Recap of Foothill Vineyard Church’s 40-Year History

·     March 1983 - Tom & Jan Dunn started meeting with a small group in their home; Tom taught the Bible to 10 adults in their living room, and Jan taught 6 children in their garage.  They were looking to identify with an established group of believers, and a new group called “Vineyard” fit their needs perfectly. Tom and a few others met with Vineyard leaders John Wimber, Lance Pitluck, and Blaine Cook.  John Wimber told Tom, “Well, you either like what we are doing, or you don’t.  You either want to do what we are doing, or you don’t.” That was all Tom and some close friends needed to launch the greatest adventure of their lives…..planting a Vineyard Church.

·       October 1983 - We were officially recognized by John Wimber, the leader of the Association of Vineyard Churches USA.  We began renting the Glendora Seventh Adventist Church for Sunday morning services and remained in those facilities for 17 years.   Set-up and worship practice was done every Saturday evening after sundown. Foothills Vineyard Christian Church (also known as Glendora Vineyard while located in Glendora) was Vineyard #23 of the current 600+ national congregations.

·       Men’s, Women’s, Youth, and Children Ministry directors, pastoral staff, and volunteers helped to fulfill our mission statement of Loving God; Loving People; and Making Disciples, and the congregation’s sacrificial generosity topped it all off.  Over the years, we did a lot of local outreach including Glenfest Celebration (an outreach to the skateboard youth with attendance of about 5,000), participating in community parades, weekly free coffee outreaches to the Covina Metrolink station, etc.  We also started “meet at the flagpole” in Glendora for the National Day of Prayer, which continues to this day.  Another high priority was to feed the poor; we operated The Almost Free Lunch Café on Glendora Avenue; through that and food pantries, we distributed food to about 400 people monthly, which continued for over 30 years.  We planted churches in the states; we went on mission trips to Myanmar, China, and Honduras, and we built 40+ homes in Tijuana for desperately poor families. 

·       1998 - We received an unexpected and generous interest-free loan from a family in Glendora (not a FVC member) through a charitable foundation for the purchase of our current property and construction of the church at the southeast corner of Foothill Blvd and San Dimas Ave. The property was a vacant lot for many years and before that was the location of a Route 66 gas station. 

·       1999 - Ground breaking on our new property was celebrated with much gratitude to God.  Many church members donated their time, energy, and money to help with construction of the new building.  

·       July 1, 2001 - Grand opening of the new church building!  Over the years, the facility has been used for many community purposes, including Girl and Boy Scout meetings, voting polling places, home-school groups, AA and recovery meetings, plus all the activity of a thriving Christ-centered congregation.

·       January 2003 - After we occupied the building and were getting settled in, Tom’s artistic and pioneering spirit took them on their next new adventure to the high sierras.  Tom has always seen himself as an artist in ministry.  After 20 years of leadership at FVC, Tom and Jan resigned and moved to Bass Lake, California to teach art at a specialized campus of Azusa Pacific University. The Board of Directors began searching for a new pastor and engaged many guest speakers, including Kenneth Gulliksen, the initial founder of the Vineyard movement. 

·       September 2003:  Mike Barnett accepted the position as Senior Pastor, and he and his wife Sheila moved to San Dimas.  

·       December 2004: Under Pastor Mike’s leadership, the Church Family Ministry was formed, and the various ministry groups in the church joined together to help with many family-oriented events and outreaches including:  Annual Harvest Festivals;  Camping Trips; Swap Meets; Quakes Baseball Games; Valentine’s Banquets; Talent Shows/Auction Fundraisers; Christian Comedians; Plays performed by church members; Day Hikes; Family Beach Days; Swim Parties; Family Festivals; Vacation Bible Schools; Local Community Parade Floats; School Supplies to impoverished nations; Mission trips to Mexico and Nicaragua; Quarterly church newsletters; Celebrate Recovery; Christmas Caroling; Christmas Giving Tree to provide gifts to those in need; New Year’s Eve Parties; Helping Hands (meals and assistance), food pantries; etc.  

·       February 2016:  After the church kitchen construction was completed, Mike & Sheila Barnett retired, and the Board of Directors once again stepped in to begin a pastoral search.  Meanwhile, founding pastors Tom and Jan Dunn returned home, having retired from Azusa Pacific University after 12 years of teaching, followed by mission trips to Papua New Guinea, Costa Rica, and Thailand.

·       June 2016 - Tom Dunn was asked by the church board to step back in as the interim pastor.  His love and sacrificial dedication to the church allowed us to help pay off the remaining balance ($300,000) of our construction loan in 24 months. Following a devastating hurricane in Louisiana, FVC provided some financial and volunteer assistance to a Vineyard Church in Baton Rouge pastored by Jon & Kate Maurer (who we had supported when they had a church plant in Pasadena).  Jon called Tom to thank FVC for the large donation towards hurricane relief, and in the course of that conversation God began to open doors for our next lead pastor. 

·       May 2018:  Jon & Kate Maurer accepted the position and moved to California to pastor the Foothill Vineyard Church.  Tom & Jan Dunn came alongside to offer their support.  In June of 2018, the Dunns were called to Minnesota to minister to their family there; we are blessed when they come back to visit and preach on occasion.    

·       May 2018 – Present:  Under Pastor Jon’s leadership, we have continued to grow, even during the Covid lock-down when we offered on-line and outside church services.  We were one of only a few churches in the area that did not shut down in-person services during the pandemic.  Since then, we have seen even greater growth, and the health of the church continues to blossom under Jon and Kate’s leadership with community groups, equip classes, etc.  Focusing on children’s ministry, youth ministry, establishing a college-age group, and building a new safe playground have shown our dedication to the next generation.  The ministries of helping the poor (e.g., Samaritan’s Purse Shoe Boxes, food pantries) and outreach to our community (e.g., Spring Family Festivals, Harvest Festivals) have continued throughout our history.  Hundreds of new believers have been baptized and discipled throughout our 40-year legacy.  Foothill Vineyard Church has always been known as being friendly, authentic, and generous; our priorities have continued to be carried out through the years: Loving God, and loving others with sacrificial generosity... 

Life Together; Love Outward!