Meet the Team

We exist to awaken and empower people to follow Jesus.

The church should not replace you in ministry. The church should equip you for ministry. That is why Vertical Life was birthed with a mandate to equip people to follow Jesus. Everything that we do is centered around that purpose - to see you fully equipped to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, be rooted in the Word of God, live in Christ-centered community, and teach others to do the same.


  • Lead Pastor

    Pastor Jeremy is the founding and lead pastor of Vertical Life Church in Holly Springs, NC. With over 25 years of ministry experience Jeremy’s heart remains passionate about one thing: the church awakened and empowered! He is a staunch advocate for the local church and the mandate it carries to teach people to obey Jesus.

    Jeremy serves with his beautiful wife, Nicole, and 4 children - Lucas, Jocelyn, Mila, and Nora.


  • Staff and Operations Pastor

    Nathanael serves as the Pastor of Growth and Operations at Vertical Life Church. His goal is to see all who call VLC home plugged in and flourishing as the local church - following Jesus together. He brings years of entrepreneurial and business experience to the organization in an effort to steward well the resources God has entrusted to us.

    Nathanael and Johanna have been married since 2005 and have one beautiful daughter - Olive.

  • Ministry Coordinator

    Rebekah has been on staff at Vertical Life Church since the fall of 2020 and currently serves as VLC’s Ministry Coordinator. In addition to serving at VLC, Rebekah is continuing her education at Liberty University through their online program. Growing up a pastor’s kid, Rebekah has carried a passion for serving and growing the local church since a young age and has a desire to see people fully equipped to carry out God’s calling on their lives.


  • Family Ministry Director

    Kristina is the Family Ministry Coordinator at Vertical Life Church. Her heart is that every child would have life-changing encounters with God, and experience His unconditional love for them. Kristina studied at Ozark Christian College and Rhema Bible Training College with a focus in Music and Children’s Ministry. Kristina has had the privilege to serve the local church in many capacities throughout her years of following after Jesus. Kristina and her husband Steve married in 1999 and have three children, JT, Zoe & Roman.


  • Youth Directors

    Maddy and Lucas are the director's of high school ministry at Vertical Life Church. They are both passionate lovers and followers of Jesus who yearn for a young generation to know Christ and make Him known. The Larson's have served in campus and children's ministry for the past 4 years and believe the Lord has called them to be witnesses of the beauty of Jesus to the next generation.

    Lucas and Maddy are new parents of their son, Crew (<1), and desire to partner with High School parents in the discipleship of their students.

  • Trevor is the Worship Pastor of Vertical Life Church in Holly Springs, NC. He has been leading worship in the local church for over 24 years. He is passionate about building a culture of worshippers who worship God in Spirit and in Truth; seeing the Father’s local family of believers come alive in God’s presence, in response to who He is.

    Trevor serves with his lovely wife, Jamie, and 6 children - Liam (11), Ma’Kiya (9), Silas (8), Ma’Riya (7), Theo (6), and Ny’Meer (3).


  • Co-Worship Pastor

    Nicole is a psalmist at heart with a passion and drive to see a people awakened to and equipped for true worship of King Jesus.

    Nicole serves alongside her husband, P. Jeremy, and they have 4 children - Lucas (14), Jocelyn (12), Mila (9), and Nora (6).

  • Creative Director

    Grace is a creative at heart with a missional heartbeat to tell the story of how God is moving in Vertical Life Church through various media platforms. Grace views God as the ultimate Creator & desires to glorify Him in her ability to create & tell stories.

    Grace discovered her passion and call to partner with the Holy Spirit in storytelling by creating content while serving on the mission field in Africa. She is now planted in the local church with a burden to authentically share the story unfolding in Vertical Life Church. Grace is also passionate about training and building up creatives that know and operate in the joy of partnering with the Lord in telling His story.

Meet the Elders

  • Vertical Life Church is committed to building a biblical foundation for church government. Spiritual life is produced when church government and theological correctness are combined with biblical preaching that proclaims the authority of God’s Word and the presence of the Holy Spirit. We believe the principles of church government are universal and the scriptural formula for oversight and governance of the local church is relevant in every culture.

  • Vertical Life Church practices an Elder form of government. Although there are other important leadership positions for instruction and ministry, it is the Elder board that has the responsibility to provide visionary direction and spiritual covering for the ministries of the church.

