Josh & Leah Pavel
Senior Co-Pastors
Josh and Leah met at The University of Georgia (Go Dawgs!) and married shortly after graduation. They moved to North Carolina in 2001 for Josh's IT job. Soon after, Josh and Leah joined a Vineyard congregation in Raleigh where they became deeply involved in church life and leadership, with Josh becoming senior pastor in 2007. In 2008 they moved to Holly Springs where, over the next several years, God began growing in them a passion and calling for planting a Vineyard Church there. In the fall of 2014, Josh handed off his role as pastor of the church in Raleigh, and he and Leah set about making their call to church planting a reality. In January of 2015, The Vineyard Church of Holly Springs had it's very first Sunday worship service. On weekends, both Josh and Leah can usually be found cheering on one of their daughters at a soccer game.
Jessica Geelen
Worship Leader
The Geelens have been part of the VCHS family since the very beginning. Early in the church planting stage, the Holy Spirit gave Jessica a beautiful picture of what worship in the Vineyard can look like, and she began building the worship ministry around that vision, leading us in intimate worship in seasons of both joy and lament. Her husband, Jeremy, also serves the worship ministry as our audio/visual guru, always coming up with ideas of how to adapt our system to be more effective. For years now they have shared God’s unconditional love as Wake County foster parents. Jessica is originally from the mid-west and Jeremy from Canada, but we have converted him to a Carolina Hurricanes fan! We’re still working on getting Jessica into football:)
Ethan Moore
Worship Leader
Ethan and Kristen are graduates of Michigan State University who moved to North Carolina to follow God’s calling for Ethan to attend Duke Divinity School. Ethan is the son of a Vineyard church planter and has served as a worship leader in the Vineyard Movement for over seven years. Kristen works as an Accounting Supervisor in downtown Raleigh and makes the money so Ethan can follow his dreams. Ethan has led worship in churches from many different traditions, including Vineyard, Methodist, Nondenominational, and Lutheran, and he has been a part of worship at many events in the Vineyard, including youth, Men’s, regional and national conferences. The couple is parents to two wonderful dogs, Lady and Raleigh, and are expecting their first child in the summer of 2023.
Luke & Nicole Spoon
Youth Pastors
Luke and Nicole are both NC natives. They were married in the fall of 2019 and shortly thereafter were brave enough to take a leap of faith and join our team in the middle of a pandemic! They dove right in loving and leading our middle and high school youth group. Luke has a degree in youth ministry and has spent over 15 years working with students, both in church and camp settings. Nicole is, in the words of Luke, a “kid at heart” and she is known to be just as competitive (if not more so) as the kids when we play games in youth group! Luke and Nicole desire to see our middle and high school students become genuine disciples of Jesus Christ and they both truly believe this generation of youth will change the world!
VCHS is led by many other individuals who serve as elders, corporate board members, small group, bible study and prayer group leaders, etc.
Elder Team: Josh Pavel, Brant Cannon
Corporate Board: Josh Pavel, Leah Pavel, Jeremy Geelen, Pam Cannon