Advent is a season of waiting, hoping, preparing, and paying attention. And this year at Central Vineyard, we’re beginning that journey with a new reflection series called Introduction.

Romans 12:13 urges us: “Be inventive in your hospitality.” This is an invitation to use whatever you have — a table, a deck, a picnic rug, a walk — to make space for others. As we open our homes and lives, little pockets of Kingdom hospitality pop up all over the city — ordinary, generous, and full of God’s quiet work.

A devotional series to accompany our Parables teaching series, to help you slow down, listen deeply, and learn to see the world through Jesus’ stories of comparison to the Kingdom this week.

Join us over the coming weeks as we slow down, listen deeply, and learn to see the world through Jesus’ stories of comparison to the Kingdom.

“How can this church be a light on the hill, to the city who desperately needs it?”

The theology that made a bunch wonder how they could serve this city and the story from then until now

What do you do when faith feels dry, prayer feels empty, and you wonder if you can keep going? In this article, Dan explores what it means to “hit the wall” in our spiritual journey, drawing on wisdom from Scripture, church history, and his own tramping trip in the Ruahines. The wall isn’t the end—it’s an invitation into deeper love.

Life has moments where it can feel like Holy Saturday—the in-between space of disappointment, silence, and waiting. In this article, Alisha explores how Scripture invites us to lament honestly, wait with hope, and discover that even in the middle of our Saturday, God walks with us.

Anxiety doesn’t have to run the show. In this second part of our look at anxiety, Alisha explores three simple, grace-filled practices that can help you find peace — not by avoiding your anxiety, but by meeting God right in the middle of it.

What if anxiety isn’t just a problem to fix—but an invitation from God to pay attention? In this honest and hope-filled reflection, Alisha shares her own story with anxiety and unpacks Jesus’ words in Matthew 6, showing us how worry can become a place where we encounter love, truth, and peace.

Taking the first steps in reconciling a broken relationship can seem daunting — where do we start? In this third part of ourWhen Life Goes East series Dan shares two practical steps of peacemaking: climb the ladder of integrity, and instead of defensiveness, practice curiosity.

Relationships are central to being human — yet often, they’re the very places we experience the deepest hurt. In this honest and hope-filled reflection, Dan explores what happens when our connections break down and how the biblical journey "east of Eden" invites us into the work of emotional honesty, boundary-setting, and reconciliation.

What do we do when life doesn’t go to plan—when hope collides with disappointment, grief, or anxiety? In this honest and hopeful reflection, Alisha Wiseman explores what it means to live east of Eden, tracing the story of God through shalom, fall, redemption, and the end promise of renewal. This is a story big enough to hold your pain—and strong enough to redeem it.

Ask someone at Central Vineyard, “What is Gratis?” and they’ll probably say, “It’s a community meal downtown for the whānau.”

But linger a little longer—listen to the voices of those who turn up week after week, cooking, chopping, serving, praying—and you’ll hear a deeper story

If you’ve ever watched a baptism—let’s be honest—it’s a bit weird. Someone gets dunked under water, and this apparently means something? What’s that all about?

Let’s talk about it.

Take a tour of our 24-7 Prayer Room with this visual diary documenting before and after our 10 days of prayer for Pentecost.

We all long to be free—from shame, pressure, comparison, and fear. In a world full of noise and striving, the Holy Spirit meets us with a different kind of freedom: the kind that transforms us from the inside out, getting us free and keeping us free.

What if the disruption you’re avoiding is actually an invitation? In the quiet of the night, something shifts—and God meets us there. As we approach a 10 day prayer event together, why should we get out of our beds to pray?

We recently asked people in our community to share how they’ve been practising the presence of God in the flow of everyday life. What we heard was not a list of perfect habits or lofty ideals, but stories—real, honest, beautiful stories—of how the Holy Spirit is gently, faithfully present in the middle of it all.

Have you ever had that jarring moment where you realise that you don’t really know a person? You thought you knew them, but it turns out, you don’t. They are familiar, yet, a stranger. Somewhere along the line, the Holy Spirit has become that familiar stranger to so many in the Church.