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The Way On
EN ES
The Way On

We're looking forward to a week where you can lorem ipsum dolor sectum and be lorem ipsum dolor.

Morning

sessions
We're excited to have two of the most prolific biblical scholars working today joining us for morning sessions.
Tim Mackie

BibleProject

Tim joins us by special video presentation and conversation with Jay Pathak each morning for biblical teaching mixed with his work from BibleProject. 

Read more about Tim
Conrad Gempf

London School of Theology

Conrad is.. one sentence friendly introduction to Conrad Gempf and how he’ll interact with the conference; full bio will be in the modal. 

Read more about Conrad

Evening

sessions
Vineyard leaders from our past and present will draw from where we've been and lean into our future.

Ray Longwood & Lance Pittluck

Experience Vineyard, NY

Ray is the senior pastor of The Experience Vineyard on Long Island, NY. Lance founded that church in 1984. Together they’ll address our call to remember the poor & serve the marginalized. 

Read more about Ray & Lance

Julia Pickerill & Rich Nathan

Vineyard Columbus, OH

Julia is a senior pastor of Vineyard Columbus, a church with a rich 45 year legacy. Rich was the first senior pastor of that church, retiring in 2020. Together they’ll address proclaiming the gospel with power.  

Read more about Julia & Rich

Ted Kim & Steve Nicholson

Evanston Vineyard, IL

Ted is the senior pastor of the Evanston Vineyard just outside of Chicago. Steve is the founding pastor of that church and a catalyst of naturally supernatural Holy Spirit ministry. Together they’ll address ministering in the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Read more about Ted & Steve

Jay Pathak & Phil Strout

Vineyard USA

Jay is the National Director-elect of Vineyard USA and the lead pastor of the Mile High Vineyard churches in Denver. Phil is the current Vineyard USA National Director. Together they will lean into our future. 

Read more about Jay & Phil

Afternoon

breakouts
Topical from how churches can collaborate to work in cities, overcoming racism, remembering the poor, Vineyard-style ministry, Alpha, Missions, and more.

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Tim Mackie, PhD

BibleProject

Discovering how the Bible is a magnificent work of literature that invites us into the story of Jesus—this is what Tim is all about.

Tim Mackie’s spiritual journey began when he met a group of skateboarders who were creatively communicating the story of the Bible. As a teenager he participated in a Portland ministry called Skatechurch. Tim went only to skate, but during his last years of high school he was drawn in by the stories he heard about Jesus.

With his brand-new faith, Tim enrolled at Multnomah University. He became fascinated with the scriptural story around Jesus when he entered the world of biblical studies.

Determined to deepen his understanding of Jesus’ historical and cultural context, Tim went on to pursue a degree in theology from Western Seminary in Portland and a Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Tim’s early research and writing interests focused on the manuscript history of the Bible and the formation of the biblical canon. He really loves ancient Greek and Hebrew texts!

After years of ministry as a local church pastor, Tim now serves as the Chief Education Officer for BibleProject and is an adjunct professor at Western Seminary. Tim is fascinated with the literary artistry and design of the Bible, and he is committed to helping people understand how the whole story works together and leads us to Jesus.

Conrad Gempf, PhD

London School of Theology

Conrad is a lecturer in New Testament, bringing the Scriptures to life while lecturing at the London School of Theology and through his numerous books.

Conrad Gempf grew up Lutheran in New Jersey, studied at Gordon College, then Boston University, then Aberdeen University in Scotland under Howard Marshall. He spent a year post-doc at Cambridge University looking at the historical accuracy of the book of Acts, then joined the staff of London School of Theology in 1990 and has been teaching New Testament there ever since.

He has been a translation/theological advisor to the NIV Translation Committee, to Rob Lacey on his translation of the gospels, and to Siku on the New Testament of The Manga Bible. 

He is a contributor to IVP’s New Bible Commentary, Dictionary of Paul and his Letters, and is the author of a few books including How to Like Paul Again and Jesus Asked as well as a pretty funny book about the intertestamental period that publishers don’t seem to want. 

He has one wife and two genius offspring and flies weaponless starships running charity missions across the galaxy in Eve Echoes on his iPad.

Ray Longwood & Lance Pittluck

The Experience Vineyard, NY

Ray Longwood is the pastor of The Experience Vineyard in Rockville Centre in Long Island, which Lance Pittluck pastored for many years.

