In 1991 John and Gwen Elmer felt called by God to move back to Syracuse to start a Vineyard church. They wanted to develop a church that had a “Come as you are and be loved” atmosphere. The church started with a small group of six meeting in the Elmer’s living room. In February 1992 they had their first public service in a rented space at a local church. There were 31 adults that attended. Over the next few years the church grew and moved location two times.
1999 brought about a big change; the purchase of our own building in Lakeland near the New York State Fairgrounds. In this building the church has prospered and grown from one service to four per weekend.
In 2009 we became a multi-site church by starting a service in Auburn with Chris Goral as the Site Pastor.
In Fall 2010 we started a 3rd site next to Syracuse University that meets at Funk n’ Waffles. This site has more of a “coffee shop” setting and is more contextualized to the University and surrounding neighborhoods. It has no children’s ministry.
On a regular weekend we have over 1000 people in 6 services at 3 different locations. Each site with a “come as you are and be loved atmosphere.”
