regional news

The Treasure Buried in the Field of Vineyard, a regional talk by Ken Wilson. Click here for previous regional news articles.

regional issues

Vineyard Great Lakes regional priorities. Click here for Ken's thoughts on giving. For previous regional issues articles, click here.

the divine hours

A form of prayer at specified times to be used by individuals or groups. The Divine Hours includes morning, midday, vespers and compline offices, having roots in the biblical tradition... more

area pastor care leaders

Ray Befus is the West Mighigan Area Pastor Care Leader
 
Ray and Carol Befus are lead pastors at the Vineyard Church-North in Grand Rapids Michigan, a congregation they planted almost 15 years ago. The latest expression of their vision for ministry is 'More Changed Lives.' Ray and Carol grew up in the heart of American evangelicalism. After graduating from Calvin College, they attended Dallas Theological Seminary to prepare for a lifetime of pastoral ministry. Not long after, they were 'undone' by an experience with the Holy Spirit at a small healing seminar led by Steve Nicholson, pastor of the Evanston, Illinois Vineyard. The rest is history! Ray and Carol thrive on seeing men and women touched by the Holy Spirit and equipped to participate in the advance of Jesus' kingdom-doing the stuff. Ray and Carol have four adult children, two of whom are married; all of them participate in church life and ministry with their Dad and Mom. Some of their best family memories have been shared trips to southern Africa where they have partnered with Vineyard leaders and churches. On any sunny day, if you can't find Ray at the church, he might be out motorcycling down West Michigan's backroads. As often as not, you'll find Carol splitting her free time between her garden and her first grandchild.
 
Don Milton is the East Mighigan Area Pastor Care Leader
 
Don Milton the Senior Pastor and his wife Melody have served for 11 years at New Life Vineyard Church in Midland, Michigan. They have two daughters Abigail and Gabrielle who are currently attending college. Don grew up in the Los Angels area before going to college in Texas. He received a BA in Christian Ministry from Southern Bible College in Houston, Texas. He also worked on his masters in counseling and guidance at Texas Southern University. Don finished his master degree at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Don has primarily served in churches with attendance of less than three hundred. His lifes ambition and passion has been to help churches move from fifty to two hundred and fifty. Before becoming Vineyard he felt like a square peg in a round hole. Now, he feels like a smashed grape in a bottle of fine Vineyard wine, the Vineyard is a perfect fit.
 
Mark Pope is the Northern Indiana Area Pastor Care Leader
 
Mark Pope is the founding and Senior Pastor of Vineyard Community Church. He became a follower of Jesus in June of 1983 as a young adult. Mark graduated from Purdue University in 1986 with a B.A in Psychology, and later earned a Master of Ministries degree from Bethel College.

 

Mark and his wife, Denise, have 3 children. They have lived in the South Bend / Mishawaka area since 1986. Mark started Vineyard Community Church in the basement of his home in November of 1995. Before planting VCC Mishawaka he served in 3 other ministries (one church plant) overseeing evangelism, youth ministry and directing worship.
 
Jim Bricker is the Southern Indiana Area Pastor Care Leader
 
A native of Indianapolis, Jim Bricker moved to Florida in 1986 where he was involved in starting two new Vineyards successfully. In 1993, Jim and his wife Kristy moved back to Indianapolis where they began what is now the Vineyard Community Church. Jim is the regional director for church planting and lives in Greenwood with his wife and two children: Luke and Valerie.
 
Brent Paulson is the Northern Ohio Area Pastor Care Leader
 
Brent and Teresa Paulson pastor the Vineyard Community Church of Wickliffe {Cleveland} Ohio. Brent and Teresa grew up in Minneapolis Minnesota. Brent has a B.A. in Business Administration and a M.Div. from Bethel Seminary. Brent grew up in the United Methodist Church and turned to a life of drugs and alcohol abuse at an early age. At 19 Brent found sobriety thru A.A. and soon after came into a new relationship with Christ. Brent pastored in a Baptist General Conference Church before becoming part of the Vineyard movement in 1988. Teresa has a B.S. in Music Therapy and grew up in the Lutheran Church. Teresa had a life changing encounter with Christ in her early twenties and presently is involved in various ministries at the Vineyard in Wickliffe. Brent and Teresa have 1 grown daughter, Bethany who lives in Minneapolis.
 
