Brent M. Rue; Pastor

Brent M. Rue, a pastor who opened the second church in what became an international network of more than 300 churches worldwide, has died at his Lancaster home. He was 48.

An Antelope Valley resident since 1977, Rue died Sunday of cancer, said a representative of Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Lancaster.

Born in South Gate, Rue studied at USC and UCLA and later taught at the college level before he had an encounter with Jesus that changed the course of his life, according to a church statement.

During the 1970s, Rue joined the staff of the first Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Hollywood.

In 1977, Rue started Vineyard’s second church in Lancaster. The movement now includes nearly 300 chapters across the United States as well as 60 international chapters.

In the early 1980s, Vineyard began spreading the church’s message globally, smuggling thousands of contraband bibles into communist China, a church spokeswoman said. The church also sent teams to Burma, Thailand, Brazil and Mexico to build churches, schools and other facilities for impoverished residents, she said.

For the past decade, Rue devoted much of his efforts to training religious leaders worldwide, traveling extensively and conducting conferences with thousands of church personnel. Locally, Rue continued to head the Antelope Valley chapter.

Rue is survived by his wife of 22 years, Happy; a son, Jonathan, and a daughter, Jennifer, both of Lancaster; and two sisters.

A memorial service will be held today at 3:30 p.m. in Challenger Memorial Hall at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds, 155 E. Avenue I, Lancaster. Halley-Olsen Funeral Chapel in Lancaster is handling the arrangements.