Vinelife Wilmslow

Our Mission

Vinelife Church Wilmslow is a welcoming evangelical and charismatic church rooted in practical faith and community care. We focus on accessible teaching, heartfelt worship, and helping people grow in their relationship with God in everyday life. We believe in the presence of God and His power to bring healing, freedom, and lasting change as we encounter Him together.

History

Vinelife Church Wilmslow was founded in 2000 as the SHED (Salvation, Healing, Equipping & Discipleship) Christian Fellowship coming under the church planting scheme of what was then Manchester Vineyard, led by Martyn and Linda Smith. Our founders, Robert & Cheryl Larkman, completed several Leadership and Church Planting training programmes with them and have also undergone training with Bethel Leaders Network.

Our church is rooted in practical faith and community care. We focus on accessible teaching, heartfelt worship and real-life discipleship. We run regular courses, small groups and community projects that support people at every stage of life.

We have always been an evangelical and charismatic church with orthodox Christian beliefs and were established to provide a more culturally accessible expression of church for unchurched people. This vision was informed by our experience of outreach, particularly through the Alpha Course, where we found people who embraced the Christian faith but found it difficult to integrate into more traditional expressions of church. We also prioritise the presence of the Holy Spirit and seek to operate in the gifts and power he brings.

We are members of Churches Together in Handforth through which we participate in community and outreach events such as an outdoor Christmas Eve carol service which attracts more than a thousand people each year and a community act of remembrance on Remembrance Sunday which is also very well attended.

We are founder members of Hope Central, a local charity that provides two food banks, a community pantry, a Debt Centre in partnership with Christians Against Poverty, a CAP Job Club, plus other courses including Alpha and a number of ‘Hope Centres’ where we provide friendship and support to our local communities, a free lunch and a Christian Thought for the Day. Robert Larkman, our Senior Leader, wrote the constitution for “Hope Central” ensuring that the propagation of the Gospel was included as a stated aim of the charity alongside its aims of preventing and relieving poverty. He also served as its founding Director helping to establish a sustainable foundation for the charity.

Founders

Robert and Cheryl Larkman standing side by side

Robert & Cheryl Larkman - Founders of Vinelife Church

We have lived in Wilmslow for most of our lives and now live in Handforth, where we raised our three children and encouraged them to make a difference in the world.

Church, to us, is all about relationship - first with God through Jesus and the presence of His Spirit, and then with one another as we share the love, grace, and power He has freely given us.

Our heart is to see a family of believers who encounter God and become an encounter with God for their families, friends, colleagues, and communities.