Thank you for considering partnering with The Vine Church and Pastor Tim Williams!
Imagine the power of unity as Kingdom minded hearts come together to support our ministry’s initiatives, enabling us to reach even more individuals in need of the gospel. Your contribution will help us continue our mission to cultivate relationships, connect others to Jesus, and contribute to the Kingdom by making disciples.
Text “@pray4tvc” to 81010 to join our prayer team and receive prayer requests and updates.
Let’s make this vision a reality! Together, we can create a ripple effect of making disciples and planting churches that extends far beyond our immediate community.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for considering this request. Your support means the world to us, and we are truly grateful for each and every one of you.
Grace & peace,
Pastor Tim Williams
3John2
In this video I forgot to mention one huge announcement! We also ordained two outstanding servants to the office of deacon: Mike and John. Please pray for them as they begin their ministry. Thanks for watching!
It’s fall, y’all. We had a phenomenal September, and I am excited to update you with life at The Vine! God is at work, and we are just trying to follow.
We Launched!
Thank you for your prayer, support, encouragement, and friendship. The Vine Church officially launched September 15, 2024. On that day 18 people, age 18-94, came together for covenant membership, and constituted The Vine Church. This is a historic event in the life of the church. If only I could share with every struggling church in the world the hope they have in the gospel; if they would just respond to Jesus as if the church is actually His!
Two days after the launch service our oldest member (94 years old) took a trip to the emergency room. I arrived, prayed for him, read scripture for him, and as I was leaving the hospital staff came in with discharge paperwork. While we waited to be released, we were making small talk. I asked him, “Well, what did you think about Sunday?”
His immediate response, with a huge smile, was “It was AWESOME!”
It was awesome to see our outreach efforts, prayer, and hard work connect us to over 105 people. It was awesome to have so many kids in the children’s ministry, we didn’t have room for them. It was awesome to stand in the front row while we sang praise to Jesus. It was awesome.
After a 30 year attendance decline resulting in the closure of Gladewater Baptist Church, there is no doubt it was awesome for former Gladewater members to see the fruit of their labor. Our launch service was a gift from the Lord.
The most important gift of launch day was two baptisms!
Sunday is always comin’. As I reflected on launch day, I was anticipating what God would do the weeks following. And, praise God because we have maintained over 55% retention rate, have multiple people signed up for our new member class, and our kids ministry is still busting at the seems!
The Days Ahead
The week before launch I let the core team know we would run at an unsustainable pace for a short time, in order to cultivate relationships, connect others to Jesus, and then run the race of endurance as we contribute to the Kingdom by making disciples and planting churches.
There are three primary areas of ministry that we will focus on the remainder of the year.
Guest follow up is primary. We will host our first new member class in October, and continue to cultivate relationships.
Next, increasing our outreach efforts. We will participate in three community events in October as we come alongside our community to make it noticeably better.
Finally, our children’s ministry. We are actively doing background checks and training for new volunteers, navigating parent involvement, and increasing our children’s ministry space.
Partnership Opportunities
Here are two ways you can partner with us this fall. Whether you send 1 or 10 for 1 day or 10 days, we could use some boots on the ground help!
We currently have 2 small classrooms available for children’s ministry, where we can only accept 14 kids. We have exceeded that number. To best serve our children, we will be tearing out walls in classrooms and expand our children’s ministry. This was a plan we had but did not know the need would arise so quickly.
Our Spanish service will be launching early this winter. We have 5,000 door hangers to hang this fall as we lead up to the launch of this ministry.
Prayer Points
Please pray for us as we reach Mount Pleasant. Our church has embodied a DNA that is outward focused, and we continue to pray for God’s grace to remain that way.
Please pray for Pastor Paco Silva as he makes his transition to Mount Pleasant. He has began support raising, and we have made living arrangements for his family.
Please pray for my family, as we continue our search for a house.
Thank you for your prayer, partnership, and support!
Grace & peace,
Tim Williams, Pastor
The Vine Church
pastortim@vinechurchmp.org
What a day that will be, when my Jesus I shall see.
Pray, watch/listen, and obey. That has been the theme of The Vine the last month. We have been reminded of the reality of the brokenness around us, and more so of the faithfulness of God. In this month’s edition I am excited to share about The Vine en Español, sending students off to college, and record attendance. But, as you may be aware – all of that comes with spiritual warfare.
Spiritual Warfare in Church Replanting
In July I read an article about spiritual warfare in church planting. The author noted story after story of opposition that him and others he knew faced when they were in the infancy of pastoring a young church. At the time, it was the calm before the storm in our ministry. I highly anticipated and expected something to drop, I just wasn’t sure what was going to happen. God has been adding to our number those who are being saved, lives are being transformed, saints are being sent out, and we are living in a time of reaping a harvest. For that, the enemy has been working hard to discourage and stop our ministry. As you may know, our midweek Bible study was disrupted by a man making threats against the church and I personally.
My family has been able to move to a safe place temporarily, and we are in the process of searching for a home. The housing market in Mount Pleasant is much like everywhere else; low inventory paired with high interest rates make it nearly impossible to find a home. We are confident the Lord will provide in His timing, and we are praying, listening, and obeying.
Sending students to college/school starting
Last month we sent off three college students: one to East Texas Baptist University and two to Texas A&M. Those are bittersweet moments! Also, as the school year got ramped up, we received an invitation from a local school to host an outreach during their Meet the Teacher event, and college move in day. We have also been invited to start a Bible study at the middle school. We are overjoyed with the doors being opened to us, and the community who is receiving the new church plant well.
