Leadership

WHAT A JOURNEY!!

“To say that God has brought us a long, long way would be an understatement!”

Colleen and David were from two very different backgrounds, when they met in High School. Colleen was raised in an environment that did not include God, and David was raised in an environment where God was in everything. After High School they both went their separate ways and attended different colleges. Meeting each other again after many years, they were married in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

David was in manufacturing and engineering and Colleen was in Human Resources. Both of them continued to succeed in their fields until their marriage ran into trouble. By then they were raising 5 children and things did not look good for them. In the midst of this time of trouble in 1993, Colleen finally turned to prayer as a final option. It was also during this time that David was taken to the University of Iowa Medical center with serious health issues. While in the hospital, not knowing what the future would hold for him, David met the Lord in a way that can only be described as miraculous.

That year, 1993, is the landmark in the lives of David and Colleen, where everything changed. God reintroduced Himself to them, and they started on the path of reconciliation and revival in their marriage. For the next 7 years, their relationship with the Lord was established on solid ground. David developed an insatiable desire to study theology and spent untold hours digging into the textbooks used at major seminaries. For those 7 years, this thirst for knowledge was never more than a desire to know Him, but as it turns out, God was preparing David and Colleen for a task.

In the year 2000, God moved things up a notch, and in no time David began to sense the call of God on his life. For the next 4 years, the scenario was always the same. God was asking David, “Why don’t you come work for me?”, and David spent his time telling God…”You have the wrong guy.” By 2004, it was obvious that the call to ministry on their lives was real and had to be responded to.

David and Colleen came to know Pastor Marty Boller of the Vineyard Church of Cedar Rapids as they were attending his church. After discussions, he agreed to mentor David. After serving an internship with Pastor Boller, the Vineyard Church of Cedar Rapids asked David to join their staff as Associate Pastor. The adventure had truly begun! After serving two and a half years as Associate Pastor at VCCR, another call was placed on the lives of David and Colleen. It was time to plant a new church.

Hope Vineyard Church was officially launched on December 28, 2009 and was planted on the NW side of Cedar Rapids. After the devastation of the Flood of 2008, where the entire center of Cedar Rapids was wiped out, the NW side of town was left looking more like a ghost town than part of a great city. Many of the churches that had been destroyed were not going to come back to the area. It was in this setting that God made it clear to David and Colleen they were to build a church for Him right there. Starting with a group of 5 people, Hope Vineyard was born and has grown ever since. More like a family than a church, the members of Hope Vineyard look forward to what God has in store for us. The church operations are overseen by a committed church board, which was established in April 2010. The Hope Vineyard board members include Dave Doyle, Colleen Doyle, Brenner Myers, and Dan Steyne.