The Vineyard Church in Freeland began as a small group on September 25th, 2022, renting the Church of God (7th Day) building at the corner of Freeland and River Roads, as a church plant sent by New Life Vineyard Church in Midland with Pastor Mike Leiter, who was serving as Worship and Staff Pastor at New Life Vineyard, as the founding pastor.

Pastor Mike and Tiffany Leiter have been residents of Freeland since 2001 and were originally sent to Freeland to plant a church by another denomination to meet the ever increasing needs of this growing community. Pastor Mike was to lead a small, aging church (formerly Dice Wesleyan Church) and use it as a home base for the church plant. Due to the surprising growth of Dice Church, the church plant was delayed. In 2006, Pastor Mike and Tiffany felt God's call to team up with the Vineyard Church in Midland for a season. That season lasted longer than they anticipated! Finally, in 2022 the small group that would eventually become the Vineyard Church of Freeland took shape, with the full support and blessing of New Life Vineyard.

The Vineyard Church of Freeland was officially recognized as a Vineyard Church by Vineyard USA on Easter Sunday of 2023. Vineyard Freeland had outgrown the Church of God (7th Day) building and was welcomed into the First Baptist Church of Freeland's building that same April. A few months later, in addition to Sunday services, Vineyard Freeland's office moved into the building as well. The Vineyard Church continues to express gratitude for First Baptist's hospitality.

From day one, our fellowship has been outreach oriented, serving and encouraging our residents. Even as a small group, our team began to serve our community by providing a monthly music and devotional service to our local assisted living facilities, by volunteering to decorate these facilities for the holidays, and by delivering baked goods to our local first responders, fire, and police.

We have also served as a haven for people who have become disenfranchised by their previous church experiences. Some have found that our "come as you are" attitude and family atmosphere has been a breath of fresh air. Some have expressed surprise that for the first time, they have experienced the presence of God in genuine way in their lives.  These stories have already validated the work that Vineyard Freeland is doing and we're just getting started!

On a final note, people who visit our church will notice that we are an equipping church, meaning that our focus is on giving people encouragement and resources to help them to do great things for God and to help them avoid the many pitfalls that are present in our day. It is our conviction that there are plenty of options out there for "consumers" so we choose not to focus on being "impressive", "hyped", or "showy".  This means that while we strive for excellence in everything we do, we aren't afraid to get "messy" and be authentic with one another. We are naturally supernatural in everything we do.

If you would like to learn even more about our church, mission, values, beliefs, or have other questions, please reach out by hitting the "learn more" button.