Mission
Our mission is to connect, educate, celebrate the love of Christ across many cultures.
Core Values
- Biblical faithfulness
- Holy Spirit spirituality
- Transformational leadership
- Kingdom orientation
- Multi-cultural experience
- Collaborative relationships
Vision and Goals
Revelation 7:9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.
Our vision is to experience many expressions of Christ’s love across cultures in Utah.
Utah’s landscape is changing
Rapid population changes are taking place in the USA. Demographers report that, if the current pace holds, by 2042 “we” will be a “minority majority“!
Uncharacteristically, Utah is not 15 years behind the rest of the nation, as often has been the case in socio-cultural trends. Due to a favorable work environment and being a designated refugee resettlement area since 1980, the percent of Utah residents born outside the USA has grown from less than 3% to over 10% in less than 30 years.
Perhaps just as surprising is that, by God’s orchestration, the Body of Christ is ahead of the curve in comparison to the rest of Utah in this transformation. Many of the refugees and immigrants are Christians upon arrival. So, whether you are aware of it or not, “we” are already a “minority majority”!
As God brings the world to our doorstep and transforms His family portrait here, The Vine Institute seeks to serve the Christian community by promoting attentiveness, wisdom, and faithfulness concerning intercultural life in and among churches, as well as between churches and their neighbors.
Our Contribution
Our facilitators have 25 years experience of teaching theological education in collaboration with institutions and ministry organizations here and abroad, we have trained hundreds of active ministry leaders from over 70 different congregations representing more than 30 denominational, associational, and independent affiliations and at least 25 different cultures.
Former students serve established congregations, refugee people groups, immigrant populations, and developing church plants, in chaplaincy and other ministry and community service organizations both here and abroad.
We maintain volume reference and lending theological library with an intercultural studies specialty which supports research and further learning and is accessible to students and those in ministry
Statement of Faith
As a biblically based community standing in historic communion with all who affirm the Apostles’ Creed and Nicene Creed:
We worship the one and only, true and living God – eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – who is the Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. May the name of the LORD be praised forever!
We receive the Bible as God’s inspired and unfailing Word to us, the fully authoritative and reliable statement of who God is, who we are, what we believe, and how we live. Blessed are those who live according to it.
We confess our own efforts cannot save us from sin and death, and we mourn the world’s tragic brokenness and helplessness as consequences of human rebellion. Lord, have mercy.
We rejoice, for God fully reconciles us by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, the Son who entered the world as truly human, was crucified for all our sins, rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and is Lord of all. Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift!
We hope, because the Holy Spirit pours God’s love into our hearts, incorporating us into the Church, the Body of Christ, and give us grace and peace in lives of joyful service. Lord, may you rule on earth as in heaven.
We eagerly anticipate the glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ to judge the living and the dead, and we celebrate life in him, inviting all peoples to turn from death to life in Christ. Alleluia! Come, Lord Jesus!
History
The Vine Institute is a multi-denominational school of theological education providing practical, relevant, Christian education, and leadership training. This 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation has operated in Utah for over 25 years.
Founded in 1984 as the Utah Institute for Biblical Studies and located in the unique religious setting of Utah, the school existed to equip men and women to meet the challenges of sharing the Good News in the midst of the increasing cultural diversity of our world. Expanding its programs in 1998 to include graduate degrees and renamed Salt Lake Theological Seminary, the institution continued to offer effective leadership training combined with rigorous academic study and formative mentored experiences, making it an invaluable resource for Christian servants.
In 2010 the school began legally “doing business as” The Vine Institute, a diversified, decentralized, educational network serving developing leaders in Utah’s established churches as well as refugee and immigrant church communities. The Vine Institute continues the ongoing vision for Christian leadership training that includes formative mentoring. The mission is “Networking the Christian community for effective collaborative leadership.”