上帝葡萄园里的生活

辛迪·斯坦贝克, MA ’02, 和 Steve Schedler ’84 both spent years serving as 基督教教育总监(DCE), supporting Concordia in various ways, 和 walking through seasons of great personal hardship. 现在，作为配偶和合作伙伴 葡萄园部的声音, they are creating ways to support ministers with teaching, 更新撤退, 以及关系的治愈力量.

“Our passion is to care for 和 support church workers 和 church leaders,史蒂夫说. “我们的部门提供了一个休息的地方, 鼓励, 和 growth for DCEs 和 other church leaders 和 educators.”

这主要发生在一个故事, 450-acre vineyard in north San Luis Obispo County, where Cindy famously takes visitors on teaching tours in her rusty 1958 Willis Jee—a ride that has even attracted Christian 作者 和 speaker Beth Moore, who featured Cindy in a video series accompanying one of her books.

The Steinbeck vineyard has been in Cindy’s family for seven generations 和, 在她的领导下, 推出了自己的酿酒厂和品酒室. It is the place she came home to after 15 years serving as a DCE, 和 it has provided fertile soil for the growth of her ministry as a speaker, 作者, 和主机.

For most of their lives, Cindy 和 Steve walked parallel 和 occasionally-intersecting paths. Cindy came to Concordia (then called Christ College Irvine) in 1980 和 then transferred to 赌博十大平台排行 Portl和 to play sports (Concordia Irvine had no women’s sports programs at the time). Steve, a San Diego native, enrolled at CCI six months later.

“It was a much different place—150 学生 和 four buildings,他说. “I joke that I went to a college that was smaller than my Lutheran elementary school. It was a great experience at Irvine with friends 和 professors.”

大地在召唤我回家.

都成为了dce. 史蒂夫在卡马里奥的和平路德教会工作, 然后在安大略的路德救赎会待了10年, 在回到圣. Paul’s in San Diego, where he has served ever since.

“Being a DCE means lots of great ministry,他说. “你可以和孩子们一起出去玩, 与他们分享生活, Lead和guide, 谈论耶稣, 做王国的仆人.”

Cindy served as DCE in churches near Portl和, Oregon, 和 Lancaster, California. But her heart was drawn to the family’s Paso Robles vineyard, which has sustained them since 1884.

“大地在召唤我回家 through my son,她说。. “He was his gr和pa’s sidekick from birth 和 always wanted to farm. The 业务 was growing, 和 my son was in seventh grade 和 really wanted to farm the vineyards.”

In 1997, she moved back to Paso Robles 和 began working the vineyard, 开拖拉机, 和 doing “all the work that the men carry out on the ranch now,她笑着说. “I fell right into it because I’d had lots of experience growing up doing that.” 

Steinbeck Vineyards supplies grapes—mainly cabernets—to large wineries. But while riding a tractor ten hours a day, “my ministry kicked in,” Cindy says. “I got up early 和 studied the Scriptures, especially the gospel of John chapter 15. I had time to meditate as I watched my dad work as a vine dresser.”

The words of Jesus came alive to her: “I am the vine, you are the branches.” In Revelation 22 he called himself “the root of Jesse.” The images corresponded to what she saw daily in the vineyard.

“I watched grafting, where they take a deep slice into the flesh of the vine,她说。. “The vine is what we call a rootstock—a non-fruit-bearing grape vine propagated by the nurseries. We use it because it’s not susceptible to disease. We take a bud-wood from Cabernet Sauvignon 和 graft it in.”

同样地, Christians are branches connected to the one True Vine by grafting, 在路德教的理解中，洗礼是什么, 她说.

“The old is gone, the new is come, 和 the rootstock is not susceptible to disease,她说。. “Christ is not susceptible to sin, death, Satan, or temptation. 我们住在他圣洁的生活里. Romans 11:16 says, ’if the root is holy, the branches are holy.’”

These 和 other lessons came vividly to life while she did the daily work of tending, 浇水, 和收获.

“While I love the outdoors 和 tractors 和 farming, I was still a DCE at heart,她说。. “The call home turned into ministry, even on this l和.”

Cindy often captured her thoughts on a blog, which came to the notice of Concordia Publishing House. 他们请她写三本书. 最终, Cindy started Jeep tours to educate people about sustainable farming, 和 to teach the gospel through the visual example of the vineyard.

“’Sustainable’ is a very en vogue word,她说。. “Sustainable farming means every decision we make—water use, 种植葡萄, 和 so on—all looks to the future 和 sustainability. 我们必须有盈利能力, use chemicals safely for our workers 和 families, 永远不要过度利用环境.”

另一个叫做可持续生活或, 更多的非正式的, “my John 15 Jesus Jeep ride”—gained traction as well.

“We get in the Jeep 和 see Jesus in his words of ’I am the vine 和 you are the branches,在葡萄园里,她说。.

在商业方面, visitors kept asking where they could taste the Steinbecks’ wines, 和 Cindy tired of sending them to wineries that purchased their grapes.

“That’s when I pretty well had it in my mind that it was time to start the 斯坦贝克酒 label,她说。. “It was very scary to step out 和 make a product that would have our own name on it, 但我心里知道这是对的.”

I pray every moment 和 ask God to work through this place.

The Steinbeck family launched their wine br和 in 2006 和 opened a wine tasting room in 2009. 他们在2017年完成了一个加工设施, allowing them to cask 和 bottle their own vintages on site.

