1970s - 1980s

The first Vineyard church was started in West LA in 1974 by Kenn Gulliksen, who gave the name “Vineyard” to the association of churches in 1975.

In 1983, Todd Hunter, pastor of a Vineyard in West Virginia, began visiting Cincinnati to plant a church. He soon met Steve & Janie Sjogren, and Steve became the pastor for the new Cincinnati Vineyard.

By 1985, the church outgrew its Mason condo and moved to The Hayloft Square Dance Barn, then to Scarlet Oaks Vocational School. Steve Sjogren envisioned an outward-focused church, leading to the first free car wash in 1987 and other creative ways to share God’s love—like gift wrapping, handing out Cokes, and scrubbing toilets. We called it Servant Evangelism, a random act of kindness to show God’s love with no strings attached.


1990s

In 1989, the Vineyard moved to a property on Crescentville Road with 450 people. Our MercyWorks ministry began in a small white house, where volunteers were trained to serve those in need with great dignity. 

 In 1992, SOS (Summer of Service) began with 13 students, growing to hundreds of students practicing Servant Evangelism. By 1995, our motto became “Small things done with great love will change the world.” We partnered with other churches through Kindness Explosions and Serve Saturdays.

In 1996, with 3,500 people, we purchased 48 acres of land in Tri-County. Our current building was bursting at the seams with 6 services every weekend, and the new campus was envisioned as a launching pad for reaching our neighbors. In 1998 after senior pastor Steve Sjogren nearly died from a routine surgery, Dave Workman took on the role.

In 1999, we moved into our current 2,300-seat home, supported by new volunteers opening doors, making coffee, offering prayer, and serving children and students.

2000s

In 2002, we launched online video streaming—revolutionary at the time—and broke ground on a 400-seat chapel, hosting weddings and memorials by 2003.

In 2004, we experienced a move of the Holy Spirit, renewing our mission from Luke 4:18–19 to preach the good news, bring freedom, and proclaim God’s favor. To mark our 20th anniversary, we gave away $20,000 each month in 2005 to outward-focused organizations, reflecting our value of generosity.

In 2007, Vineyard attendees pledged nearly $13 million to change our city, our future, and our world through “The Luke 4 Challenge” campaign. As a result we built the Healing Center and Student Union on our campus and also fund clean water wells in rural Nigeria. 


2010s

The Healing Center, an expansion of MercyWorks, quickly became a busy hub offering over 50 services to meet practical, emotional, spiritual, and financial needs—all in a space designed to reflect the value God places on every person.

By 2010 we had funded 95 boreholes (water wells) in Nigeria. That December our middle school students held a campaign called Simplify Christmas and donated $9,000 to our partner Back2Back Ministries to build an education center near the first borehole. 

In 2013, VCC welcomed a new lead pastor, Rob King. The church continued serving people through a large number of groups and classes including Growth & Healing (running 112 support and recovery groups that year!), Alpha, Women’s Community, Divorce & Beyond, and Life Stewards, and served through projects such as the Christmas Eve Donut Outreach, Spring Clean Drive and TurkeyFest. 

Our staff also began praying over prayer request cards and online request 50 weeks out of the year, a practice that still continues. 


2020s

In 2020, Vineyard Cincinnati welcomed Matt Massey as lead pastor. Matt had previously been on staff in the early 2000s and planted Northstar church in Loveland. 

In 2023, we launched the Legacy of Hope Project to raise $775,000 for an expansion of the education center we previously built—creating the world’s first Christian trauma-informed secondary and vocational school in Nigeria. The funds covered construction, fully equipped the classrooms and library, and provided a year of salaries for the teachers.

The 2020s also saw a renewal of our commitment to the Ministry of the Holy Spirit, and an expanded focus on biblical unity and making disciples who make disciples. 

Vineyard Cincinnati is a church that is seeking to Live & Love Like Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we seek to live like Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what he did.