Sweet_Vineyard

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The Sweet Vineyard held its first official Sunday evening service on March 12, 2006. This came about due to several persistent Sweet/Montour residents (Pam Taylor, Myra Church and Judy Peterson) who approached Tri and Nancy Robinson with the proposal of beginning a new community church in the area. Tri and Nancy currently serve as Senior Pastors of the Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Boise but live in the hills above Sweet. With a growing fellowship of over 2500 members at Vineyard Boise, they were hesitant to take on a new challenge.

In late January Tri and Nancy decided to meet with a core group of zealous local families to discuss the possibilities of a new Vineyard Christian Fellowship. The first meetings were hosted at the home of Judy and Doc Peterson, our local veterinarian. The pioneer group grew to about eight couples and continued to meet over the course of the next two months dreaming and discussing what this new church plant might become. One of the couples, Pam and Todd Taylor, suggested approaching the Sweet/Montour Elementary School officials to lease the school as a meeting place. Another committed couple, Myra and Harvey Church, ("Church" is actually their last name) made an appointment to speak to the Emmett School board to present our case and make the request. The school board members were favorable about the request and a meeting was set up with the district superintendent, the school's principal and teachers. Tri went along with Myra Church to meet with them to address the school's concerns and a lease agreement was made. The group now had a place to meet and the opening date for the Sweet Vineyard Christian Fellowship was set.

The communities of Sweet and Montour are about an hour's commute from Boise. Therefore it makes the Vineyard in Boise too far away for many who are drawn to this style of contemporary ministry to attend on a regular basis. Many of the residents are ranchers and farmers and find it difficult to leave their early chores to attend morning services forty miles away. The concept of attending a Sunday evening service in their own community is appealing to them. Thus the little fellowship grew quickly to over 60 people in the first few months.

With a more country culture to this fellowship, Tri asked Rand Thompson to take on the responsibility of leading and developing worship. Rand is a long time Christian and Bluegrass musician. The people of these communities appreciate this country style of worship and it has become a rich part of our meetings together. Rand and his wife Lori were members of the first church planting team that started Vineyard Boise in 1989. Lori has worked for years as Tri's administrative assistant in Boise. Now she and Rand are once again helping pioneer this new church in Sweet. Lori is an organizer and continually spots the holes below the waterline that need to be filled as the church develops. She has also helped set up the coffee bar ministry at Sweet Vineyard with resources from the Holy Grounds coffee bar ministry in the Boise church.

A number of people involved in an advanced leadership program known as VLI (Vineyard Leadership Institute) at Vineyard Boise decided to jump in and help the Sweet Vineyard get started. It was a great opportunity to experience the workings of a Vineyard Church from inception. One of the VLI couples, Brian and Lisa Harm, previously were residents of Sweet and have a real love for the people there. As a VLI project Brian took on organizational responsibilities such as gathering equipment and setting up for the Sunday meetings at the school. Another couple, Jack and Lori Stom, not only have a love for ministry and the people, but also for the Payette River which runs through the communities we hope to reach. They organized our first float trip over the river with more in the planning stages. Josh and Emily Hopping, also VLI students, didn't know why they were attracted to this small group of people but couldn't deny the magnetic pull. They began the children's ministry at the Sweet Vineyard and the Lord has truly blessed it from the moment the first children attended.

Other folks that helped to make those first days a reality are Dick and Holly Smith, a couple from Emmett who were attending Vineyard Boise but had vision for a new work in the Black Canyon Reservoir area. They are developing a ranch for the purpose of ministry in the hills above Black Canyon Reservoir and desired to see it linked to a local church. From the beginning they jumped in and served wherever needed. Tony and Laurie Lloyd are residents of Horseshoe Bend who were also active at Vineyard Boise but were thrilled to have a Vineyard closer to home. They too became quickly involved and their daughter Diana also joined the Hoppings in working with the children. Diana was the first supported missionary of the Sweet Vineyard when she decided to participate in an outreach to the Las Vegas Rescue Mission in conjunction with Vineyard Boise's Youth Extreme Missions program. Others who have served faithfully are Alma Bittiker from Gardena plus Terry Jensen and Kathy Hanson, who are horse breeders along with Kathy's husband, Rod. Many have stepped forward to serve in whatever area as needed.

From the beginning, there have been people from all the local communities along the Payette River joining this excited team with vision to see God move through this new rural community church. On June 11th our first outreach was organized as Rand Thompson invited his bluegrass band, "Dawgwood", to perform at a church BBQ in downtown Sweet. The event was very successful, drawing together over 100 people.

The Sweet Vineyard is truly off to a great start with expectations that God will use us to demonstrate the love and compassion of Christ to people in the outlying areas that may otherwise never be reached with the message of salvation.

Sweet Vineyard,Org.