A Brief History of David and Debi Stark and Vineyard Community Church in St. Louis...

The Kansas Years (1958-1987)

Our pastor David Stark was born and raised in Kansas. As a child growing up in a Christian family, David committed his life to Christ, but, through his adolescence, found himself far from God and with a life that he describes as “very messed up and out of control.”  In 1974 at the age of 16, and under the influence and leadership of his brother, he renewed his commitment to Christ and began leading an interdenominational Bible study that met weekly for the next five years.  David met his wife Debi in that Bible Study and they married in 1980.  Over the next 8 years, they both became part of the leadership in their local church, serving in several different capacities.  During this time, it was becoming more clear that God was calling David to be a full time pastor and to eventually plant a church. 

  On to California (1988-1996) 

 In pursuit of more experience and training that would prepare them for church planting, Debi and David moved to Palo Alto, California, to be a part of a new Vineyard Church (Palo Alto Vineyard), started by Mark and Gail Pettersen three years earlier.  After working as a lay pastor there for two years, David was ordained and then served as a pastor on Palo Alto Vineyard’s staff for four years, which was a great relief to David because he could now focus his time and energy on full-time ministry and leave his job in the business world.  His responsibilities included overseeing the office staff, leading small groups, developing the Marriage and Family areas of ministry, and overseeing Sunday morning teams.

Planting in  St. Louis (1996)

It became clear that it was time for David and Debi to be sent out to plant a new Vineyard.  In 1996, after much prayer and searching, the Palo Alto Vineyard sent David and Debi and their two daughters along with seven other adults and three other children to St. Louis to start a new Vineyard church. The team moved to St. Louis in October of 1996 and began the work of discovering what God had called them to do and how to explain that in a way that would reach out to the St. Louis community.

On October 5th, 1997, with about twenty-five people, they held their first Sunday service at Ross Elementary School.  By August 2000, the church had outgrown the space at Ross and moved to Parkway Northeast Middle School, where they held their Sunday service until 2007.

The Move to Our Permanent Church Home (April 1, 2007)

On April 1st of 2007, the church made a very exciting move to our permanent church home at 2154 Dougherty Ferry Road (a former Episcopal Church that has served as our Office and Training Center since 2003).  We are all excited to see how God uses this new home to bring His Kingdom through us!