History

Founding Pastor Dave DiYanni and his wife Roxanna moved to Columbus, Ohio January 1, 1978, to start a new church on the eastside of the city. They had been sent here by a youth ministry called Shiloh Youth Revival Centers (SYRC). This was a nationwide youth ministry with its headquarters and Bible School in Eugene, Oregon. SYRC was born out of the “Jesus People Movement” of Southern California of Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa before becoming an independent work. Calvary Chapel was originally part of the Foursquare Churches, which have their origin in the early 1900's with the Azusa Street Revival. In the summer of 1978 SYRC decided to close down its ministry. Our church was given the option to either close down or become an independent church. So on October 1, 1978, with about 25 people, our church was officially incorporated. Our original name was Faith Chapel. The church met at a house on 8440 East Main St. As we grew, we moved several times and rented a building from the Cotner’s Funeral Home on Main Street and then rented the auditorium at the Hannah Ashton Middle School. Our attendance at that time was about 70 people. We then purchased four acres on Palmer Road near Taylor Road and began building our own church building in August of 1985. On May 24, 1987, we held our first Sunday Service in the new building. We added our Family Life Center on October 1, 1998. Then we added the back children’s wing January 2001. Faith Chapel officially joined the Vineyard Association of churches on January 1, 2005, and changed their name to Vineyard Community Church. The Vineyard association has about 600 churches in the US and approximately 400 abroad. In October of 2020 Pastor Dave officially retired and now holds the role of Pastor Emeritus. He leads a weekly men’s group, and still oversees VCC’s free clinics. Pastor Dave is still active in the Vineyard Movement mentoring and coaching pastors as the needs arise.

Vineyard Community Church has a strong commitment to our local community. Our property has developed into one of the premiere playground areas for many young families. Our sports program, Upward Soccer, has over 100 children participating each year. Vineyard Community Church has been offering a free medical clinic and pregnancy care center for over ten years as well as free legal aid, and computer and bicycle repair clinics. In 2009 Vineyard Community Church sent out its first church planting team and started a new Vineyard church in the Bexley area. In 2016 the Vineyard Preschool officially started.

Vineyard Community Church has a worldwide vision for mission work. Every Easter the church gives away it's entire offering to support different mission programs. For the past ten years, we have been able to purchase over 4,000 wheelchairs and have sent a mission team to Vietnam to help distribute them. In 2012 the church’s Easter offering give away, crossed the one million dollar mark and it continues to grow. In 2017 we will be expanding our mission program to include giving clean water filters to families along the Amazon in Brazil, and feeding children in Haiti. Vineyard Community Church will continue to develop and grow as long as there is a need and God continues to lead us.