New Vine Vineyards first met at Potters Brewery, Nulkaba in the Hunter Valley in 2016. A small committed team began to regularly meet, growing slowly as we experienced the grace and love of God. Over the next few years we moved from St Phillips Christian College to Nulkaba Public School to Branxton Community Hall at Branxton. It has been a slow and brilliant journey of learning to follow God and love our neighbours.

We are a church plant of New Vine Lakes, Valentine, which is part of the New Vine Network started by New Vine Church, Maryland.

Amanda Francis, our Pastor

New Vine Vineyards Story...

​I have always loved an adventure and following God is a great adventure. Ten years ago I joined the New Vine Network and started attending New Vine H2O at Maitland, followed by the New Vine Lakes at Valentine. During this time God began to teach me what it meant to care for his people, to love people with the grace of Christ and allow the Holy Spirit to lead us.
During my time at New Vine Lakes I began to having a growing sense of God calling me to church plant. An insistent voice that continued until I followed his direction and left Newcastle, moving to the City of Cessnock to plant a church. I placed an advertisement in the local paper calling on anyone who might want to join a church planting team and waited with baited breath to find out if anyone would respond. A week later Greg Pankhurst called and said that he and his wife Lisa were keen to explore what it might look like for them to be involved in planting a church. And so our church was birthed, and what a brilliant ride it has been!

Paula Trotter, our Admin Coordinator

Paula joined our team in 2021 after sensing God's call on her life and responding to the needs of the church. She coordinates the day-to-day finances and administration of the church. Paula is also responsible for the oversight our Safe Church policies and ensuring our standards are in line with government regulations and the Baptist Churches of NSW and ACT recommendations.
Paula has three daughters, Sally, Hannah and Erin and two dogs. She loves to ride her motor bike and camp out with family.

Michael, our Associate Pastor - Next Gen

Our energetic Associate Pastor Mike joined our team in 2022 after a 20-year career as a leader in the government sector. He felt a long-standing call to ministry and is keen to serve God. As a father of five, Mike is committed to investing in the lives of our kids and families, providing them with the best opportunity to experience a personal relationship with God while living life to the fullest and having fun at church. Mike coordinates our Sunday morning ministry and our Sunday Cru. In his spare time Mike loves working on his farm; usually he can be found fixing fences, tinkering on things, or looking after his cattle, chooks and veggie garden. Mike also loves spending time around a bonfire with family and friends.