The Path of the Journey Vineyard

The story of the Journey Vineyard will likely never appear in a "how to" book. It is a simple story of God wanting a Church in a sleepy tourist community in the shadow of Yosemite National Park. It is a story of exceptions, exceptional people, and an exceptional area in central California.

Journey Vineyard started with a call to be a real expression of God's grace, hope, mercy, and power to a complex and fragmented community. Our small mountain community of Oakhurst has common rural problems. Many people who move to our foothills envision a suburban escape: to live on seven acres with no neighbors bothering them; effectively isolating themselves from interpersonal contact and the associated potential for the pain of being hurt via trusting relationships. This can be quite a challenge when building a biblical community. Complicate that picture with jobs that are scarce and seasonally based in the tourist industry and you have the formula for a complex transient population. At the same time, the beauty of this land draws people from across the world; many make a go of it and stay.

Our mountain home is an eclectic demographic: Native Americans have ancestral homes and lands here, the largest and most prestigious Buddhist retreat center in the west is minutes away. Cowboys and cows roam on the ranges, while hippies, hikers, and rock climbers drive in VW buses doing 25 mph on 55 mph highways. We have retiree's living out their twilight years in dream homes after cashing out their homes in Los Angeles or San Francisco. Last but not least, there are the valley transplants: businessmen and women willing to commute sixty miles or more to work in Fresno from which they escaped to the foothills to provide an idyllic existence for their families.

Yet we have a common thread, a common denominator of any community: the elusive under currents of the pressing needs of the working poor, the drug abusers, and the unconnected remnant; that originates from a serious lack of real community that continues to ravage people here in our mountain community everyday. Only God and his compassion and grace can overcome these issues.

Questions, Exceptions and Keys

The question of planting a church in a rural community is not one of "will it work?" but "does God want it?" Our story seems to be an exception. The "norm" in church planting is to start with a small group and build relationships. The group continues to gather and grow until it can go public with about fifty people. Our exception to the "norm" is an undeserved moment of grace. We were a third service at a local community church when the obvious came true: we became a body of believers. We were then sent with a blessing from our local body as we went public as a The Journey Vineyard. It is a story of how God has let us minister to the poor and how we have met needs in our community spanning age and social classes and sub cultures. The key to ministering to people in rural communities begins with relationship.

The key to unlocking relationships in our complex community has been children and sports. I have coached varsity football in this community and been a youth pastor for the last fifteen years. My wife is the high school P.E. teacher and has coached for 15 years. Building relationships via these avenues has been the key to a successful launch and being a vital part of our community. Whereas we have been the fortunate exception to the years of groundwork it normally takes to break into a rural town; relationships have continually proven to provide the fruit for harvest.

In every community there are keys to unlocking the relational bridge. The first thing a plant team has to do is listen: first and foremost to the prompting and move of the Holy Spirit. Secondly, listen to the pulse and needs of a community that will lead you to the keys towards reaching it. Spend the time to get to know what the community is all about. What is the personality of the community? Is it - active, passive, passionately misdirected, anemic? Then, through redemptive prayer and kingdom activity the bridges of outreach and ministry will develop a place for the Church to bring grace, mercy and healing as a part of the community.

Exceptional People

Take a transient population, a commuting workforce, busy families and stir in some hectic time constraints and you quickly discover there are not too many willing people to draw from for ministry service in rural communities. As a result: it is vital to coach what you've got. I hear pastors talk about how ‘if only this person could…' or, ‘If that worship leader would…' To live by the concept and assurance that God truly provides, means the answer to specific ministry needs within the body are in the room in some stage of development.

So the questions for The Journey Vineyard have been two fold: How do we develop and train what we've been given? Ask yourself if another person would do a better job in the same set of specific circumstances and personnel? We started with this innate call to develop people to the fullness God has called them to; as a result we now are seeing ministries birthed out of this hunger and call to continually grow and develop our people while immersed in the love to keep reaching out into our community. The depth of what God was doing in our church really came to light when I realized the incredible team that surrounded us. It's a lot like being the kid on the rollercoaster whose safety bar didn't go down. So much is happening beyond your wildest dreams, and so fast, you just hang on. So when you find yourself on that rollercoaster it's great to have a team of people you know will hang on to each other. God's team is a team that honestly loves and enjoys each other through it all.

The other major factor in the success of The Journey Vineyard is the coming together of our area to help our plant succeed. A major part of the story of The Journey Vineyard is the love and unity our area has had for our young body. Every single pastor from our community was at our sending service. We had made our needs known two weeks out from our launch and God began to move. The Bakersfield Vineyard Church gave us the bass amp and cymbals we needed after they had experienced a $20,000.00 theft of sound equipment. The Tulare Vineyard let us use an enclosed trailer for transporting our gear. University Vineyard provided us with a soundboard and hosted our sending service. The direct prayers and prophetic words for our team at that service have proven true and fruitful. This regional team of pastors is truly a brotherhood and I am grateful for them.

To plant successfully there needs to be an understanding that planting is a regional area wide mission, essentially creating a partnership, with the churches in our region. This all encompassing partnership supports spiritually, physically and financially. Regional planting should be a high priority within areas: sending a wide range of church plants: rural, true multi-ethnic, urban, emerging, and suburban churches to meet needs and impact communities with our unique empowered evangelical distinctive.

Now the Work Begins

At the Journey Vineyard, we know we are called to be a missional sending church. Our vision starts with training: with a goal of creating a training center to equip church planters, plant teams, and mercy teams to reach into communities. We want to listen and see what God is doing and where he is leading us. Our response being according to God's will and His answer leading our directive. We sense a call to plant across foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range and develop an area strategy that utilizes two or three churches to resource and support church plants through the first couple of years of the new church's life. As a movement we are about relationships, with the intentional inter-connecting of churches and resources, our hope is to provide an environment that will give new plants a vibrant and healthy support system.

Related Resources

www.thejourneyawaits.org