Vineyard fellowships in Denmark are on a church-planting
spree, sending out families and starting three new churches in the past year—in
Aarhus, Rønne (Bornholm Island), and Aalborg.
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| Thomas and Inge Willer |
The new Aarhus Vineyard held their first worship service
last spring, with 120 in attendance. Like the others, that group is an offshoot
of the Vineyard in Copenhagen, which itself got its start in 1997. The new
Vineyard fellowship is being planted by Anne and Simon Walsøe, along with others
from their sending church.
During the summer, Assistant Pastor Helle Rønne Samuelson
and his family (also from the Copenhagen church) moved to the island of Bornholm
to help plant a Vineyard church there. That church is already well on its way
and growing.
And if that wasn’t enough, Inge and Thomas Willer, formerly
of the Regen Church in Copenhagen, recently moved their family to Denmark’s
fourth-largest city (Aalborg) to plant a Vineyard church there.
“We love Regen,” says Thomas Willer, “which we started 13
years ago with a fantastic group of people. But in the course of the last year
and a half to two years we’ve had the impression that there’s a new season
coming for us as a family. We’re excited, nervous, a little concerned, sorry to
leave church, family, and friends—but we’re also enthusiastic about the
adventure that God is calling us to.”
Vineyard churches in Denmark have been on a growth spurt in
the past five years, with six fellowships established beyond Copenhagen: in
Roskilde, Rønne, Køge, Odense, Aarhus, and Aalborg. Membership across the
country in these churches is about 1,000, with some 600 of those in Copenhagen.
Their emphasis on outreach and church planting continues.
PRAY for the
leadership in these three new churches, that they would be open to God’s
leadership, that they would remain in the truth, and that they would be
encouraged daily.
PRAY for many Danes
to come to faith and for spiritual growth in these churches.
PRAY for the
Rønne Vineyard vision evening, planned for January 3, that people would hear of
the dream for Bornholm, and that many would be inspired to join what God is
doing there.
PRAY for revival
to spread throughout Denmark as these (and other!) churches grow in their
vision and multiply according to God’s plan.