Hi, I’m Tim Mengler pastor of Vineyard Christian Church here in Crystal Lake. I have been the pastor here since 2005 when my wife and I planted the church. Our desire was to plant a spirit-filled cross-cultural church in Crystal Lake. Our church is a part of the Vineyard USA movements of churches started by John Wimber in the 80’s.
My wife Amy and I have been married for 29 years and have two amazing children ages 23 and 20. We love to spend time together hiking in the mountains of Tennessee or on the beaches in Florida. We also take frequent mission’s trips to Senegal and Mozambique Africa to support the work the Vineyard is doing there.
Some fun facts about me
Prior to entering into ministry I had a wide variety of jobs. I have a degree in horticulture and spent 13 years owning and operating a landscape construction business. Prior to that I worked as a lumberjack for a saw mill and even worked in a breast pump factory.
What is important to me
In John 5 there is scene where Jesus heals a crippled man. In that story Jesus says He can only do what He sees the Father doing. If this is true for Jesus how much more for us? I want to make sure that I am always in tune with what the Father is doing so I can join him in that. Then in Exodus 33 there is a passage where Moses tells ask God for of His presence. Moses adds, how will anyone know we are your people and that you are pleased with us if your presence does not go with us? This still hold true for us, we need the Presence of the Lord to be our distinguishing mark. Being defined by His presence and joining what the Father is doing, I live for that.
Why I planted this church
I grew up in a Christian home attending a main line traditional church. It was the kind of church that just followed a set pattern of worship or liturgy. They didn’t even seem to talk about Jesus much. Even as a kid I just knew there had to be more. Then I met my wife and attended the church she grew up in. Again, another mainline traditional church, I knew there still had to be more. For one thing it just felt like the scriptures should be explained more.
Shortly after my wife and I were married we were approached by a man who said he was going to plant a new church. We were intrigued by this because the town we were living in at the time only had a Catholic church and we weren’t from a Catholic background. So, we were interested in a different kind of church but the concept of church planting really struck me as odd. At that point in my life I had never heard of church planting, I thought churches always just existed. It never occurred to me that someone had to start new churches. We joined this man on his journey to plant a new church in our town. This got us hooked on the idea of church planting.
This church was also was a main line traditional church, it still seemed to me as if something was missing. It was however, in this church plant that my wife and I experienced for the first-time authentic relationships with people in church. As a result we knew we wanted to be a part of church planting and authentic relationships.
It was during our time at this church plant I felt the call of the Lord to go into ministry full time. In Dec 1999 I sold my business and in Jan 2000 I entered seminary at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield IL where I earned a Masters of Divinity (MDiv).
As a part of my seminary training I visited a Vineyard church, and not just any Vineyard church but a Spanish speaking LaVina. I immediately heard the Lord say to me, “you’re home.” What we found in this church was what I had always felt was missing. Authentic passionate worship, the gifts of the Holy Spirit openly in operation in a healthy way, and cross cultural and cross racial relationships.
It was through these experiences that we formed the vision for this church. Church planting to reach new people for Jesus. Authentic relationships where you can be yourself and grow in Jesus with other authentic believers. Passionate worship in a musical style I resonate with. Teaching the Bible in a way everyone can understand and find helpful. The gifts of the Holy Spirit openly in operation in a healthy and balanced way. Cross cultural relationships within the church, after all heaven will be every tribe and every tongue, so the church should look like that now.
Come join us as we do our best to walk out this vision.
