Stonecroft history

In 1944, Archie and Evangeline (Sister to Rev.

By 1948, there were forty-nine Youth Home Missionaries.

1949 Village (Rural) Missions was established as a separate organization in response to the need for more permanent leadership in rural churches.

1952 The ministry purchased a property known as Stonecroft in Kansas City, Missouri, to serve as the national Home Office location.

1958 The Stonecroft Book and Supply Center (known as Stonecroft Resource Center) was incorporated as a distributor of carefully selected Christian books for all ages.

1962 The Life Eternally Yours booklet was published as the first Stonecroft Life Publication.

1964 The first Business and Professional Couples’ Club (now known as Stonecroft Couples’ Connection) was established in St Louis, Missouri.

1967 After 5s were introduced under the sponsorship of Christian Business & Professional Women.

1968 Friendship Bible Coffees, (now known as Stonecroft Bible Studies) written by Lucille F. Sollenberger, were introduced as an outreach program of small group Bible studies.

In 1971, David Duff (son of the Reverend Duff) founded Ecola Bible School in Cannon Beach, Oregon.

The following obituary was published after Evangeline McNeill’s death in 1977:

By the end of 1978, Village Missions was serving 235 fields in the US and 25 in Canada.

Castle Thompson was appointed as the first District Representative in Canada in 1980 and the Canadian office operated in association with Stonecroft Ministries Canada in Toronto.

1981 The Stonecroft Conference Center, located near Branson, Missouri, was established to provide “a vacation with a purpose” for people of all ages.

Stonecroft was established in 1982 and was one of the first vineyards in the area, which has more recently become known as the Gimblett Gravels Wine Growing District®. At that time, the area was not valued for any type of agriculture because the land was stony and infertile.

He and his wife Carole had been Village Missionaries since 1983, serving first in Iowa and then in Colorado.

1984 The Christian Business & Professional Women introduced a condensed one-hour luncheon format as an outreach to women in the marketplace.

Village Missions purchased additional retirement facilities in Grand Junction, CO in 1987.

Village Missions celebrated 40 years of ministry at the YMCA of the Rockies, in Estes Park, Colorado in 1988.

The present office, located in Dallas, was purchased, remodeled, and became the Headquarters for the International Service Center for Village Missions in September of 1991.

The court case was finally won in 1992 and investment in wine industry activities poured into the Gimblett Gravels Wine Growing District®. Almost all of the neighbouring land is now covered in vines.

Office staff at Village Missions was increased as the finances were moved from Stonecroft Ministries in Kansas City to the International Service Center in Dallas, Oregon in 1996.

Stonecroft later went on to produce the first commercially produced Zinfandel in New Zealand (in 1998).

Village Missions built four more retirement housing units in Clifton, Colorado, in 1999.

Brian Wechsler, as the new Executive Direct of Village Missions and he began his duties in November 2000.

2002 On March 9, 2002, Miss Mary E. Clark, first National Chairman of Christian Women’s Clubs of America, went home to be with the Lord.

In 2003, Village Missions received word that it had received a significant grant from the Murdock Foundation for our Stewardship Department.

2004 Geneva Vollrath was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Stonecroft Ministries following Joyce Courtney’s retirement.

2007 The Baugh Center for Evangelism (formerly the Morningside apartment building) was completed; the Manor was renovated to be used as a guest facility for friends of the ministry.

The Escuela de Evangelistas Alberto Motessi graduated its first class of 20 students in June of 2014.