

Simon also headed up the Australian base of 24/7 prayer, a world wide prayer movement that calls the church to pray around the clock in different locations all around the world. This experience has shaped Simon and profoundly impacts the way He does church today. In late 2002, Simon began to feel the Holy Spirit prompting him to apply for Youth pastor jobs in America. Little did they know that a month later Simon, Mel and their 11 month old son Zachary would be flying to Columbus Ohio to interview for a Job at Reynoldsburg Vineyard Community Church. They moved to Columbus three months later and came on staff as the Youth Pastor and then the Worship Pastor under Pastor Dave Diyanni. Simon and Mels family grew in America with the arrival of Tobias in 2004 and Evangeline in 2006. Simon served at VCC until Christmas 2008 when, with the blessing of Reynoldsburg VCC, Simon and Mel were sent out with a team of Fifty people to plant LIFE Vineyard Church. The first few months of 2009 were spent building the team before the first official service on Easter Sunday 2009 where they celebrated Gods amazing goodness by giving away the entire Easter offering to a mission in Mexico. The last two years have been filled with testimonies of Gods incredible blessings, His mercy in the midst of our complicated lives and the joy of seeing people receive the saving grace of Gods love over and over again. Simon and Mel live here in Gahanna, their children attend Gahanna schools and they are looking forward to seeing God continue to move in the lives of the community they call home and invite all of you to walk with them as they Pastor this growing community of believers.

Here at LIFE we dream of being a community of friends that are bound together by a shared vision and values. Your value as a person comes from who you are, who God uniquely created you to be, not your ability to do stuff. In short, we want to be a church that values you for who you are, not what function you perform. READ 1 John 4:712 We come to LIFE from a myriad of different family backgrounds, cultures, religious traditions, education levels and political leanings. The one thing we have in common is that we all want to be like Jesus. We are all walking towards our Savior with open arms and humble hearts to keep our church focused on what connects us, rather than what separates is is one thing, LOVE. We challenge you to look beyond the differences we all have and choose to love one another. In order for God to do a work in this place and to see His Kingdom break through in the lives of people in our community, we need to first accept the incredible love of God for ourselves and then be able to pour out that same love to our fellow man. By this will all men and women know that we are His Disciples and we desire to see an authentic church filled with people that choose to see the best in each other, even when confronted with the opposite.

We believe that Jesus came to bring life to the full and that we have a Christian duty to celebrate all that is good. Fun and laughter will be central to LIFE and we do not need to justify these. Genesis 1:31, Psalm 24:1,Matthew 11:19, John 10:10, One of our most firm beliefs here at LIFE Vineyard church is that Jesus came to bring life and bring it to the full and that it is our Christian duty to celebrate all that is good about life. Fun and laughter will always be a central element in all that we do here, from the Sunday morning worship to the preaching, to the announcements and everywhere in between. We believe that the church is truly the heart and soul of a community and we embrace the opportunity to not only have fun and celebrate with each other, but also with our local community. Our first year as a church we joined the Gahanna 4th of July parade by building a huge yellow submarine and having our kids squirt the parade watchers with water! There was no spiritual significance to our yellow submarine, we purely wanted to celebrate in a fun way and join the party. Our celebratory attitude spills over into all that we do. We encourage you to join one of our LIFEgroups and enjoy each others company by having meals together. Simon and Mel host all church picnics at their home throughout the summer where the food is delicious, the kids run and play and the adults get some serious volleyball competition in. When we embrace the joy of the moment that God has given us we learn how to give glory to God in every situation. God is not just our anchor in the hard times, He is our giver of all that is good. Our joy brings Him pleasure and gives us the supreme honor of sharing that Joy with the world.

If you have worshipped with LIFE for any length of time, you will have heard this value talked about at length! We seek to grow together as a community in a real and vibrant way, without the veneer of professionalism. True Christianity comes from the heart and at the core of our beliefs is a driving passion to be simplistic in our approach to ministry. Jesus could have used the grandest of natures offerings to describe the Kingdom of God - Mountain ranges, Grand canyons or volcanoes but instead He chose to use the mustard seed. When teaching about who the Kingdom of God belongs to, He didnt point to a King or a General, rather, He lifted a little child onto his lap. Jesus used the simple and most raw parts of our world to describe His Kingdom and we seek to live in the same way before God. Our messy lives, when submitted wholly to God are testaments to His mercy and grace. We run away from performance based Christianity and embrace the authenticity of a changed heart. We challenge you to allow the Holy Spirit to change you from the inside out, not the outside in. This means that you will encounter all sorts of people in our church community and they will undoubtably look like they dont have it all together - if you look through the filter of success and image creation. God has no such filter however and we seek to look and love as God does. READ 1 Samuel 16:7 This same attitude of simplicity extends to the way we desire to do ministry here at LIFE. We exist to love, disciple and release average everyday people to be the agents of change in our world. You do not need a doctoral degree to lead a friend to Christ and we love to see everyone that calls LIFE home being actively involved in Kingdom work. Our focus is and always will be about the individual person finding freedom from sin and a new life through Jesus Christ. This is why we exist as a church and we will always pursue that goal above our own profile.

