Steve Nicholson began his ministry as a college student through InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in the 1970s. After graduating from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, he moved to the Chicago area and was part of the group of young leaders who founded a church in Evanston that placed a high priority on contemporary worship. In 1981, Steve and his wife, Cindy, were sent out from Evanston to plant a church in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood (now the Urban Vineyard).
In 1985 both churches joined the family of Vineyard USA and Steve and Cindy returned to lead the Evanston Vineyard. Steve’s vision for new church planting has guided the Evanston Vineyard to plant 17 new churches since 1981. He also serves on the National Board of Vineyard USA as the Church Planting Task Force Coordinator. Steve and his wife, Cindy, have raised a daughter and two sons.