Ray Longwood started full time ministry in 2011 before assuming the position of Student Ministry Pastor the following year. He especially loved working with the at-risk youth that used to hang out in the area between the movie house and the church.

He was ordained as of September 2015 into the Vineyard Church Clergy, and has become the Lead Pastor of The Experience Vineyard in Rockville Centre. He is currently an Area Leader (AL) and he facilitates the care of eleven Vineyard churches in the greater metropolitan area. Ray has ecumenical, and supportive relationships with other pastors in our area as well.

As someone who has had a close connection to Jesus from a young age, Ray finds joy in seeing all people developing their own faith.  

Lance Pittluck grew up on Long Island in New York, the son of a Jewish business man. He was raised in a spiritual vacuum with no religious training. At 18, he and his family moved to the Los Angeles area. Separated from old friends and extended family, the Lord began to move on his life. One year after moving to California, Lance met Jesus Christ through a young man named Linus. His life was radically changed and within 6 months he knew he was headed for full-time ministry. He began preparation by studying Bible at Pepperdine University in Malibu and graduated with a BA in religion in 1975. Feeling a need for further study, he enrolled in Fuller Seminary and graduated with a Master of Divinity degree in 1979.

Upon graduation, Lance went immediately to Anaheim Hills Community Church with his friend Gary DeVaul, to pastor this rapidly growing church plant. 2 years later he assumed the responsibility of senior pastor of the church. But God had other plans. The Lord gave Lance a very clear vision and call to go back to New York and begin a new work.

In preparation for returning to New York, Lance spent 1 year on staff with John Wimber at Vineyard Ministries International. During this year, he worked in the area of church planting, church renewal, writing, pastor training and teaching seminars and classes. In May of 1984 Lance left the VMI staff to begin a new Vineyard on Long Island. Lance pastored The Vineyard – South Shore in Rockville Centre, New York and was Regional Director for the Association of Vineyard Churches on the East Coast of the U.S.A. for 13 years. In 1997 the Lord made it clear to him that he was to leave New York and move with his family back to California where he was to become the senior pastor at The Vineyard Anaheim.

His burning desire is to see the church as a ‘mobilized body’, doing the ministry of Jesus and for all men to come to a saving knowledge of Christ.

Lance has been married to his best friend Cheryl since 1978 and has a daughter named Jane Elizabeth.

Julia Pickerill & Rich Nathan

Columbus Vineyard, OH

In January of 2021, Julia Pickerill became one of the Senior Pastors of the Columbus Vineyard alongside her husband Eric, succeeding Rich Nathan, who founded the church in 1987.

Julia Pickerill and her husband Eric have been a part of the Vineyard movement for twenty-five years, during which time they’ve held multiple roles in the Columbus Vineyard and served as church planters and Lead Pastors of Vineyard Amsterdam (Netherlands). They returned to the US in 2015 and transitioned into senior leadership of Vineyard Columbus in January 2021. Julia is a nine on the enneagram, is a really bad cook, dislikes writing speaker bios, has three fabulous kids, and relaxes by reading novels about existential threats to humanity.

Rich Nathan is the founding pastor of Vineyard Columbus.  Prior to becoming the church’s first Senior Pastor, Rich taught business law at The Ohio State University for five years. 

Rich has a B.A. from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio and a JD from The Ohio State University College of Law in 1980. Rich served on the National Board for Vineyard USA for more than two decades. He is a popular national and international conference speaker. Rich also serves on the board of the National Association of Evangelicals, Convoy of Hope and the Civilian Review Board which oversees the police in Columbus.

Rich has also been a major proponent of immigration reform, highlighting the issue in both sermons and op-eds. He has led Vineyard Columbus to embrace racial and ethnic diversity. Vineyard Columbus is one of America’s most diverse churches, having attendees from over 125 nations. Rich has been a leader in the Vineyard movement in advocating for women’s full participation in all aspects of church ministry including becoming senior pastors, church planters, missionaries and Vineyard Association overseers. As Rich put it in a message on egalitarianism: “God’s gifts and call are not gender-based.”

Rich co-authored Both And (IVP Books, 2013) with Insoo Kim as well as Empowered Evangelicals (Ampelon Revised 2009) with Ken Wilson.  Rich is also the author of Who is My Enemy? Welcoming People the Church Rejects (Zondervan, 2002).  He has written numerous articles on leadership in publications such as Leadership Magazine.
 
