“Before coming to the Vineyard, my husband and I knew we were called by God to be in ministry. We were young and weren’t sure what that looked like. There was ministry happening at the church we were at, but we felt like we had hit the ceiling with what we could do based on our training and opportunities. But our desire was much greater. We eventually got frustrated and took a break from church all together.

After a period of about six months, we missed having a church community very much, but didn’t feel like we could go back to doing church the way we had done it in the past. We wanted more. We decided to start checking out other churches. Our kids had visited the Vineyard with their grandparents and wanted to go again. And I really loved that whenever I saw a flyer or poster of something happening at the Vineyard, it was super high quality. I was in school at the time, studying graphic design, so it was neat to me that a church valued quality in design and production.
We tried it once and never looked back. The kids were so loved and discipled in super relevant ways, and so were we! Everywhere we looked there was opportunity to grow and learn and serve! And the people we began connecting with were so authentic and refreshing and real! We had some healing to do and there were people who walked us through it without judgement and pointed us to Jesus the whole time. After the initial healing began, we were ready to jump in and begin to pursue God’s call for our lives. We were able to find places to serve, attend small group, and have met some of the best friends ever!
Now we are leading a small group (Tuesdays in Hermantown, come join us!) and serving, and as our kids are growing older, they are excited about growing in their relationships with Jesus and serving and loving people too! And we continue to grow, and mess up, and repent, and heal, and learn, and love, and I wouldn’t trade this place for anything! Except Heaven, of course.”

-Bree Thompson