The truth is that the Spirit of the living God is guaranteed to ask you to go somewhere or do something you wouldnt normally want or choose to do. The Spirit will lead you into the way of the cross, as He led Jesus to the cross, and that is definitely not a safe or pretty or comfortable place to be. The Holy Spirit of God will mold you into the person you were made to be Fransis Chan - Forgotten God The benchmark of success in church services has become more about attendance than the movement of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is at the core of everything we do here at LIFE Vineyard Church. He is the great Helper that was promised by Jesus and He is the very vehicle in which we operate as Christians here on earth. The Holy Spirit, the third part of the Trinity, is the Spirit of God, come to dwell in the hearts of all men and women who submit their lives to the Great I AM . It is He who empowers us to live as Christian witnesses as stated in Acts 1:8, But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. With this understanding, we intentionally leave room in our Sunday morning services and LIFEgroups to stop, listen and allow the Holy Spirit to direct our lives. We encourage you all to press deeper into the Holy Spirit and to desire more of His presence and wisdom in your lives. Depending on your background you might have some questions and caution when it comes to the Holy Spirit. We want you to know that we understand and would love the opportunity to talk with you and to answer any questions you may have to the best of our ability. We seek the Holy Spirits presence because the early church was birthed out of the releasing of the Holy Spirit and His gifts and we encourage the church to earnestly desire spiritual gifts (I Corinthians 14:1). These gifts are given to the church for the building up of Gods people and always operate from a place of love. READ 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Here at LIFE we believe that everybody gets to play. We see the Holy Spirit empowering men and women to carry out the work of the ministry. We will partner with anyone that shares our vision and our values, regardless of race, age, gender or church background. READ Colossians 3:9-11 READ Galatians 3:28 There are no second class citizens in Christianity and we actively look to see what God is doing in a persons life and who He is calling them to be. We hope to be a congregation that is not defined by our own, personal view of the world but rather, a congregation that has Gods view of the world and the people who call it home. This extends to the way we see our children here at LIFE. We see children as active partners in Gods Kingdom and treat them as equal members of the body here at LIFE. Our childrens Ministry is not a babysitting service or a cheap imitation of the Adult service. We want to give our Kids the best that LIFE has to offer and allow them to worship, to hear from God, to be taught the Bible with conviction by passionate teachers and to learn how to pray for their friends and see God actively move in the lives of the people around them. We believe that loving and serving our youngest members of our community here at LIFE will foster a long lasting love of the things of God and His house.

When Jesus stood up in the Synagogue and read from Isaiah 61, He made the bold declaration in Luke 4:21 saying Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. Jesus was announcing that the Kingdom of God had broken through, that Jesus had come to see the poor given good news, to heal the broken hearted and to preach freedom to the captives. In short, to see the rule and the reign of God become a reality in the lives of the people of this earth. READ Isaiah 61:1-3 We as Christians are called to be the hands and feet of God, to continue the work of Jesus until His return. This means that as 21st Century Christians, we can not turn a blind eye to the down trodden, marginalized, victimized and forgotten people in our global community. We are committed to allowing the Holy Spirit to break our hearts for what breaks His, to see what He sees and to go where He goes. Understanding this call means that we refuse to live in our suburban bubble, that we intentionally choose to look the second time, instead of looking the other way. We never want to ask the question who is my neighbor for we believe that we are all neighbors and that we are called to bring the light of Christs love into the darkest reaches of our world. How we walk out this call as a church will develop and grow as we continue to walk in Jesus footsteps. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. James 1:27

Jesus lived his life here on earth in a pure, counter-cultural way, challenging us to live lives of integrity, honesty and generosity. Jesus said in Luke 19:10 that He came to seek and to save that which was lost and that He alone was The way, the truth and the life. John 14:6. READ LUKE 6:27 -38. We follow Jesus because He paid the price for sin that we should have paid. Jesus called us to follow Him, to believe in Him and as we do, we become more like Jesus in thought, word and action. John 14:12 says Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. Here at LIFE you will be challenged to look to Jesus, not to yourself. We dont pick and choose the parts of Jesus life that we can easily follow and disregard the rest. To be like Jesus, we need to embrace all that He asked of us and all that He said as Truth. If we keep His words and His spirit within us, our lives and the lives of everyone we touch will be changed forever by Jesus.