Rich was born and raised in New York City. He and his wife, Marlene, have been married for over 40 years. They have two children and six grandchildren.

Ted Kim & Steve Nicholson

Evanston Vineyard, IL

Ted Kim is the senior pastor of the Evanston Vineyard, having taken over the leadership from Steve Nicholson in early 2020, six days after the church shut down its in-person services due to Covid.

Ted Kim is passionate about the beauty of Jesus, spiritual formation, and building a church for Generation Z. It is also his life mission to bend the heart of the city of Chicago to God through the multiplication and releasing of young leaders.

Prior to arriving in Chicago, Ted was a worship pastor and songwriter. He spent the last decade at the Vineyard in Syracuse, NY. For some reason, God’s intention is for Ted to be cold. Ted is the son of Korean immigrants. His mother is the daughter of a South Korean dignitary. His father escaped from North Korea during the war and would later go on to be an industrial engineer. They found each other on the other side of the world in bucolic Kentucky. Ted first attended and interned at the Evanston Vineyard in the 90s, while he was a student at the University of Chicago. Despite the  occasional polar vortex, he is delighted (and humbled) to return to Chicago and serve the church that formed him more than any other community in his life.

Ted is married to Brittany, an Old Testament scholar. Together they have three children.

Steve Nicholson began ministering as a college student through InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in the early 1970s.  After graduation, he moved to the Chicago area where he and several other twenty-something leaders founded a church.  That fellowship, begun in 1976 in Evanston, Illinois, placed a high priority on contemporary worship, biblical teaching, openness to the Holy Spirit, and committed relationships as a church family.

In 1981, Steve and a team from the fellowship established a new church in Humboldt Park, a neighborhood in Chicago’s inner city. Both churches joined the Vineyard USA in August of 1985, and Steve transferred leadership of the Humboldt Park Vineyard to one of his team members in 1986.

The Evanston Vineyard has since planted nine other congregations in the Chicago area, and another fifteen in other cities or countries.  Steve led the Vineyard USA’s church planting task force for over twenty years. Steve has ministered to and trained church leaders in India, Australia, New Zealand, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Turkey, Lebanon, Brazil, Chile and several Central Asian countries as well as in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The Evanston Vineyard is a diverse congregation from over 50 nations of the world with no majority racial or cultural group. Since 1986 the ministry of the Holy Spirit has been a regular and ongoing strength and emphasis of the Evanston Vineyard. 

Steve and his wife, Cindy, live in Chicago. They have three adult children and eight grandchildren.

Jay Pathak & Phil Strout

Vineyard USA

In January 2022, Jay Pathak will be succeeding Phil Strout as the National Director of Vineyard USA, after over a decade of leadership and service to the movement.

Jay Pathak is the National Director-Elect of Vineyard USA and the Senior Pastor of the Mile High Vineyard. Prior to planting Mile High Vineyard in 2001, he served as a leader in the Columbus Vineyard’s young-adult ministry, Joshua House, and as an intern to the senior pastor, Rich Nathan, in Columbus, Ohio.

As the Senior Pastor of the MHV, Jay strategically guides the mission and vision of the church as a whole, is the main teaching pastor and provides oversight to the MHV family of neighborhood churches. He has spoken nationally and internationally for Vineyard and other groups in both conference and classroom settings.

Committed to engaging and impacting those outside the church walls, Jay co-wrote the book, The Art of Neighboring, with Dave Runyon. This unique and challenging book asks the question: “What is the most loving thing I can do for the people who live right next door?”

Jay has a BA in Philosophy from The Ohio State University and is a graduate of the Vineyard Leadership Institute. He and his wife, Danielle, were married in 1998 and have two daughters, Jasmine and Sofia.

Phil Strout is a committed leader and communicator in the 21st century church. He brings over forty-five years of experience in the areas of church planting and cross-cultural missions. Referred to as a “quintessential practitioner” for his work in Latin America and globally, Phil is not afraid to think outside the box and challenges others to do the same. Phil is a leadership coach as well as the author of God’s Relentless Pursuit: Discovering His Heart for Humanity and THRIVE: How to Successfully Navigate the S-Turns of Leadership. 

As the current National Director of Vineyard USA, an association of over 570 churches nationwide, Phil brings a non-hyped, down-to-earth, passionately authentic spirit and vision to leading the Vineyard Movement in its divine assignment.