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.
Jay Pathak is the Senior Pastor of the Mile High Vineyard. Prior to planting the church 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 each of our Hubs. He has spoken nationally and internationally for Vineyard and other groups in both conference and classroom settings. Jay has a BA in Philosophy from The Ohio State University and is a graduate of the Vineyard Leadership Institute, later VI.
In 2021 Jay and his wife Danielle became National Directors of Vineyard USA.