pastor patrick vance
serving pastor
One of the quieter guys on campus, Patrick cares deeply for people and empowers others to grow in their faith. He is man of great character and his influence is felt throughout the Northwest campus in the various areas he oversees.
responsibilities
Patrick oversees the volunteer teams at Northwest Church. He is in charge of mission efforts both locally and globally as well as small groups and Celebrate Recovery (CR).
Q: What's your favorite part of your job?
A: Seeing people connect and grow. People are transformed as they get more involved in the church. In my job I get to encourage people to be more active in serving and in their own spiritual development.
Career highlights
- Joined Northwest in Aug. 2009
- Children's Pastor, Family Ministry Pastor, Recovery Pastor at Clovis Hills Community Church
- While I owned and operated a small business, managed large retail stores and newspaper distribution, I knew that God was developing me for full time ministry.
- BA in Organizational Development from Fresno Pacific University
Q: Tell me about your family.
A: I've been married for 20 years to Valerie Sue and I have 5 great kids. They are very active in church, sports, music and arts. We have a very busy family life.
Q: How would you describe your personality?
A: I care deeply about people and their spiritual development. I am reflective and always trying to anticipate needs while looking for ways to improve the things we are doing as a family and a church.
Q: What do you like to do for fun - outside of church?
A: Spend time in the mountains and at the beach. Bike rides. Being unplugged and playing board games.
Q: Who in the Bible do you relate to?
A: Joseph - he had to overcome incredible things in his life to be used by God.
Q: Name a few of your favorite things.
A: I love coffee, spending time with my family hiking and riding. I love helping other people discover new things in God's word and encouraging them to become stronger in their faith.
Random
Q: What super power would you want and why?
A: I was thinking that reading people's minds would be cool but too overwhelming to know what everyone was thinking. Probably not something I could handle. I would want to be a selective mind reader.
Q: What would surprise people about you?
A: Well, something interesting is that I met my wife on 150-mile bike ride in Monterey.
Q: What has been your favorite vacation or travel experience?
A: Hawaii is my favorite vacation spot and a Philippines mission trip changed my life.
Q: If you could collaborate with anyone, who would you pick?
A: I would love to work with Bono in Africa - it would be really cool.
Favorites
Q: Favorite scripture
A: "Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." 1 John 1:9
Q: TV show?
A: Don't watch much TV.
Q: Music?
A: I'm an old rocker at heart, Journey is still one of my favorites. I also listen to a lot of contemporary Christian music.
Q: Food?
A: I love food. I eat animals. I enjoy good food.
Q: Color?
A: I'm a guy, I like blue, brown, green.
Either/or
Q: TV or books?
A: I spend more time with books then TV these days and that's probably a good thing.
Q: Coast, city, or mountains?
A: The mountains have always been my preferred place to be - I feel closest to God there.
Q: Morning bird or a night owl?
A: Morning bird
Q: Coffee, tea, soda?
A: Coffee
