The people who formed Christian Fellowship Church (since 2005 known as Vineyard Christian Fellowship) began to meet together in 1978. Their desire was to have a church where the Bible was taught, where the Holy Spirit was given freedom to minister, where the worship was directed to God, and where loving one another was central to community life. The church adopted the slogan “Where the Spirit is, There is Love”. To this day, the church seeks to fulfill Jesus’ command in John 13:34: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” Our Mission Statement is: “Helping people know, love and obey Jesus Christ.”

The church was incorporated July 18, 1978. The founding elders were Fred Brewster, Phil Heminger, Phil Pollard, and Charles Stott. Charles Stott served as the first full-time pastor until his death in 1980. In September of 1980, the church called Chuck Temple to serve as pastor, and he continued to serve until his retirement in September of 2010. In October 2010, Eric Cook moved from his position as Associate Pastor to Senior Pastor and serves the church now in that capacity.

Until early 1990, the church met in rented facilities. Sunday worship services here held primarily in Western School. The church purchased the present property in 1985. Construction began on the original 8750 square foot worship center in spring of 1988. The first service was held in the new building on the last Sunday of February, 1990. The fellowship hall addition was completed and dedicated in July of 2002. At present, the worship center is a 16,020 square foot facility fully dedicated to God’s glory. God has supplied through His people the full costs of land and buildings, which now totals $722,740.00.

From our inception, the church has been concerned about reaching those outside of Christ with the gospel, both locally and throughout the world. In 1979 the church agreed to send the first $1000 from its Building Fund to help complete the construction of a church building in India. Since 1981, VCF has designated 10% of all tithes and offerings for the purpose of missions funding. This amount plus designated giving through yearly World Outreach Conferences and Faith Goal contributions, has made it possible for the church to participate in helping influence others with the gospel in many places. The church is grateful to have been used of God to supply over $1,206,032.07 to mission efforts during its first 37 years of ministry.

In 1987, the church began a Love Fund through which a portion of tithes and offerings, plus designated gifts, are used to assist people with financial needs. Those needs include housing, food, medical expenses, transportation costs, and so forth. Since its inception, God has supplied for the needs of people, through the church, an amount now over $216,409.84

The Bible reveals that local churches are about worshiping God and making disciples. Researcher George Barna describes an authentic Christian with a biblical worldview as follows:

“To be a genuine Christian is more than simply believing God or Jesus Christ: even the devil meets that criterion. Being a True Christian requires more than simply believing that the Bible is a reliable ancient document: many archaeologists and historians who are atheists believe that. To be an authentic Christian is to accept that God is the Creator of all things, the indisputable Ruler of the universe, and the One who gave us life and purpose — the purpose of loving and obeying Him, and loving and serving other people, living in accordance to the guidelines He provided in the Bible and in concert with the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit that He instills within us once we surrender fully to Him. It is at this point that we see the world for what it is and invest our time and energy in trying to think like Jesus so that we can behave like Jesus — all so that we might please and honor God.” Barna’s statement describes the kind of people we want to be like and to develop. We look forward to cooperating with the Holy Spirit to this end until our King returns.

In over thirty years the church has learned a lot about God’s grace. We praise God for His abundant provision of grace both individually and corporately. We’ve soaked up much grace already, and we anticipate even more coming in the future. Our experience as a “Kingdom Outpost”, in recognition and honor of our King, leads us to proclaim along with the Psalmist:

“Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim His greatness. Let the whole world know what He has done. Sing to Him; yes, sing His praises. Tell everyone about His miracles. Exalt in His holy name.” Psalm 105:1-3,NLV