Senior Pastoral Staff

Rich Nathan

Senior Pastor

Rich Nathan has been serving since 1987 as the first senior pastor of the Vineyard Columbus. Prior to pastoring, Rich taught business law at The Ohio State University for five years. 

He is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and received his Juris Doctorate with honors from The Ohio State University College of Law in 1980. Rich has served on the National Board for Vineyard: A Community of Churches for nearly two decades and is currently serving as the Large Church Task Force leader for the Vineyard.  He is a popular national and international conference speaker.

Rich wrote Who is My Enemy? Welcoming People the Church Rejects (Zondervan, 2002) and co-authored the book, Empowered Evangelicals (Ampelon Revised 2009) with Ken Wilson. 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 35 years. They have two children and seven grandchildren.  

Email: Rich Nathan
Phone: 614.259.5313

Bill Christensen

Associate Pastor

Bill Christensen serves as Associate Pastor. He oversees Vineyard Columbus Small Groups and works with local International Ministries such as ESL (English as a Second Language).  

Before coming to Columbus in 1997, he was General Manager of Vineyard Ministries International in Anaheim.  He and his family spent 11 years in Morocco, North Africa where he was Director of a Moroccan-American Cultural Center.  Previous to his overseas work, Bill was a campus staff worker with Inter-Varsity.  Bill is a graduate of Michigan State University and University of Cincinnati.

Email: Bill Christensen
Phone: 614.259.5338

Craig Heselton

Executive Pastor

Craig Heselton has been a lifelong resident of Columbus, Ohio. He was one of the founding leaders in 1974 of the church that became Vineyard Columbus. He received both undergraduate and graduate degrees in Chemical Engineering from the Ohio State University, and prior to becoming a pastor in 2002, Craig was the general manager of a pharmaceutical active ingredient manufacturing facility in Columbus. Craig has been a leader in the church for over 35 years. He loves to teach and has a passion for introducing and equipping people in the things of the Spirit.  As Executive Pastor, Craig works closely with the Operations and Senior Pastoral Teams to help direct and ensure the mission of the church on a day-to-day basis. He provides direct pastoral leadership for Empowered Life Ministries and oversight for Volunteer and Value Life Ministries as well as the Community Center. Craig and his wife Linda, who is the Children's Ministry Pastor, have been married for over 35 years and have four married children and a growing cadre of grandchildren.    

Email: Craig Heselton
Phone: 614.259.5313

Steve Robbins

VLI Pastor & Director

Steve Robbins was converted to Christ at age 17 when he was very involved with the Jesus Movement in Southern California. Steve attended three Bible Colleges and Fuller Seminary to earn a B.A. in Religion, M.A. in Biblical Studies and Theology, and has received a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from Fuller Seminary. While getting his education, Steve was an associate pastor for two years, planted his own church 23 years ago, has helped plant several other churches, was appointed to the Vineyard Board of Directors by John Wimber, and has done Vineyard conferences in four continents. He is the Vineyard Leadership Institute (VLI) Director with Vineyard Columbus. Steve also serves as a member of the Senior Pastoral Team. Steve has been married to his wife Nancy for over 30 years and has two daughters and one granddaughter.

Email: Steve Robbins
Phone: 614.259.5391

Stephen Van Dop

Connect Pastor

Stephen Van Dop grew up in the small town of Fremont, Michigan, whose population is half the size of Vineyard Columbus. Stephen has served as a medical center chaplain in Chicago and a pastor for two Reformed Church congregations. Since 2000 he has been on staff at Vineyard Columbus as the Pastor of our Connect Ministry. In that role he is directly responsible for welcoming and connecting new visitors and believers, all church outreaches, Evangelism training, Church Planting, Singles and Men's ministries. As part of the Senior Pastoral Team he supervises Worship and Children's Ministries and Vineyard Columbus' Sawmill Campus. Additionally, Stephen teaches Evangelism courses at VLI (Vineyard Leadership Institute). Internationally, Stephen leads the US Vineyard Partnership in Zambia. He enjoys outdoor activities (scuba diving, wilderness canoeing and hiking) jazz, reading and writing. Stephen and his wife Susan have been married 30 years. They continue to enjoy three children, a daughter-in-law, a son-in-law, three grandchildren, two canoes and one grand piano.

Email: Stephen Van Dop
Phone: 614.259.5303

Linda Heselton

Children's Pastor

Linda Heselton and her husband, Craig (Executive Pastor), were one of the couples who "planted" this church in 1974 (we became a Vineyard in 1986). She joined the staff in 1989 as the Children's Ministry Coordinator and became the Children's Ministry Pastor in 1995. Linda has had the unique opportunity to grow with the ministry to children here at Vineyard Columbus! In addition to her role at VC, Linda serves as the task force leader for Children's Ministry in our Great Lakes region and represents the region on the national Children's Ministry task force.  Linda and Craig are parents to four grown children and a growing number of grandchildren!

Email: Linda Heselton
Phone: 614.259.5324

Marlene Nathan

Women's Pastor

Marlene was born and raised in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. Her family attended a local Presbyterian church, but it wasn't until high school, when she got involved in Young Life, that she gave her life to Christ. While attending college at Case Western Reserve University, Marlene continued to grow spiritually through a local charismatic fellowship and the campus ministry of InterVarsity. It was during fall semester of her freshman year that Marlene met Rich (Senior Pastor). They became close friends, and that spring he gave his life to Christ. The following summer they were married. After graduation in 1977, Rich and Marlene moved to Columbus where Rich attended OSU College of Law, and Marlene worked as a medical social worker. They got involved in a small church of young adults that eventually became Vineyard Columbus.  Marlene has always been involved in ministry, leading/hosting small groups and teaching the Bible. She has been on staff at the church since 1991, assisting in the office and later writing Bible studies and teaching materials. Since 2002, Marlene has been the Women's Pastor, overseeing Vineyard's Women's Ministry.  She has a passion to see women made whole in Christ and released into ministry, and cares deeply about the things that affect women's lives like sexual abuse and domestic violence. Rich and Marlene have been married for 34 years and have two grown, married children: a son, Daniel (Melissa), who has three boys; and a daughter, Sharon (Noah), who has two daughters and a son. Marlene loves to travel and take long walks with Rich, hang out at coffee shops and book stores, and spend time with her grandkids. 

Email: Marlene Nathan
Phone: 614.259.5335