Facilities team members Chad Kennerly, left, Bob Grissom and Lupe Gamboa unpack poles to set up the playground tent between the church's main building and the Ezra Center.

Facilities team keeps ministry gears turning

Every ministry has a certain amount of stuff ..."

That's how Steve Ball starts to describe the nature of his job. As facilities supervisor for Vineyard Boise, he handles much more than the church's three buildings and the 22 acres they sit on. 

All the contents of those buildings are his responsibility, too - plus the contents of storage sheds both on-site and off.

"Every ministry has a certain amount of stuff that we have to help keep track of," Steve explains. "When you look at the ministries happening here, it's amazing how much stuff they gather."

Thankfully, Steve doesn't go at it alone. He gets plenty of help from a regular staff that includes Bob Grissom, Lupe Gamboa, Rickard Bjerkander and Chad Kennerly. 

"They're all great. They're true disciples - every one of them," Steve said. "They're very hardworking and very dedicated, and they all have servants' hearts."

Steve supervises the day-to-day work, and John Taylor serves as the pastoral overseer for the whole team.

So, what does Steve and his crew do with all that stuff he was talking about?

"We have to find a place to store it. And then we have to remember where it is, so we can help people find it when they need it."

When you consider the variety of activities happening at Vineyard Boise, you begin to understand the size of the task. Few days go by without some kind of meeting, event or ministry taking place in one of the three buildings.

"Our biggest challenge is just keeping up with all the activities that this church produces - keeping the rooms set up, and keeping them clean," Steve said. "The work increases exponentially as the church grows. With more people, there are more events, more supplies, more set-up, more clean-up."

His crew - especially Bob - also takes care of all the maintenance needs.
"Things break, things wear out, things need to be replaced," Steve said. "If you just think about the number of light bulbs that have to be replaced, that's a fairly big job in itself."

Steve also tackles the church's computer needs and administrates the office's budding network.

"It's an ongoing project to keep the church technologically current," Steve said.

He hopes soon to add a network server to help the office run more efficiently.

Besides working at the church as a day-to-day job, the facilities team sees its efforts largely in terms of ministry and stewardship.

"We're taking care of the property God's blessed the church with," Steve said.

That caretaker role takes on added significance in light of the church's emphasis on evangelism.

"I believe wholeheartedly in the statement that you only have one chance to make a first impression," Steve said. "All of us in the facilities department touch the life of every person who walks in the door, whether it's because we clean, we set up, we tear down, we fix - everything we do touches everybody."

Many times, the work of the facilities team is a thankless job that doesn't get noticed unless there's a problem.

"We rely on God a lot for our encouragement," Steve said. "People tend to come to us more often with a problem than to express their appreciation. But there are those moments when you least expect it, when someone comes along and tells you how great the place looks."

Most people know Steve Ball as the guy they look for when the toilet is running over. But many people - especially those who have joined the church in recent years - may not know the how Steve landed his first job at Vineyard Boise in 1994.

The story begins a few months earlier. After a failed marriage, years of alcohol and drug abuse and several run-ins with the law, Steve, then 33, hopped on a Boise-bound bus, hoping to leave his troubles in Las Vegas.
He began attending the Vineyard with his mother, Ann Carey, and after a short time, began volunteering with Obadiah's coffee house, which the church operated in downtown Boise. Still struggling to stay sober, Steve went to Obadiah's after hours on Halloween 1993 and took a week's worth of cash. In the morning, he jumped on a plane to Las Vegas, bought drugs and hitched a ride to Los Angeles.

When Steve sobered up, God was waiting for him, revealing many hidden spiritual issues in his life.

"It was like God pulled away a veil," he says.

On his second day in L.A., Steve walked into a Vineyard church and told his story to the pastor, Bill Dwyer, who was friends with Vineyard Boise pastor Tri Robinson.

Bill called Tri and let him know where Steve was. Steve was surprised by Tri's response.

"He just said, 'Well, we want you home. There's nothing more important to us,' " Steve recalls.

Bill dropped everything and devoted more than 7 hours to helping Steve that day. "He took me to dinner, took me to the airport, bought me a ticket and sent me home."

"When I arrived in Boise, the welcome I got was beyond what I ever believed could happen," Steve remembers. And when he went to church the next Sunday, he was amazed at the forgiveness so many extended to him.

"And that just showed me how much God loved me," Steve says.

To repay the debt he owed Obadiah's, he volunteered with the church's custodial staff for four months. After the debt was paid, the church hired him fulltime as the custodian.

Six years later, Steve is still serving faithfully in facilities as well as participating in many other ministries in the church.