Get Involved

Real community—the kind of community we all desire—involves contribution. It requires that we contribute what we have—our time, our talents, our resources—to the community we're a part of. It's how, as individuals, we grow to become all that we were created to be; it's also how our community becomes all that God has for us together. So, as you get connected at ECV, consider how God might be inviting you to contribute to the life of our community. Below are a few first steps:

Sunday Worship | Serve the City & the World | Culture-Making

Our Sunday worship gathering is an important time to gather together as a community that seeks God together and to welcome new folks into our midst. It takes all of us to make our Sundays run smoothly! Here are some teams you can join to help out:

  • Set-up & Tear-Down Teams: Ever wondered how ECV gets put together each week? Satisfy your curiosity by joining the set-up and tear-down teams ;-) Seriously, set-up and tear-down are essential to the functioning of our church and we'd love to have your help in making them happen. If you're interested in contributing in this crucial way, contact our Church Administrator, Laura Gable.
  • ECV A/V Club: Slides, projector, sound board...Oh my!  Another practical and essential way to contribute to the functioning of the church is by joining the A/V Club. Learn to help with projection that makes the service run smoothly, and/or run the sound board that keeps the worship team in line! To volunteer in this capacity, contact Laura.
  • Worship Team: If you've been to ECV, you know that we love music—and we love to worship. Leading worship at ECV is a blast; and we're always looking for new folks to add to the mix. If you sing, play an instrument, or would otherwise want to contribute to worship on Sundays, contact our Worship Pastor, Tina Williams.
  • Prayer at 3:30: At ECV, we've experienced a living God who is speaking to us, healing us, setting us free. God is on the move. It's the reason we gather; it's the reason our community exists. So, every Sunday before our worship gathering, we meet to ask God what God might want to do or say during the gathering. It's so encouraging to receive words of encouragement and invitations to healing to share with the rest of the church during the service. Join us Sundays upstairs at 3:30 or, for more info, contact our Lead Pastor, Josh Williams.
  • Prayer Ministry Team: Each week at ECV, after we share what we sense God might be saying and doing, we take time to pray for those who would like to be prayed for. This can be a profound experience both for the folks being prayed for and for those praying. If you'd like to be involved on the prayer ministry team, we offer a training for prospective prayer ministers at least twice a year. Contact Josh for more info.
  • Children's Ministry Teaching/Helpers Teams: Love Children? We are looking for some great men & women who want to teach and help our children grow to love and follow Jesus! Interested? Contact our Sprouts Coordinator, Asha Evans for more info.
  • Welcoming/Hospitality Team: Love to meet new people and help them feel welcome? Join us in doing just that on Sundays (and during social events throughout the week)! For more info, contact Laura.

“Every Sunday before ECV service… we settle into toddler-sized chairs and silence, waiting for God to share what He’d like to say to the people who will come that afternoon… No booming voice, no fanfare. Just ordinary people praying, listening, and expecting God to speak.”



Serve the City & the World
In addition to serving on Sunday afternoons, we have people in ECV volunteering for many different nonprofit organizations, both those serving the New Haven area and those working on global issues.

Our city is an essentially important context for those of us following Jesus to grow as his disciples. In New Haven, we have daily opportunities to interact cross-culturally (whatever our cultural "home"), to learn to love across lines of difference. One particularly great opportunity to serve the city is:
  • Agape Church is a ministry to the homeless where housed and unhoused people meet to worship, have bible study and share meals together. We meet Sunday mornings at 8am on the New Haven Green behind the United Church Meeting House.
There are many, many more ways to get involved in serving New Haven and our world with fellow ECVers. We have service opportunities that range from one-time events to regular involvement in neighborhood meetings. We also have formal (financial) relationships with several non-profits in New Haven and beyond—our ECV Partners—many of whom have regular volunteer opportunities. If you are interested in finding a volunteer opportunity that aligns with your interests, please contact our Lead Pastor, Josh Williams.

Culture-Making
At ECV, we're committed to be culture-makers, rather than just culture-consumers. While this happens in a ton of different ways in our community, here are a few places to get started:

ECV Artist Circle - Join fellow creative persons (visual artists, musicians, spoken word artists, poets, writers, dancers, fashion designers, dramatists, etc.) to explore our talents together as a community following Jesus! For more info and to find out what the Artist Circle is up to right now, click on the link above.

Society of Vineyard Scholars - The SVS is an international initiative of Vineyard USA, but has substantial roots right here in ECV (a bunch of ECVers and other Vineyard folks dreamt up the SVS in a dining room in Jonathan Edwards College at Yale).  SVS exists to foster a community of theological discourse in the Vineyard movement, but we understand that requires engaging scholars from a much broader range of disciplines than just "theological" disciplines. Students, researchers, and faculty in any field are welcome to get involved. For more info, visit the link above and/or contact Staff Pastor (and SVS steering committee member), Matt Croasmun.

Kingdom Scientists - ECV is fortunate to have a large group of scientists, engineers, and medical students, researchers and professionals. What does it mean to be scientists committed to the things of the Kingdom of God (peace, justice, mercy, reconciliation, etc.)? Issues of global health/development and environmental justice (to name just a couple) seem to sit right at the intersection of the work of scientists and the heart of God. Want to talk more? Contact Matt and we'll make sure you're in the loop for the conversation.

Vineyard Anti-Slavery Team - Born in part out of God's work in ECV, the Vineyard Anti-Slavery Team (VAST) is gathering and connecting those who have a heart for the ministry of justice for the oppressed. Justice Response is a resource site and a connecting place for people to come together to learn more about human trafficking in order to: train the people in our churches to respond thoughtfully and strategically, pray against it and intercede for the victims and survivors, empower those within our communities who are at-risk of being trafficked, and effectively serve victims and survivors. Check out the VAST website (above) for more info.
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