| Our History |
1995
Vine Community Church began in November of 1995 with a vision to reach those who were not-yet-Christians and to provide a place for those who were Christians without a church home to come learn about Jesus. The desire was for a place where people could worship the living God in a laid-back manner with music they liked in an atmosphere comfortable for those unaccustomed to “church" stuff.
Steve Morgan (our founding pastor) and his wife Shu-Hui began a small group at their home in Carbondale with 9 people in what became the first meeting of Vine Community Church.
1996 - 1998
The Vine had its first weekend service in the spring of '96 in the old Holiday Inn (currently the Horizon Inn). There were 18 people in attendance. During the next few years, the Vine began seeing major growth, particularly with SIU students. Attendance grew to just over 130 adults and it wasn't long before a second service was added at the Holiday Inn.
1999 - 2000
The property at 1445 S. Wall Street (our current location) was purchased to begin constructing a permanent facility, which was completed in November of '99. Having a permanent location helped as the number of people coming to worship on Sundays continued to grow past 300. Again, it didn't take long before a second service was added. Sándor Paull was hired on staff to help the church continue to move forward in what God had called us to.
2001 - 2003
A third worship service was added, meeting on Saturday evenings, as weekend attendance reached the 600's. To help with the rising attendance numbers, the first Discipleship Communities (DCs) began during this span. They began with only 3 (on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights), but soon added other DCs on Monday and Friday night as well.
Scott Joseph (Associate Pastor), Terry Kessinger (Office Manager), Greg Darling (Administrative Pastor), and Mike Berardi (Children’s Pastor) joined the staff.
2 different church plants were sent out. Jeff and Cheri Miller planted ClearView Church in Bloomington, Illinois, and Ben and Tonya Powers left to plant City Lights Church in St. Louis, Missouri.
2004 - 2006
Steve and Shu-Hui felt God's leading to plant Blue Sky Church in Seattle, Washington with a team of 50 others. Even with the departure of a handful of devoted disciples, God continued to get His way in Carbondale and continued to grow His church. A fourth service time was added with attendance growing to over 700 adults.
Sándor Paull became Lead Pastor and Aaron Kuhnert (Staff Pastor), Michael Petrik (Worship Leader), and Mike Stephens (Staff Pastor) all came on staff.
In spring of 2006, construction began to expand the church facilities.
2007 - Present
Steve Dame joined the staff as one of two Tuesday night DC pastors (January '07).
The construction process was completed, and the church first met in the new auditorium in September of 2007.
A third service is added on Sunday night to make room for those that God continues to bring.
God continues His call on Vine Community Church today. We have felt His call to be a place where genuine worship happens, a place for physical and spiritual healing, a place of racial reconciliation, where students can come to know the reality of a living God, and more. People continue to come so we will continue in our mission: making disciples, helping them grow to maturity, equipping them to do the things Jesus did, and worshiping the Living God.
