Our History
Vail Valley Baptist Church opened its doors at Acacia Elementary School in September 1995. The church was led by Pastor George Gomez for the first five years. Pastor George was then called to ministry in Alabama. Eventually Pastor Wayne Fields took over as interim pastor. Wednesday night prayer meetings were often held in homes throughout Vail. When Jack Perkins took over the helm as Pastor, he encouraged the church to lease space at the Vail School District Office. The church continued to lease two large rooms and several classrooms are used Sunday morning to accommodate a variety of Sunday School classes. Land for our permanent church site was also purchased on Colossal Cave Road during Pastor Jack’s time in Vail.
Pastor Jack was called back to his home state of Oklahoma and over two years passed without a permanent pastor. During this time Vail Valley was blessed with an incredible Interim Pastor, Wayne North. He delivered powerful sermons and was a vessel for leading many people to the Lord. Vail was also blessed by a strong core group of members and many memorable guest speakers, such as Amos Nawls.
Pastor George was called back to Vail Valley in June 2005. God’s church had been wonderfully blessed and had steadily grown with his return. At the time the church expanded, having two Sunday morning services to accommodate our growth. God also blessed Vail Valley with the return of Pastor Joe Grizzle. He led both our music ministry and our youth group. Pastor Joe was eventually called to lead the Cowboy Church in Vail. When he left one of the worship members Steve Gamble took over as worship leader. He was joined by J.R. Begley on bass guitar and Justin Begley on drums.
The worship team at times included other singers such as Laura Wheel, Debbie Reese and Darlene Lovitz. Pastor George led Vail Valley until his retirement in December 2017. At that time Ryan Bryd, a strong leader in the church, naturally stepped forward to lead the church until a permanent pastor was carefully brought before the church. After close to a year of searching and interviews Brad Schwartz was called to lead Vail Valley in June 2018. He brought with him his sweet wife Kristy and adorable two year old daughter.
We were blessed by his strong biblical sermons and leadership through the stressful time of the Covid-19 pandemic. At that time churches were closed down for the first time in U.S.history (not sure if this is accurate:). He quickly transitioned to online sermons every Sunday for the congregation's benefit. This time period lasted from approximately March of 2020 until June 2020. Pastor Brad then excitedly opened the doors back up to in person worship.
On a bright note Sunday school classes resumed several months later in January 2021.
However, shortly after the new year, It brought much sadness to our small group of attendees when Pastor Brad announced his resignation and call to lead a church in California. Vail Valley moved forward with several guest speakers. A newly called pastor search committee made quick work with God’s leading to find an interim pastor. After preaching several passion filled sermons Jay Miller was called to lead Vail Valley as the interim pastor the first of May 2021.
Pastor Jack was called back to his home state of Oklahoma and over two years passed without a permanent pastor. During this time Vail Valley was blessed with an incredible Interim Pastor, Wayne North. He delivered powerful sermons and was a vessel for leading many people to the Lord. Vail was also blessed by a strong core group of members and many memorable guest speakers, such as Amos Nawls.
Pastor George was called back to Vail Valley in June 2005. God’s church had been wonderfully blessed and had steadily grown with his return. At the time the church expanded, having two Sunday morning services to accommodate our growth. God also blessed Vail Valley with the return of Pastor Joe Grizzle. He led both our music ministry and our youth group. Pastor Joe was eventually called to lead the Cowboy Church in Vail. When he left one of the worship members Steve Gamble took over as worship leader. He was joined by J.R. Begley on bass guitar and Justin Begley on drums.
The worship team at times included other singers such as Laura Wheel, Debbie Reese and Darlene Lovitz. Pastor George led Vail Valley until his retirement in December 2017. At that time Ryan Bryd, a strong leader in the church, naturally stepped forward to lead the church until a permanent pastor was carefully brought before the church. After close to a year of searching and interviews Brad Schwartz was called to lead Vail Valley in June 2018. He brought with him his sweet wife Kristy and adorable two year old daughter.
We were blessed by his strong biblical sermons and leadership through the stressful time of the Covid-19 pandemic. At that time churches were closed down for the first time in U.S.history (not sure if this is accurate:). He quickly transitioned to online sermons every Sunday for the congregation's benefit. This time period lasted from approximately March of 2020 until June 2020. Pastor Brad then excitedly opened the doors back up to in person worship.
On a bright note Sunday school classes resumed several months later in January 2021.
However, shortly after the new year, It brought much sadness to our small group of attendees when Pastor Brad announced his resignation and call to lead a church in California. Vail Valley moved forward with several guest speakers. A newly called pastor search committee made quick work with God’s leading to find an interim pastor. After preaching several passion filled sermons Jay Miller was called to lead Vail Valley as the interim pastor the first of May 2021.