There is a nicely hidden treasure found in Mark’s gospel. It speaks to the impossibility of gaining any merit, blessing, or salvation from God apart from his Son, Jesus. The disciples marvel at this “rich, young ruler” who seems to have gained everything in this life, yet he comes up empty with Jesus. So the disciples ask Jesus how anyone (if not this rich and obedient man) can get into heaven. Jesus replies with the outrageous statement, “With man it is impossible.”  

I like this phrase—with man it is impossible. It speaks to a thousand realities in this life. It has felt especially true in this season of our church’s life. 

We want to take this opportunity to give you an update on what has been happening in this season with our church and give you the latest information regarding the exciting future for Vineyard. For the sake of brevity, much of this post will be limited to bullet points with occasional explanations as needed.

 ·      Early this summer we were approached by Hopewell Baptist Church (founded in 1830’s) to begin a conversation regarding their building, land (13 acres), and the future of their church. They sensed their current church was coming to the finish line of faithfulness and were interested in having another vibrant, gospel church come to that side of town to do ministry and reach out to the neighboring community. With great humility and vision, their deacons have been single-minded in their quest to continue to have a gospel outpost on University Blvd.

 ·      Our elders and their deacons began to dialogue about Jesus’ mission, his care for the church, and a potential future together. We have talked about theology, practice, preferences . . . but mostly about the gift of the gospel to our city. The men and women at Hopewell are the best of the best!

 ·      Over the last few months, leaders from both churches have shared meals to dream together, then scheduled meetings to plan together. I have visited Hopewell (and preached there too!) and they’ve also come to our Sunday worship gatherings. It appears to be a growing friendship.

 ·      Six weeks ago, our elders stepped into the deep waters as they began to meet with architects, contractors, and the like, to assess future liability and options for updating the Hopewell facility. This has been a significant undertaking.

 ·      After a substantial time of prayer and fasting, our elders felt confident that we were to proceed in moving towards this venture of moving our church to the current Hopewell Baptist facility to begin to do ministry there.

 ·      The deacons and church body at Hopewell voted, as of today, a resounding affirmative towards this adventure.

 ·      We are now working on a timeline for transition, rebranding (including a name change), and communicating vision as best as we can with our church family.

 ·      Our plan, as of now, is to begin renovations at the Hopewell facility as soon as the city and our contractor allows. 

Vineyard Community Church began in our home—just a handful of ragamuffins in our living room, studying the bible and praying together. It was beautiful and raw. We had passion . . . not a lot of vision . . . but plenty of zeal. Now, after ministering in rented facilities for 17 years, our church family will move to its new home at 3798 University Blvd East. Our story isn’t finished. One thing is for sure, only God could have accomplished this. Only God could have brought one of the oldest churches in the city and one of the youngest churches in the city together. With man this was impossible. But with God, all things are possible.