An Open Invitation

Our Vineyard plant was on and so our first step was to invite folks to Doug and Jackies. A lot of the folks that we invited were already plugged into a local church. We were just trying to serve as an adjunct to what they were already doing. Not many responded because they knew that we ultimately wanted to become a church but we still had some nice gatherings. I can remember the sharing of life in our small group. It was about as innocent and pure as it could be. We really wanted to see God come and use us mightily. In hindsight, I can see some things that may have impeded our progress.

Our home group was centered around worship and music. The folks that came enjoyed the strength and quality of our worship experience. My background and talent in music was a strength but as I look back, it may have been a hindrance. Our group would have been very difficult to duplicate. There just didn't seem to be a lot of musical types around to start a new group and so everyone that wanted to be a part came to Doug and Jackie's. We spent a lot of time in prayer. We petitioned the Lord continually.

I would often attend a Vineyard church planting conference in Columbus. The conferences were informative and very uplifting but I still felt a sense of disconnect. It was like nobody knew or even cared that we existed in our little church plant in Valencia, Pennsylvania. The Vineyard church planting team adopted you once you became successful in your growth pattern. They really didn't have people in place to closely oversee new church plants. They were always accommodating and encouraging but they had no real connection to many of the church planters on the east coast. East Coast Vineyards did not grow at near the same speed as their western counter parts.

This was troubling to me because I felt very alone in my endeavor. Pastor Ron had moved to Africa to do missionary work and so I had no one to guide me. The group was faithful though. We all wanted to persevere. Our hope was that the Lord would bring us through and that His Spirit would reveal to us the steps that we needed to take.

Next Up....

A Building and a Band