Expanding the vineyard, times three

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.

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.