The Vine en Español
As of September 9, Paco Silva will officially be serving as the Pastor of The Vine en Español. He has begun the Church Planter Assessment process through Send Network, support raising, and preparing to move his family to Mount Pleasant. We are absolutely thrilled to bring the Silva’s into our church family. They fit right in, and the Lord’s kindness is the only explanation for bring all of us together.
High Attendance in Kids’ Ministry
Nearly three years ago when I began filling the pulpit at Gladewater Baptist Church the silence was deafening. There were cobwebs in the nursery, children’s projects that were completed in years past covered the walls of the kids’ classrooms, and my son was the only child in attendance. We have pleaded with the Lord for years that families would be led to join our church. We battled the dilemma of having a small kids ministry, which made it difficult for families to lay down roots with us. Through a few faithful families sticking with the changes and devoting themselves to be a part of what God is doing in the next generation, our kids ministry began to grow. We launched age-appropriate discipleship in June for 3 years old-3rd grade, and in August we celebrated a high attendance of 17 kids!
We went from begging for kids, to doing all we can to invest in the kids! I love navigating issues like: what curriculum is most effective? What resources do we need? How do we do kids check in? What is going to create the safest and most conducive environment for these kids to be taught the Bible? No complaints here! But challenges that we are overjoyed to be facing.
Prayer Requests
Thank you for your partnership! We could not do this without you. The Lord has provided us with exceptional partners to do ministry with, and for that I am humbled. I believe the Lord can do more than we can ask or imagine! Have a great rest of your week.
Grace & peace,
Tim Williams
pastortim@vinechurchmp.org
The heat of the summer hasn’t stopped The Vine from joining God in what He is doing here in Titus County. I pray your summer has been fruitful! In this month’s edition of Life at The Vine I have some of the most exciting updates for you!
The month of July was a month of new life!
We filled the baptistery two weeks in a row! Carlos, our youth and music minister, led Derrick to Christ and baptized him the following Sunday. The next week Conner asked me to meet him at Dairy Queen to talk about God. Conner received Christ that day with his dad and step mom present, and was baptized the following Sunday. We are so thankful God has allowed us to reach these young men with the gospel, and continue discipling them. Along with these young men, the church has witnessed 7 adults receive Christ and be connected to local churches in July alone!!
We filled the baptistery two weeks in a row!
The month of July was a month of ministry!
In partnership with Connect Church, Rockdale, Texas we put on our first block party. Throughout the day we had the opportunity to share the gospel at least 15 times, knock on 99 doors, and pray for countless neighbors. We welcomed over 75 people at the party, and were afforded the opportunity to begin cultivating relationships. I am very thankful the Lord provided Connect Church, a church plant that is less than a year old, to come alongside of us in this effort!
Along with our outreach efforts this month, the Lord has been bringing first time guests to our midweek Bible study every week! We recognize there are so many community members who have questions about God, and they are just searching for somewhere they can hear the Bible taught truthfully. Our hope is they can find what they are searching for as we seek to be biblical, missional, and relevant.
The Lord humbled me on a Sunday morning, when I was wrestling with discouragement. For years I have considered Sunday morning worship as a measure of the success of our ministry. I have heard from so many about how I shouldn’t be too concerned about numbers, but that is easier said than done. For two and a half years I have prayed to pastor a church that didn’t just exist on Sunday mornings. It hit me – God is answering my prayer. The Vine is active every day of the week, doing ministry that I don’t even know about! It was singlehandedly the most humbling experience of my life, as I stood in the pulpit thanking God for His faithfulness.
The month of July was a month of planning!
Our launch date is quickly approaching – September 15! I felt led to work hard in three specific areas to prepare for our launch. First, equipping leaders within the church to carry out their ministries. God called Michele and Madi to lead our Kid’s Ministry, John and Mike to the Deacon Ministry, and Carlos, Samantha, Sky, and Heather to our music ministry. What a blessing! Second, for two years I have prayed for a way to reach our 54% Spanish speaking community. On August 11, we have a Spanish pastor/planter coming to preach in view of a call and we cannot be more thrilled for God’s provision! Finally, in order to focus on ministry as we launch, God has allowed us to be nearly fully funded (aside from our Spanish ministry). These three key areas that God has worked positions us for a healthy and successful launch, which I am eternally grateful for.
On August 11, we have a Spanish pastor/planter coming to preach in view of a call and we cannot be more thrilled for God’s provision!
Thank you for your continued support! The Vine could not do this without your willingness to sacrificially get involved to see the Kingdom of God advanced in Titus County! As we move forward in the process with our Spanish Pastor Candidate, I will be in contact with you. Until then, please pray for wisdom for The Vine and for the candidate family. This family has felt the call for three years to leave their business, home, and all that they know to follow the Lord to proclaim the gospel to Spanish families in Northeast Texas! In God’s sovereignty, we connected and sparked a friendship immediately. Only God could have orchestrated it, and I am overjoyed to be a part of what God is doing!
Prayer Points:
Become a Strategic Partner
If you are not yet one of our strategic partners, please consider joining God as He works here. We have multiple opportunities to host teams large and small! Please contact me if you have anyone feeling the urge of the Holy Spirit to be a laborer in a mighty harvest, as we continue to pray Luke 10:2.
Please contact me if you have anyone feeling the urge of the Holy Spirit to be a laborer in a mighty harvest, as we continue to pray Luke 10:2.
Thank you for your support of our ministry!! I consider it a privilege to know you!
If you would like to send a note of encouragement to The Vine, as you pray for us, I would love to share them with the church on Sunday mornings. It means the world! Have a great month!
Grace & Peace,
Tim Williams
pastortim@vinechurchmp.org
