Beneath the masthead of the “From the Vineyard” newsletter is this Scripture: “I am the vine, you are the branches, and apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5.” It is an appropriate verse for the Vineyard, according to editor Cheryl Tolar who says, “It’s not my newsletter; it’s God’s. He started it, and He provided the writers to do it.”
In the fall of 1994, the new women’s ministry at Westwood Baptist Church, Forestdale, needed a newsletter and someone to produce it. Tolar was asked to pray about finding a newsletter editor, and she did. But she never imagined she would be the answer to that prayer.
Then the idea for the title came — “that we are all workers in the vineyard of the Lord, and His workers would be the ones to contribute to the publication to encourage one another,” Tolar said.
In no time, the readers did respond and did contribute. What started out as a newsletter to distribute information about the ministry became something much more. Women began to share real life experiences and feelings, Tolar explained.
Tolar shared her personal stories as she battled cancer twice and wrote from her heart about the effects of chemotherapy. “When I was first told I had cancer, I had to ask myself if I was ready to die,” Tolar said. “I remembered a pastor saying, ‘The only thing you can take to heaven with you is another soul.’ I told God if I had to go through this, might it please not be in vain. I asked Him to use it for His glory and to use me as His instrument. After giving it to God, I really didn’t have any choice but to share it in the newsletter.”
Opening up to her readers brought many benefits to Tolar.
First, she found new sources of encouragement. By sharing her story, many people began praying for her and sending notes and cards.
Next, it opened new doors with her medical team. “I began to take the Vineyard with me to the doctor’s office and leave it,” she said. “Through this, I developed a close personal relationship with the nurses, my doctor and many of the patients. I also shared my faith.”
Tolar isn’t the only Vineyard writer who ministers through the publication. One regular contributor is Barbara Golden. A Westwood member, Golden is a widowed mother of an adult, handicapped son. Thirty-two years ago, her son suffered severe injuries in a motorcycle accident. She has taken care of him ever since.
Golden began contributing articles to the Vineyard to share her experiences as a caretaker and as a widow. Her first article was about a ceramic angel she had cast for a hospice fundraiser in honor of her husband who died of cancer. Readers embraced Golden’s heartfelt stories, and she became a regular contributor in 1996. “The Vineyard gave me a way to express myself that I had never had before,” Golden noted.
Soon, receiving the Vineyard every other month was not frequent enough for the avid readers. In January 1995 the publication became monthly. Before the end of 1995 the publication had enough readers outside the church at Westwood to merit a bulk mailing.
Recently the Vineyard has taken a slightly new direction. It gave up its affiliation with Westwood, and is now sponsored by The Nest, a multi-denominational ministry to the homeless led by Hal Wycoff.
Wycoff has become a regular contributor to the newsletter. Tolar now includes inspirational stories she and her husband, Dan, glean from their ministry with the homeless in Birmingham.
Tolar, now a member of NorthPark Baptist Church, Truss-ville, marvels at what God has done through the newsletter. The Vineyard mailing list includes readers in California, Illinois and Oregon. Readers log on to www.vineyardnewsletter.com from Romania, France and England. Tolar’s son, John, donates his time as Webmaster.
“There is no way to tell how far the Vineyard is reaching,” she said. “My hopes for the Vineyard will always be that Christ will be glorified through it, and people will find encouragement for day-to-day living.”
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