About Us

Our Purpose

We're a simple church - centered on three pillars: Gospel, Community and Mission.

Gospel

The Gospel is the good news that through Christ the power of God's kingdom has entered history to renew the whole world. This renewing work of Jesus saves us from our sin and transforms us into people who desire to live like him. The Vine is a church where the Gospel is not merely a message for people who don't know Jesus, but also a message for believers that shapes every facet of the church.

Our value for Gospel-centered ministry drives us to preach, teach and sing about the grace of God that can save those who don't yet believe and empower believers to live in obedience. This Gospel-centered vision also expresses itself as we conclude our weekly community services by celebrating the Lord's Table, remembering Christ's body that was broken and blood that was shed, and proclaiming the Lord's death until the day of his return.

Community

We affirm our belief that the Gospel is not just a message to be believed, but a power to be experienced in the context of community. Our vision is to be a community of people living on mission together to make disciples through declaration and demonstration. We purpose, therefore, to commit ourselves to our community of faith by:

• Regularly participating in the Sunday gathering, worshiping, and growing through the preaching of God's Word, prayer, singing, and the Lord's Table (Acts 2:42-47).

• Regularly participating in a City Group where we will live out the Gospel, community, and mission in the context of community (Acts 2:42-47).

• Committing to regularly reading God's Word and prayer in our family and personal spheres to grow in the love of God and joyful obedience motivated by the Gospel (Psalm 1:2-3, Ephesians 6:4).

• Contributing cheerfully, sacrificially, and regularly to support the expenses of the church. (Acts 20:35, 2 Corinthians 9:7).

• Contributing our time and talent regularly to serve the church body in ministry (Ephesians 4:11-16; 1 Peter 4:10-11).

Mission

We affirm that the Gospel does not merely call us into a relationship with Christ and one another, but that it also sends us out into the world on mission. We seek to both embody and proclaim the Gospel winsomely in the city of Madison and abroad with strategic partnerships in Ecuador and North Africa.

Our value for mission has driven us to develop leaders and pastors, who have planted churches in the Fitchburg and East Madison areas. We believe we are called not only to build one church, but to build a movement of the Gospel that expresses itself in the reproduction of both disciples and churches, locally and globally.

The embodiment of the Gospel is expressed in our love for the city as we seek to meet its various needs by serving locally in nursing homes, charter schools, crisis pregnancy centers and community centers. The proclamation of the Gospel is expressed through our intentional relationships with people who don't know Jesus. We will seek to love them and share Christ with them right where they are in our own network of relationships.

To learn more, listen to the Vine Church Vision Sermon Series here on Gospel, Community and Mission.

Missions 1
Missions 2
Missions 3

Our Mission: Global & Local

We affirm that the Gospel does not merely call us into a relationship with Christ and one another, but that it also sends us out into the world on mission. We seek to both embody and proclaim the Gospel winsomely in the city of Madison and abroad with strategic partnerships in Ecuador and North Africa.

Ecuador
Ecuador2
North Africa

Ecuador

Our value for mission has driven us to develop leaders and pastors, who have planted churches in the Fitchburg and East Madison areas. We believe we are called not only to build one church, but to build a movement of the Gospel that expresses itself in the reproduction of both disciples and churches, locally and globally.

Redeemer City Church

Redeemer City Church, Fitchburg

Eastside Church

Eastside Church, Madison

The embodiment of the Gospel is expressed in our love for the city as we seek to meet it's various needs by serving locally.

The proclamation of the Gospel is expressed through our intentional relationships with people who don't know Jesus. We will seek to love them and share Christ with them right where they are in our own network of relationships. Some of our current partnerships are with Elizabeth House, and Zeteo Community. For more information on how to get involved email info@thevinemadison.org.

Above Leaders

Our Leaders

Elders and Staff

Zach Nielsen

Zach Nielsen

Pastor and Elder

Zach is the teaching pastor and an elder at the Vine. Before moving to Madison to plant The Vine, he was a worship pastor in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Christian singer/ songwriter in Nashville, Tennessee. Zach and wife Kim have four children: Taylor, Autumn, Emery, and Mya and one grandchild. Zach is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa and Covenant Theological Seminary. Zach likes playing games with his family, woodworking, Brazilian Jiujitsu, language learning, and playing jazz piano.

James Davenport

James Davenport

Youth & City Group Pastor and Elder

James has served as an elder at The Vine since 2017 and has since become our NextGen & City Group pastor, providing oversight for our children from birth through high school and discipleship for City Groups. He and his wife, Emily, an avid runner, have three children. Together they lead the Waubesa City Group in McFarland. James is a graduate of Iowa State University and Moody Bible Theological Seminary. James enjoys parades, local Friday night football, community festivals, lawn games and eating at Culvers.

