Friday was a momentous day for our church.
Most of us would not have even known about it, but something happened that was a big deal.
Thornhill Vineyard left the bosom of SVC to make it’s own way in the world.
For many of us (especially anyone who has been part of this for less than 10 years), the existence of Thornhill Vineyard may have escaped us, but it has been a significant part of our history and, in many ways, Friday marked the end of an era.
Let me tell you the story…
In the early noughties, Duncan and Emma House, who were our Associate Pastors, felt as though God called them to “go to the poor” and, in April 2002, they left their house in St Denys (Vineyard Valley, as it was known then) and moved to Thornhill in obedience. They continued to be on staff with SVC and to work as normal.
Over the next few years, another four couples moved over to the area to be part of it and became a housegroup in Thornhill. They had a very strict policy on being part of it – you had to live there. They all continued to be actively part of SVC and, in fact, as well as Duncan and Emma, Rob and Kay were our kids ministry leaders and part of the Leadership Team, and Adam Clark remained one of our Trustees (as he had been from day one of the church).
In April 2008, they became “independent”. In real terms this meant that they stopped coming on Sundays, came off staff, survived on their own finances and focused on their mission to the people of Thornhill. This was a big deal for us as we waved goodbye to half of our leadership team and a number of active and valued members of the church, some of whom had been there from the very start of this church. On one level, this was the moment that they left and we laid hands on them and said goodbye.
However, since then, from a legal and administrative point of view, Thornhill Vineyard has remained part of SVC and whilst they have functioned separately, they have been under our wing.
Over the last few months, we have been working towards them coming out from that wing and being their own charity. This process was completed on Friday, when the last few pieces were handed over to the new charity.
It was an almost imperceptible change, but one that has marked the end of a long journey and he start of a new one for them
So, to all of you Thornhill Church members, we thank you for the years of service and your time with us. We thank you for being able to share the time we have had and for having been part of your story.
One Comment
Lovely summary, thanks for this Matt