A ministry dedicated to service: Cape Vineyard Community Church
A Cape Coral church that has served the community since the mid-90s has, and continues to play a large role in helping those in need.
If you were out at Cape Coral’s largest special event of the year, Red, White & BOOM! this Fourth of July, you may have seen Cape Vineyard Community Church’s food truck serving up free meals throughout the day. The truck, which was acquired following Hurricane Ian to bring food to residents on Pine Island, was full of volunteer staff distributing tacos at no cost to attendees.
Associate Pastor at Cape Vineyard, Charles Minton, said the church’s presence at the city event is a culmination of decades of service to the community that started with Hurricane Charley in 2004.
“The Red, White & BOOM! is really the end of a long journey of us finding who we are as a church,” Minton said.
He remembers back to Hurricane Charley when they were the only building with power in the area after the Category 4 storm blew through Southwest Florida.
“We had power for some reason… and at the time we weren’t using our commercial kitchen,” Minton said.
So, they started cooking.
And never stopped.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cape Vineyard distributed 78,000 meals via a drive-thru service. After Ian, the food truck was purchased and food relief tasks were being performed to those struggling.
“But we knew that the truck was going to have a bigger role than just hurricane relief,” Minton said.
Having not tapped into the Cape event schedule, having only done some events outside of the church along Southeast 47th Terrace and an event at a local park, Cape Vineyard thought the Fourth of July would be a great way to connect.
Minton said Cape Vineyard has really made a commitment with the truck to make it a truly free of charge experience for those they serve. Even when someone asks if they can make a donation, they do not budge.
“We’re not going to take a dime. We’re just going to bless,” said Minto of the messaging from senior pastors Jamie and Kim Stilson. “We’re going to just be a blessing to our city.
“We got to connect with people, connect with families, and it goes beyond the truck. It’s to get connected within the community and our heart is in feeding the city.”
Minto praised Cape Vineyard’s volunteers, who were out in the heat holding down tents, cooking up food, and spreading their message to the attendees.
“Everything is driven by our volunteers,” Minton said.
He hopes the food truck can pop up at other locations around Cape Coral to serve various residents.
“The truck is going to find its way into our city as we build our teams,” Minton said.
Cape Vineyard, in addition to offering services on Sundays at 9 and 10:45 a.m., provides a myriad of other services for their parishioners and the public, including its Thursday Dinner Church.
Every Thursday night, Cape Vineyard prepares a free hot meal, groceries, and a short service for anyone in need.
The community outreach portion of the night begins when doors open at 4:30 p.m. Individuals can register to take home a free bag of groceries once a month (in partnership with Harry Chapin Food Bank) that includes items such as fresh produce, dry goods, snacks and frozen meat (as available). A Lee County Photo ID is required to receive groceries.
Attendees will also be able to take free bread each week regardless of whether they register for groceries or not.
Those just coming for dinner will find servers bringing around donuts, cakes, other snacks, and drinks to the table once seated. At 5:30, the team prays and then delivers the main course — always hot and fresh, never cold or frozen.
At 6 there is a short worship service, where the band plays worship songs before a pastor delivers a message.
There are youth groups for all ages, from children to high school teens. The NOVA meets on Wednesday nights for sixth to eighth graders, and ninth to 12th grade.
The Adventure Land Children’s Ministry is offered at both Sunday services for children in their infancy up until the fifth grade.
“There’s tons of stuff for families,” Minton said. “We’re hoping to be a generational church.”
The Stiltons have been in the ministry for 40 years, spending their first 17 years in ministry leading a church on Sanibel Island, but planted the Cape Vineyard out of that church in the mid 1990s and have been the lead pastors ever since.
“They really enable us to dream and to help our city,” Minton said.
Cape Vineyard Community Church is at 923 Southeast 47th Terrace.
For more information on the church, services, programs, and to get involved, visit capevineyard.com.