We plan to embrace God-inspired creativity as integral to authentic expressions of christian community. Exodus 35:30-35, Genesis 1:1-2, Psalm 45:1, Proverbs 8:22-31 Gods first role in the Bible is that of a Creator. Genesis 1:1 says that In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Our God is a creative God and He has given us, his people, the gift of creativity. Within the scriptures and throughout the ages, the natural response of humanity when they encounter the greatness of God is a creative one. When the Israelites were saved from the Red Sea, Miriam wrote a song and sang it in celebration with the people and when David was able to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem he danced for joy in the procession. When Moses called for the tabernacle to be built, the Bible says that God filled a man called Bezalel with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding and in knowledge and in all craftsmanship to make designs for working in gold and silver and bronze Exodus 23:31. He also called Oholiab and filled him with skill to perform every work of an engraver and of a designer and of an embroiderer Exodus 23:35. Here at LIFE we understand that creativity and innovation is a form of worship unto God and that the working out of these gifts are integral to us being able to authentically express our faith. We want to provide a fertile atmosphere in which creativity can thrive, in word, in song, with instruments, with camera lense, with paint brushes and in all forms of design and craftsmanship.

LIFE Vineyard stands firmly in the center of orthodox Christian teaching. Out of loyalty to Christ and the Gospel we have come to a number of convictions concerning the clear teaching of the Bible. At the same time, we have not included in our statements of faith much that can be legitimately debated by orthodox Christians. In other words, we do have boundaries, but our boundaries are broad and inclusive. We are orthodox moving in the establised doctrines and teachings of the larger church throughout history. We are evangelical, being bible based with Jesus as the central focus for our salvation. And we are empowered evangelicals, expecting the power and ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives and church community.

The Nicean Creed.

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

At the heart of authentic Christianity is a beautifully painful word with deep connotations and that word is Sacrifice. When we first come to know Jesus Christ, we receive the gift of salvation because of the sacrifice that Jesus made when He went to the cross, to pay the punishment for sin. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says that God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Because of the sacrifice of Jesus, we are able to boldly come before the throne of Grace and receive forgiveness. But in order for us to be a part of this beautiful exchange, God asks us to sacrifice too. Our sacrifice however, is not one of blood but of will. When we take on the saving grace of Jesus we willingly lay our former selves at His feet. All of our sin, all of our pride, all of our ambition and self-promotion. We lay aside our will, our desires and our own plan for our lives and we put on Christ. We sacrifice our shallow claim to our life and we entrust our future to the God that knows it. Understanding this beautiful exchange is one thing, but learning how to live our lives every day with this truth can be tricky so here at LIFE we talk openly and honestly about the ways in which God calls us to live sacrificially. Our Money. Jesus was incredibly challenging in His approach to money. He saw the controlling effects of money on the human spirit and He spoke of it often. In Matthew 6:24 Jesus says No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Living the life of a follower of Christ means that our love of God is the driving force of our lives, not the hoarding of personal wealth. Everything that we have, we see as a gift from our Creator and we actively look for ways in which to use the money that we are caretakers of, to bless and care for a hurting world.

Here at LIFE we actively practice the giving of our money to further Gods Kingdom. We take up an offering every week and encourage you to give generously to the work of God that is being done here in this place and around the world. Many people ask us what we as a church believe when it comes to the giving of our finances. From our understanding of the Scriptures we see a clear mandate to be Spirit led in our giving. In the Old Testament, God required a tithe, 10 percent of a persons income to be given as an offering to God. In the New Testament, Jesus challenges the religious leaders of the day to not just give what the Law requires and miss the heart of God. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Matt.23:23. After Jesus ascends into heaven we see the church, filled with power of the Holy Spirit, giving sacrificially and generously of their finances in greater measure, as shown in 2 Corinthians 8:2-4 which says that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. 3 For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, 4 imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. We believe that when the Holy Spirit is actively working in your life, that your natural response is to give, generously and sacrificially. We are not bound by the tithe, but we do see it as a good starting point in understanding how to give of your finances to God and in doing so, trust that He will provide for your needs. Our Time. Peter 4:10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering Gods grace in its various forms. LIFE could not exist if it were not for the amazing volunteers that make our church great! From the greeters at the door, to the childrens workers in the classrooms, to the musicians that lead us into worship, everybody has a part to play in the higher purpose of seeing Gods Kingdom come in this place. In pursuit of our Christ-likeness, we adopt Jesus attitude when He said in Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.