Yet even as the wine 业务 和 ministry were ramping up, Cindy’s marriage ended.

“I had to wake up to [the fact that it was] domestic violence. 我看不到虐待，”她说. “I was so convinced that God wanted me married that I gave God no other option. I prayed for peace in my house for 20 years 和 did not ever anticipate that divorce would be how God worked to bring peace in my house.”

Meanwhile, Steve had walked a similarly painful road. His first marriage ended in divorce, 和 his second wife, Joyce, succumbed to leukemia in 2016. “这段旅程一点都不顺利，也不轻松, but God has been incredibly faithful in how he has provided for me 和 for our family,史蒂夫说.

丧偶的, Steve continued a tradition of traveling north every spring for a wine festival in Paso Robles, 就像他和乔伊斯多年来做的那样. 在那里，他拜访了辛迪的葡萄园. The couples had known each other well in ministry. “When Joyce died, it was traumatic for Cindy as well because we were all friends,史蒂夫说.

Steve 和 Cindy took walks in the vineyard to talk about life’s hardships 和 victories, 和 how they saw the h和 of God working through it all.

“She helped me through in so many ways,史蒂夫说. “这是我康复过程中很重要的一部分. 耶稣说:“住在我里面.“当你在葡萄园里闲逛的时候, you see those grafts 和 the times of the season, 不同的成长, SAP流程. 这是一个非常有灵性的地方.辛迪也有同样的感受.

Initially, neither had in mind a new relationship, but over time a new perspective developed. They were married in 2021 和 just celebrated their first anniversary. “这完全是上帝的旨意，”史蒂夫说.

Part of their bond is sharing a great excitement for 欧文康考迪亚大学, 辛迪曾两次在 校董会年，史蒂夫担任苹果公司总裁 校友董事会，两人都做过客座演讲. Cindy获得了硕士学位 历史和神学 from Concordia in 2002, 和 Steve earned his bachelor's degree in 宗教研究 in 1984.

“I have developed a tremendous fondness for the people of Concordia,她说。. “My passion grew as I became very good friends with not only the admin team but my regent compadres. 教授们邀请我来演讲 市场营销 或者在 业务 或者神学课. I was able to integrate myself as a regent into the school setting.”

她最近和 汤森研究所 学生 和 led a devotion at a recent kick-off event for a new student cohort. 约翰·汤森, who made her a Fellow of the Institute in Leadership/Executive Coaching, says Cindy’s contributions are “highly valuable for our 组织的领导 和 高管培训与咨询 学生.”

Cindy says her love for her alma mater has grown over the years. “能够捐赠葡萄酒 群星晚会 和 have so many faithful people visit me on the ranch 和 experience the Jesus Jeep Ride has been great,她说。. “Dr. 迈克尔·托马斯。 is an astounding leader—not only personable but visionary. 他完成了任务. He sees a vision 和 is going to carry that out. The cabinet he has placed around him is a dynamic force, 和 he has given them the tools to carry out his vision. He sets the course 和 then turns the work to them without micromanaging them. 他是一个伟大的领袖. 这是一种巨大的协同作用.”

She calls it a “domino effect of success” when components such as building projects, 筹款, 和 the establishing of new programs happen together.

“上帝真是太好了，”她说. “我们正在改善我们的校园. We have faithful donors who are tremendously active 和 very generous. 长期战略计划是惊人的.”

Steve is excited to be part of “so many cool things about the mission 和 ministry of Concordia,他说. “这是一个光明的未来.”

It’s been anything but a smooth 和 easy ride, but God has been incredibly faithful.

Today, Steve also provides leadership 和 mentorship to the Pacific Southwest District’s DCEs.

“Both Steve 和 Cindy have had a powerful impact through their various ministries,蒂姆·耶格说, Concordia’s Vice President for University Advancement, 市场营销, 和通信. “It’s wonderful to see God bringing these two special people together.”

Steve is preparing to move north to join Cindy at the vineyard 和 put his efforts fully into their shared ministry, 葡萄园之声. In addition to Cindy’s Jesus Jeep Tours 和 speaking engagements, the couple is transforming an oak-filled park on their property 和 putting in trailers where people can stay in the vineyard itself, 享受集体聚餐和美酒, 谈话, 和鼓励.

“We are coming together to support 和 care for people we love,史蒂夫说.“We will be supportive 和 caring through hospitality, Scripture study, 和 talking to people. We help those who are strong, but tired, to rest 和 get renewed.”

Cindy’s son now runs Steinbeck’s agriculture operations, 和 her son-in-law is their assistant winemaker. Cindy recently self-published a fourth book about her experience with divorce, 她还在地里干活.

“几分钟后, I’m going to jump on a tractor 和 mow some weeds that are bugging me badly,” she said toward the close of an interview with CUI magazine.

The Steinbeck tasting room welcomes guests seven days a week, 它的酒厂生产1,每年500例, selling the other 99 percent of harvested grapes to larger wineries. 她的妈妈和爸爸, 也有支持协和女神的历史吗, 在他们八十出头的时候健康强壮吗. 她的父亲, “一个真正的农民,” loves hosting the sustainable farming tours 和 is a visitor favorite.

What continues to sustain Cindy 和 Steve together is prayer. “我每时每刻都在祈祷，”她说. “I sit at the top of my driveway regularly 和 ask God to work through this place. It’s his l和; I’m a steward.”

Their journeys, separately 和 now together, have been “absolutely God all the way,她说。.