On Mission in VT - March 2026

Mar 3

WE’RE AT THAT TIME OF YEAR when Vermonters long for spring. Several months of below freezing temperatures, many days in a row of gray skies, lingering snow on the ground that won’t melt away…it wears on so many. We have a friend who lives on one of the mountains here. She will say every year about this time, “Spring is on the way!” She hopes for its coming because its coming is certain.

The same is true for the Christian. When things look dismal, and when a season of dormancy seems to last forever, the Christian recognizes that it’s temporary. Those who walk in darkness will see a great light. Those who are weary will have their rest. This is the hope we have in Jesus, and it is the hope we endeavor to share with the mission field that is central Vermont.

Here’s a snapshot of what happened in our lives and ministry December 2025 through early March 2026:

DECEMBER

December is a busy month for obvious reasons, but when Trey and I looked at the first three weeks (before heading down South to visit with family), we realized that we had just one evening without an obligation. The rest of the time was spent in this way:

Hosting, hosting, hosting. We invited pastors and wives to our home on a few occasions to share a meal together and fellowship. There are a few pastoral families that are new to our area, and we wanted to make them feel welcome, hear their stories, and encourage them in the work they are called to. We also hosted our church elders and their wives for a meal and an evening of just fun.
Our youth group had their Christmas party a week later than scheduled due to some interesting weather in our area. Even still, we had close to 20 teens come, and we got to play taxi for a few of them who needed rides. We are thankful for our committed teens who invite their friends to church!
Our ladies held their annual Christmas brunch. There were 50 from our church and area churches who attended. Sonya Veilleux, founder and director of Faith Hope Love Uganda, was our speaker, and she shared about her ministry, which was so encouraging to our women. Kudos to Trey and Shawn Bates (one of our church members) who handled the nursery for that event!
Our small group joined with another small group for caroling at the Barre Gardens, a local nursing home. Both small groups made ornaments to pass out to the residents, and they appreciated that as well as the music.
We even made time to celebrate our 28th anniversary!

JANUARY

The bulk of January was spent getting ready for a huge event that took place in February, but we also had the following things happen in the life of our church:

We held our annual ministry report and church business meeting. While this might sound a bit underwhelming, we do things a bit differently. Ministry leads have an opportunity to share the highlights of the last year with our membership. It is a time of rejoicing as we see how God has blessed our church and hear firsthand how giving was stewarded.
Trey was honored to baptize a young adult who had been visiting our church for a while. He was searching for peace, and Trey was able to help him find true peace in Jesus. That young man has invited other friends to visit with him since then.
Our church hosted volunteer trainings for Night to Shine (the big February event). For those who may not be aware, Night to Shine is a prom for the special needs community sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation. Our church is one of 900 host churches for this year’s event. Our location has many unchurched and unsaved people who volunteer, so these training events allow us to share the gospel to all. We are thankful for all the opportunities God gives us!

FEBRUARY

February was just a crazy month!

Night to Shine took place on February 13. At our location, we hosted 100 Honored Guests (those coming from the special needs community) and coordinated 190 volunteers. It is an enormous undertaking, and we are seeing the need to multiply ourselves in leadership roles. God is good; He has brought a few people to us who want to assume these roles, so we will be training them in the months to come.
The day after Night to Shine, the ladies’ ministry at our church partnered with Central Vermont Pregnancy Services (our local crisis pregnancy center) and hosted a baby shower for one of their clients. This gave them an opportunity to love on the client and her family and to share the gospel clearly with them.
Trey was privileged yet again to baptize another person who had been visiting the church with his young family. He invited friends and family to attend his baptism, and some of them have been attending regularly since then!
We started a Financial Peace University class, and there are 13 individuals taking part. Please pray for us as we minister to those in the class. This class will meet until mid-April.
We pulled away for two days to catch our breath, taking a quick trip to Maine. We are just so thankful for those micro-rests!
We just returned from Deep Freeze at Camp Berea in New Hampshire. We, along with 3 other brave adults, took 37 teenagers to this retreat. Because most churches cannot afford the salary for even a part-time youth minister, we invite area churches to partner with us. They get their teens signed up, and we handle coordinating the entire group. Altogether, 6 area churches were represented in that group of 37, with close to 12 of them being associated with our church. Several of our teens indicated that they wanted deeper discipleship and a few others want to serve more in the church. Two of the girls in Robyn’s group indicated that they were interested in believer’s baptism. There is much work to do with our teens, so please pray that God would raise up others in our church to help with this ministry!

MARCH

We are only 3 days into March, but we are starting off by sending off two members of our church. Nancy and Leonard have been members for quite some time but felt the Lord leading them to work with JAARS, a ministry to missionaries based in North Carolina. We said good-bye to them last night, and they are on their way as this is being typed. We love that we can commission others from our church, but we will feel the void that they will leave.

One of our teens will be baptized this Sunday, and we are absolutely thrilled! We have known this young lady since she was an infant. Her mom would bring her to our church in Northfield when it was in the early planting years. What a pleasure it has been to see her grow up, give her life to the Lord, and follow Him.

WILLIAMSTOWN COMMUNITY CHURCH UPDATE

God is moving in Williamstown! Eleven individuals have professed faith in Christ just since January, and the church baptized six just this past Sunday! They are now averaging 80 in attendance for Sunday morning services and have had to relocate to another part of the school building that has more space. Please continue to pray for Tyler and Mykayla Ballard as they minister to this “ripe for the harvest” area!

PRAYER NEEDS:

Pray for Barre and surrounding communities. The percentage of those in the state of Vermont who claim “None” as a religious preference (meaning Atheist or Agnostic) is currently at 46%. WE NEED MORE WORKERS HERE!
We are currently seeking the next family or individual who would commit to a 2-year residency with our church to assist with the ministries at Faith Community Church while developing relationships and praying toward planting a church in Vermont.
On that note, pray for our church. We continue to see growth numerically and in deep discipleship, but there is so much work to do. Again, we need more seasoned believers to partner with us in this endeavor as we work to raise up disciplemakers within our own congregation.
Pray for our Easter outreaches coming up next month.
Pray for our partner churches in the area including new church plants/relaunches in Williamstown and Montpelier.
Pray for our extended families. It is difficult to be away from them during this season with so many joys and sorrows. Please pray for us as we continue to carry out this mission God has called us to. The sacrifices are many, but we press on.

In Christ,

Trey & Robyn Cates
12 Cassie Street
Barre, VT 05641
mhcates3@gmail.com / trey@fccbarre.org

HOW TO GIVE TO OUR MINISTRY

Tax-deductible donations can be made through our sponsor church. Make checks payable to the following:
Faith Community Church
30 Jones Brothers Way
Barre, VT 05641
Please write “Cates-VT Church Planting” in the memo line.

Online Donations can be made at:
https://pushpay.com/g/fccbarre
Please write “Cates-VT Church Planting” in the memo line.

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