By Derek Osburn
On Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009, The Vine Community Church had its first service at 10 a.m., at the Clovis Christian School East Campus in Clovis. It was a fulfillment of much prayer and discussion; to go forth in planting this church.
The vision of planting a church in Clovis was born the previous February, when my pastor, Alan McAlister, and I began meeting. I was serving as associate pastor at Central Baptist Church and had been on staff for 11 years. As we began to meet, I also began to meet and pray with two other couples on a weekly basis about the prospect of planting a new church in Clovis.
My wife Sharla and I, also started praying and discussing all of the pros and cons of this decision. I had called the Baptist Convention of New Mexico’s executive director, Joseph Bunce, and we had spoken at length about the need for a progressive simple church concept in the community. Alan, Dr. Bunce and I began to move this vision forward by developing the plan of a local church and state convention sponsored church.
Everyone was pleased when Central voted to sponsor The Vine Community Church. Seven families were commissioned from Central and other families became a part of the planning meetings prior to the launch service. The state convention and Central Baptist were exceptional in their support of our new church. Since the launch we have seen continued growth in attendance, blessed with many baptisms, and we have supported many people from The Vine to go on several mission trips.
Our Vision is “4 God, 4 People, and 4 the World.” Our typical Sunday morning includes coffee and breakfast foods at 9:30am, worship and childcare (birth through 3rd grade) at 10:00am and dismiss and at 11:00am.
We encourage everyone to participate in “community groups” which meet in homes during the week. The groups do book studies, prayer and some sermon discussion. As we look to the future we see more and more people flooding into Clovis because of Cannon Air Force Base and other business opportunities. We believe that we are called to reach out to everyone we can.
We have contemporary worship music.
The most amazing thing, I believe, that has happened is the number of people coming whom I have never met who have the same story: “We thought we wouldn’t find a church like this in this area.” WOW! I am so excited to see what God will do using His servants for His purpose.
The blessing we are having in this church plant cannot all be explained, but when God’s Spirit works in the life of a church not all things are understood.
Contributing to the success of The Vine are the volunteers, members and attendees who continue to work throughout the week on ministry to our community; Central Baptist Church’s support through prayer and commissioned families; the BCNM and the North American Mission Board for the educational and informational advice on how to plant a church in a healthy connection with the state convention and a local church; and the monthly financial support from New Mexico Baptists we receive through the Cooperative Program.
The future of our church is bright. We have huge plans and need prayer to keep focused, just as any church. We covet everyone’s prayers and hope that we can be known for Christ in our community and culture.
For more information about the church, contact us at Web site: thevinecc.tv; Blog: becoffee.tv; Twitter: @dosburn; Facebook: The Vine Community Church.
Derek Osburn is lead pastor of The Vine Community Church.