John Cintineo

John Cintineo

Elder (On Sabbatical through December 2024)

John grew up in Honeoye Falls, New York and graduated from Cornell University and the University of Oklahoma with degrees in atmospheric science. A research meteorologist at the University of Wisconsin, he was baptized at The Vine in 2013 and became an Elder at the Vine in 2018. He and his wife, Becky, also a meteorologist, lead the Badger Rock City Group and enjoy storm chasing, hiking, nature, science, pizza and playing with their two sweet children, Rosaria and Dominic.

James Garcia

James Garcia

Elder

James and his family moved to the Madison area in 2014 and joined the Vine shortly after. He has his degree in History Education and spent several years teaching high school in Illinois prior to beginning his career as a trainer for a local tech company. James serves with The Basement youth group and leads the Casa de Gracia City Group alongside his wife, Jackie. In his spare time, you can find him geocaching, goofing around with his 2 daughters, practicing Spanish, or wordsmithing insufferable puns.

Bryan Mcginn

Bryan McGinn

Elder

Bryan joined The Vine in 2013 shortly after moving to Madison from Iowa City, where he attended the University of Iowa. Bryan and his wife Kylie married in 2015 and have a passion for seeing the Lord's name glorified amongst the nations. Both have served in short-term missions overseas and have worked with international students in Madison. Bryan and Kylie lead a City Group on the west side of Madison. Bryan became an Elder in 2021. He grew up in Illinois and loves sports, trying new restaurants, and making his two young kids laugh.

Chase Ritter

Chase Ritter

Elder

Chase and his wife Morgan moved to Madison from Indiana after getting married in 2013 & joined the Vine shortly thereafter. He graduated from Purdue University with a degree in Management Information Systems and now works as part of a Data & Analytics team. Chase and Morgan have two energetic kids, Elias and Izzy, that keep them on their toes. They are members of the Elver Park City Group & spend their free time hiking, biking, kayaking, and playing board games. Chase joined the Elder team as a Candidate in January 2023.

David Kellin

David Kellin

Tech Director

David first started attending The Vine in 2019. Prior to living in Madison, David gained his technical experience by serving as a Worship Ministry Director for several years in his hometown of Grand Rapids, MN, as well as touring as an electric guitar player for a ministry based out of Texas. David and his wife Alexa live in Middleton where they both enjoy all manner of outdoor activities, as well as music, good food, coffee, motorcycle rides, and playing with their dog Hazel. David is a graduate of Minnesota State University Mankato with a degree in mechanical engineering.

Allen Nobles

Allen Nobles

Music Director

Allen and his wife Meg moved to Madison from south Alabama in January 2019 and joined the Vine shortly after. Prior to moving to Madison, he spent time in the construction industry, as a freelance musician, and served in churches in various capacities. Currently he works as a software developer at a local tech company. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, fishing, and music-related projects.

Kim Nielsen

Kim Nielsen

Women's City Group Coach

Kim moved to Madison in 2010 with her husband, Zach to plant The Vine Church. Previous to this Kim worked as a Physician Assistant and PA Educator as well as becoming involved in Classical, Christian Education. In 2012, she helped found Charis Classical Academy and has since worked there as an administrator and teacher. She and Zach have four children, Taylor, Autumn, Emery, and Mya and one daughter-in-law, Alyssa. She loves spending time with family, getting together with friends over a good meal, investing in the lives of women, reading, gardening, and repurposing furniture (nothing better than seeing something old revitalized!).

Jackie Garcia

Jackie Garcia

Church Coordinator

Jackie and her family have been members of the Vine since 2014. Prior to working at the Vine, she worked for many years as a social worker in both Illinois and Wisconsin. Jackie, her husband James, & their two daughters reside in Verona, Wisconsin. She loves hiking, cooking, throwing parties, popcorn, and deep conversations over a good cup of coffee.

Naomi Ledgerwood

Naomi Ledgerwood

Finance Administrator

Naomi loves solving challenges, creating processes and organizing information. For almost a decade she worked at a non-profit Bible college in a variety of roles, including designing and launching the online program, managing the marketing department and teaching English. She also spent years working with startups, helping them design processes, hire employees, maintain the books and structure strategic visions. She's currently working in the marketing department at Labcorp and is excited to invest time in a ministry.

Our Beliefs

At the Vine Church we have three primary affiliations. We are a full member of the Acts 29 Church Planting Network, a founding church of the Madison Multiply Church Planting Network and a member of the Gospel Coalition. Each of these organizations have unique statements of belief that are distinct and yet unified in the essentials of Christian faith. Below is our formal statement of belief, adapted from the Gospel Coalition.