Danny Meyer is the Central Ohio-Meyer Area Pastor Care Leader
 
Danny was converted from a Jewish background during the Jesus Movement at the age of 19. At the age of 21, Danny and his new wife, Penny, moved to Columbus, Ohio, in order to plant a church. During 30 plus years in the ministry, Danny's heart has increasingly grown to appreciate the importance of holding onto the simplicity and the purity of our walk with Jesus Christ. Danny served as the Sr. Associate Pastor at Vineyard Columbus where Penny also served as Women's Ministry Pastor. In 2002 Danny and Penny moved to Delaware County, Ohio where they planted a Vineyard Church. Over the years Danny has served the Association of Vineyard Churches as District Overseer, Area Overseer and has developed an approach to peer counseling and discipleship called the Gospel of Wholeness which he has presented at churches throughout the United States. Danny and Penny have 3 grown children, 3 grandchildren and have enjoyed traveling individually and together as conference speakers.
 
John Moriarty is the Central Ohio Area Pastor Care Leader
 
 
John Lieb is the Central Ohio-Christensen Area Pastor Care Leader
 
Bill lived in Morocco for 11 years before taking a position on staff with the Anaheim Vineyard in California, where he assisted John Wimber. He took a position with Vineyard Columbus as Administrative Pastor in 1997 and became the Executive Pastor in 2000. In early 2002, Bill stepped into his new role as Associate Pastor. He oversees the English as a Second Language program and is developing the area of international ministry in our church. Bill serves as a member of the Senior Pastoral Team. Bill is married to Dottie and they have three great kids.
 
Ken Ritz is the Southern Ohio/KY.-Ritz Area Pastor Care Leader
 
It took 37 years for Ken to figure out what he wanted to be "when he grew up". At first the idea of being an Admiral and sailing the seas sounded exciting, so he attended Annapolis Naval Academy and became a jet pilot in the navy. After the realities of military life set in (11 years worth) he jumped ship and headed back to school for his MBA at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School. He was hired by GE, and later AT&T, for their corporate marketing departments.

Then it happened! In 1994, God told him to become a pastor of a tiny, struggling Vineyard church plant. His wife Kathy agreed, but said, "don't quit your day job". A year later, with attendance already at 150 weekly, he "quit his day job" (yes Kathy said it was ok) and has never looked back.

Ken's Goal: To live a life of radical and wholehearted commitment to Jesus Christ.
 
Dave Workman is the Southern Ohio/KY.-Workman Area Pastor Care Leader
 
Influenced partly by the Jesus movement sweeping through the Midwest, Dave came into a relationship with Christ in 1974 while working as a professional musician in Cincinnati, Ohio. "God extended his grace to me, and I haven't been the same since," he says.

 

At the invitation of someone who came to a concert where he was playing, he and his wife Anita came to the Vineyard while it was meeting in a house with about twenty people. He found the uncomplicated worship and relaxed informal style attractive. During this time he regularly traveled across the country as part of a music ministry.

 

In 1984, he and several others loaded up bags of groceries and bought some Christmas trees and took them to housing projects on the north side of the city. This was the beginning of a unique form of outreach pioneered by Steve Sjogren and the Vineyard called "Servant Evangelism." Dave loves all forms of servant evangelism, but his favorite is washing cars for free because he?s seen how this simple act of kindness can touch people so deeply.

 

Dave served as a volunteer worship leader at the Vineyard for four years, then interned at the church after coming on staff in 1990. He is considered an atmosphere architect in the evolution of the church. After leading worship for 12 years and developing celebration/programming teams for 8 weekly celebrations, he began regularly teaching as a primary speaker. In 2000, Dave stepped into the role of Senior Pastor.

 

Dave and his wife Anita live in Mason, Ohio and have two children, Rachel and Katie.
 
John Rasz is the West Pennsylvania-W.Va. Area Pastor Care Leader
 
John has been serving as the Senior Pastor of the Vineyard Church of Wheeling since December of 1998. Prior to that he was on staff under the leadership of the Wheeling Vineyard's founding pastor, Todd Hunter. John serves as an Area Pastoral Coordinator of the Great Lakes region. Since 1994 John has been leading teams to St.Petersburg, Russia for the purpose of church planting, developing and training emerging Russian leaders. John and his wife Marilyn have been married since 1970 and are the parents of three adult children and three grandchildren. John's interests are music, sports, his motorcycle and the beach.