Brett Kennedy has been the Lead Pastor of Vineyard Church of Wellsboro in PA for 10 years. Located in a rural town of 4,500 people, the church was started in 2001 in the founding pastors’ home. They rented spaces before acquiring their building in 2022. At that time, they had about eighty people, but in March 2025, it was closer to 225. This amount of growth in such a short period increased their need to develop new programming, which created a need to develop new leaders to run those programs.

Brett says that his church has always been known for their service to the community and proactively connecting with other local ministries to meet community needs. “We’re very involved in community partnerships, both in providing volunteers and fundraising.” Brett says their church fosters a culture where “everyone gets to play,” regardless of age, with a congregation made up fairly evenly of empty nesters, retirees, families, young adults, youth, and kids. “We try to provide opportunities for everyone to figure out what it looks like to follow Jesus and be His hands and feet outside the church walls.” 

“While we had a process for discipling people, we really didn’t have a good process for discipling and developing leaders. Because we grew so quickly, we fell behind on that. Vineyard Leadership Essentials (VLE) came at the perfect time for us because I was just starting to think about how we could develop leaders and incorporate them in different ways that we didn’t need before the growth. I was doing a lot of work on what that could look like and how to implement it when I got an email about VLE, and it was like ‘TA-DA!’ They’d done it all for me!” 

Brett says he immediately decided to participate in the pilot program and identified eight people in his church to join him. Each person he identified had demonstrated leadership potential but wasn’t currently serving in a leadership role. “I tried to have the demographics of our group match those of our church. We have three people under the age of 25, three from age 26 to 40, and three over the age of 40,” including Brett, who is also participating in the course. “I am a graduate of Vineyard Leadership Institute (VLI), so I was interested to see how this would be different, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised. This first year is about focusing on how to lead yourself. After pastoring for ten years now, I’ve realized that being able to minister to and lead yourself well, making sure you’re mentally, physically, and spiritually healthy enough to pour into others, is really important.”

Their group meets together twice a month to discuss the course material and pray for each other. Upon returning from a break in December, the group commented on how much they missed their time together, and Brett says that he feels this is a testament to the value of the course. The group also provided feedback that it has given them insight into ministry and what it means to lead people. “I came into ministry thinking it’s going to be awesome and we’re just going to share the Gospel and lead people to Jesus, and while that happens, there’s also hard stuff. Being rooted in Jesus so you can navigate the ups and downs is crucial. Some people in the group are new to our church and came from more rigid and legalistic traditions, and the perspective they are gaining that there’s no hierarchy in the Kingdom of God, there’s no ‘level’ at which you’re deemed worthy of leading and advancing the Kingdom, has been very freeing. They are realizing they don’t have to be a Bible scholar to lead in the Vineyard; they just have to give their talents and treasures to Jesus and let him fill the gaps. It empowers people, and I see that happening in my group.” Brett says that the group often shares ideas in their one-on-one meetings about how they might improve different areas of the church. “They are beginning to see where they’re skilled and gifted, and I can say, ‘Why don’t you try that? Run with it.’” 

One participant spent some time in prison, where he found Jesus and got involved in Celebrate Recovery. “He started coming to the Vineyard, and Jesus told me, ‘Pay attention to this guy.’ We started meeting regularly and I found he had an amazing story of redemption and was really gifted. I invited him to join VLE, and he asked what he’d do with it. I said, ‘We’ll figure it out, that’s part of the process.’” Celebrate Recovery was a topic that kept coming up in their one-on-one meetings because this man felt it was foundational to the development of his faith. Since there aren’t similar programs in their area, the man asked Brett, “What do you think about us pursuing that?” Brett said, “I think you pursuing that is a great idea, and I’ll support you. Figure out what needs to be done, and we’ll put together a team to help you.” Brett says he walked the man through it, but didn’t do it for him. “Recently, he made an announcement for an interest meeting, and a dozen people showed up. He then had a meeting with a regional person to see what it looked like to get it going. He’s empowered to work in an area he’s passionate about, and for me, a job is getting done in our community, and my hands are off of it. I’m supporting and encouraging, and I’ll help where I need to, but it’s amazing to get the benefits of someone using their giftings and passions while I’m just providing oversight.” 

Similarly, there’s another participant who’s interested in kids’ ministry, another area in their church that Brett feels they need to grow in. “I love that they’re learning how to lead and feeling empowered to use their skills, and immediately we can provide an opportunity to apply it within the real context of the church. I think that’s really what the program is about. Knowledge for the sake of knowledge is no good. It’s the first year, but there are already two people who are like ‘Can I run with this?’ and I’m like ‘You can run with this!’ My goal as a senior pastor is to see where their expertise fills a void in the church, and then provide leadership for it.” 

As a participant, Brett spends five to six hours a month on VLE between coursework and group meetings. As a mentor, he spends seven to twelve hours per month on VLE, depending on individual meeting schedules with other participants. “If we do Foundations II in the Fall for existing participants alongside another Foundations I for new participants, I’m looking at which of the current participants could help mentor Foundations I. I also currently have participants take turns leading sessions and facilitating discussions with their peers, which gives them another opportunity to implement leadership skills and helps alleviate my schedule a bit.” 

Brett says the time investment is well worth it. “I have a goal to start three site churches within our county in five years, and eventually to have a Vineyard in every town. I’m not looking for a bigger church, I’m looking for a bigger impact. A Vineyard in each community can impact their community in a much bigger way than one large church trying to reach five communities.” As their church looks at future growth and expanding partnerships with other local community organizations, they need well-developed, passionate leaders to help in each of these areas. 

“What I love about VLE is that you have an outline and guidelines, but you’re given the freedom to implement it in a way that makes sense within your church’s context. We’re not a huge church, and human resources are always a challenge. The VLE team has made it so you don’t need a dozen staff members to make it happen. Kudos to them for creating it that way.”