Rich Nathan

Rich Nathan
Born 1955
New York City[1]
Occupation Pastor and Author
Spouse(s) Marlene Nathan

Rich Nathan (born December 1955) has been the senior Pastor of Vineyard Columbus since 1987. Nathan came to believe in Jesus at the age of 18.[2] Prior to pastoring, he was an assistant professor of business law at The Ohio State University for five years.[3] He has a Bachelor's degrees in history and religious studies at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio graduating magna cum laude. and a J.D. with honors at Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law in Columbus, Ohio.[3] Nathan has served on the National Board of Vineyard: A Community of Churches for more than 20 years and is the Large Church Task Force Coordinator for the Vineyard.[3] He is a popular national and international conference speaker[3] and author of three books.[4] Nathan has been noted as one of the strongest voices in favor of bringing together various streams of the church including the evangelical stream, the social justice stream, the charismatic stream and the liturgical stream. Vineyard Columbus has seen thousands of people make a faith commitment to Jesus as Lord from every conceivable background - atheistic, unchurched, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Mormon, and Jehovah's Witness - among other backgrounds.

Nathan has been outspoken on the subject of faith and politics. In an interview with the Columbus Dispatch, he was quoted as saying:

We think the Gospel has political implications, but it's not partisan. And we don't think that either the Republicans or the Democrats have the sole possession of the implications of the Gospel.[5]

Nathan has also been a major force for immigration reform, highlighting the issue in both sermons and op-eds. He advocates for a different plan than those traditionally offered for America's illegal immigrants, "a pathway to citizenship governed by a system of checks and balances."[6] 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. Nathan 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 Nathan put it in a message on egalitarianism: "God's gifts and call are not gender-based."

His sermons and articles can be found online at www.richnathan.org.

Vineyard Columbus

Vineyard Columbus (formerly Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Columbus and Vineyard Church of Columbus) is a church in Westerville, Ohio. It is part of the Association of Vineyard Churches with headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas.

Vineyard Columbus dates back as a church to the late-1970s. Three different churches joined together to form the first church. The church remained independent of any larger group for a number of years. After investigating a number of groups to join with, the leadership of the church decided on the Association of Vineyard Churches, led by John Wimber. They became the Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Columbus in 1987. Vineyard Columbus has experienced significant growth over the years, drawing about 7,500 people from over 125 nations at its weekend worship services and becoming the largest church in the Vineyard movement today. It is a church that is self described as an "empowered evangelical" church, according to the definition in Rich Nathan and Ken Wilson's book Empowered Evangelicals that was published in the mid-1990s.

Theological foundation of Vineyard Columbus

Vineyard Columbus embraces the best of the Protestant evangelical stream of Christian belief and the best of the Charismatic stream of Christian belief. Vineyard as a church believes that the Bible is the ultimate authority for faith and practice. Vineyard affirms that Christians are called to tell others about how God is transforming the world through the cross and resurrection.

Vineyard affirms the Christian belief that repentance and faith in Jesus are the doorway into salvation and inner transformation. Nathan writes that Christians are empowered through the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, just like Christians in the early church. This includes a belief in supernatural healing of physical and mental illnesses and miraculous signs.

Impact on Columbus and beyond

The actions of Vineyard in the life of the surrounding community are forged by a belief that God does not only forgive sins and grant eternal life, but that He is also in the business of fixing what is broken in the world today. The Vineyard teaches that the Kingdom of God is advancing and transforming the world. According to the theological position that the Vineyard takes, the Kingdom of God is God's reign and rule in the present world. As Christians partner with God to lead people to Jesus, feed the hungry, and comfort the hurting, God's Kingdom breaks into this world. Because of this view, Vineyard Columbus offers a full range of services to the community.

The church offers classes, prayer, sermons, and Bible study groups for growth in spiritual life. It also offers counseling, marriage training, and small group communities for growth in relationships.

Vineyard's members often pray for the sick and ask God to supernaturally bring healing. Vineyard Columbus seeks to be the best friend the city of Columbus has ever had. It believes that the church is not here to be combative against its neighbors but to be gracious and giving like Christ. This view has been important in the development of many social programs, such as food pantries, a day care, after school tutoring programs, ESL and citizenship courses, as well as free legal, medical, dental, and optometry clinics. Most of these programs are administered through the Vineyard Community Center that Vineyard Columbus opened in 2006.

The original church in Westerville has planted more than 30 churches since 1987,[7] including over a dozen in the Columbus area - all included in the Vineyard Movement. Vineyard Columbus also supports many Christian missionaries throughout the world.

Satellite Campuses

In 2009, Vineyard Columbus opened its first satellite campus, Vineyard Columbus Sawmill Campus,[8] in Dublin, OH. This campus grew rapidly and started holding 2 services (9am and 11am) as of September 2013. In 2011, VC opened its second campus, Lane Avenue Campus of Vineyard Columbus.[9] In the fall of 2012, VC launched its third campus, East Campus, at Berwick Alternative Elementary School.[10] In early 2015, East Campus joined forces with the Eastside Vineyard church plant in Pickerington and moved operations out there. Vineyard Columbus also has a Spanish language campus called La Vina that meets in the Chapel of the Cooper Road location on Sundays at 11:30am.

Books

Notes

  1. ↑ http://www.richnathan.org/about-rich/
  2. ↑ Nathan, Rich; Wilson, Ken (1995). Empowered Evangelicals. Vineyard Church of Columbus. ISBN 0-89283-929-5
  3. 1 2 3 4 Nathan, Rich. "About". Vineyard Columbus. Retrieved June 27, 2012.
  4. ↑ Jackson (1999), page needed
  5. ↑ The Columbus Dispatch - Local/State
  6. ↑ Beaty, Katelyn (December 2011). "The Kingdom in Columbus: Why the world's largest Vineyard church is drawing people from 104 nations in central Ohio". Christianity Today. pp. 42–45. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  7. ↑ Vineyard Church of Columbus
  8. ↑ Vineyard Columbus: Sawmill Campus
  9. ↑
  10. ↑ East Campus at Berwick

References

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