Our History
Allen and Jennie Hodges moved to Billings in 2005 to plant the Billings Vineyard Church.
Allen has been pastoring since 1983, and part of the Vineyard since 1986. Allen has a B.A. from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon and a M.Div. from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. In addition to pastoring he was a Tech. Writer for JPL’s Magellan Mission (mapping the surface of Venus) and was an Assistant Professor for the University of Nebraska (at the College of Tech. Agriculture) where he taught among other things, Critical Thinking and Entrepreneurship. He also started an Economic Development Corporation for the Medicine Valley in Nebraska.
Allen served the Vineyard as an Area Pastoral Care Leader for the Northern plains for several years before moving to Billings. He now serves as the Church Planting Coordinator for Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.
Jennie home schools their children.
Though Allen has wanted to live in Montana his entire life, he never thought he could pursue living here, rather simply going where God called him. In May of 2004, his Regional Overseer (Tri Robinson of the Boise Vineyard) suggested he and Jennie plant a Vineyard in Billings. After a summer praying about it, they both sensed God saying to “Go.” When God says that He gives us the desires of our hearts, it means less that He gives us what we want and more that He puts into us the desire to do what He is saying. In short, Allen wasn’t born in Montana, but he got here as soon as he could!
At the end of the first summer here (2005) they gathered a group of people to help plant the church, teaching them Vineyard core values. October 9, 2005 was the church’s first open meeting in the Hodges’ home. In January 2006 the church began to advertise in small ways—building slowly. By the spring of 2006, the church began to grow steadily and has continued to grow through out the summer. After outgrowing the house, we moved into the Pioneer Water Building on Hwy. 87 North. After outgrowing the “Water Building” we moved into the Double Edge downtown in September 2007. Once again, we outgrew the Double Edge, and have now settled at the old Garfield School, December 14, 2008.
We have been working at learning to serve the poor. We are a committed to the Ecuador Partnership and are helping to plant Vineyard Churches in Quito. We have kid’s ministry with a goal of fully integrating our kids into the work of the Kingdom and the life of the church. We have a Women’s Bible Study, Kinship Group, a compassion group called “The Cry,” and a Contenders for the Faith group for boys.