    There are three basic functions of Elders:

    1. To lead the church by governing the church's vision and establishing policies that provide philosophical boundaries for church life.

    2. To uphold the biblical standards of behavior among church members. This includes enforcing church discipline for factious behavior, unrepentant sin, and doctrinal error.

    3. To individually demonstrate a model for ministry and godly living to the people as they lead the church.

    Vertical Life Church believes that church policies and philosophies for ministry are best decided when the entire Elder team meets together and discusses, debates, and prays. Elder meetings are held regularly and include discussions about policy decisions that affect the congregation as a whole. While the Senior Pastor is the visionary leader of the Elders and is given special respectful consideration, all the Elders have equality relating to input and decision making. Until there is unanimity on an issue, no decision is finalized or acted upon. As the church grows and new ministries are established, the Elders ensure that the ministry remains consistent with the vision of the church and that the methods of ministry remain consistent with our principles for ministry.


  • Lead Pastor

    Pastor Jeremy is the founding and lead pastor of Vertical Life Church in Holly Springs, NC. With over 25 years of ministry experience Jeremy’s heart remains passionate about one thing: the church awakened and empowered! He is a staunch advocate for the local church and the mandate it carries to teach people to obey Jesus.

    Jeremy serves with his beautiful wife, Nicole, and 4 children - Lucas, Jocelyn, Mila, and Nora.

  • Wes is an Elder at Vertical Life Church. He's been in ministry since 2009 and loves to share the gospel with anyone who will listen. In a Christian culture where the Gospel seems to be a simple confession of faith to secure a distant reward, Wes enjoys teaching people about what Jesus truly accomplished through his life, death, burial, and resurrection, and the invitation of Jesus to die to yourself and follow Him. If you ever want to chat with him, please reach out!

    Wes has been married to his wife Lia since 2011 and has four amazing children!

  • Pastor Andrew is an Elder at Vertical Life Church in Holly Springs, NC. Andrew is passionate about seeing people's lives transformed by learning and applying God's word.

    Andrew serves with his beautiful wife, Sara, and 4 children - Coen (11), Evelyn (8), Bennett (6), and Thea (4).

  • Trevor is the Worship Pastor of Vertical Life Church in Holly Springs, NC. He has been leading worship in the local church for over 24 years. He is passionate about building a culture of worshippers who worship God in Spirit and in Truth; seeing the Father’s local family of believers come alive in God’s presence, in response to who He is.

    Trevor serves with his lovely wife, Jamie, and 6 children - Liam (11), Ma’Kiya (9), Silas (8), Ma’Riya (7), Theo (6), and Ny’Meer (3).

Meet the Overseers

  • The role of the overseers is both spiritual and relational. It is spiritual in the sense that it is for the benefit and accountable covering of the local church's work. It is relational in the sense that it is recognized by the Pastor and affirmed by the elders of the congregation as God established.

    • To give objective input on major issues affecting the church.

    • To arbitrate disputes within the leadership and between the congregation and leadership that can’t be internally resolved.

    • To give perspective to the significant life issues of the church.

    • To service as a support resource and give counsel to the Senior Pastor as he provides leadership to the Elders as they govern the church.

  • The founding and lead pastor of the the Rock Church in Parkersburg, WV. He has over 40 yrs of ministry experience in which he has planted several churches and currently oversees churches in Ohio, West Virginia, and Brazil.

    The ROCK is a non-denominational church with a strong vision and mission to reach the world with the fullness of the message of Jesus Christ. They place a heavy emphasis on the uncompromising preaching of the word and making the presence of the Lord a priority in their church body!

  • The founding and senior pastor of Radiant Church, a multi-site church reaching the globe via Radiant Church locations and online.

    In addition to my role at Radiant, I am an overseer and mentor to many next-generation leaders and church planters. This role led to the launch of the Radiant Network, in which I serve as the founder and President. Since that launch in June of 2016, churches across the United States and North America call themselves Radiant Church, and many more have joined the Radiant Network family of churches.

    My wife Jane and I started Radiant Church in 1996 in a high school gymnasium in Richland, MI, a rural community on the outskirts of Kalamazoo. Since then, Radiant Church has grown to reach thousands of people in several locations with the same mission: To lead people to become radiant disciples of Jesus Christ.

    I get the honor of frequently speaking at leadership events, conferences, and churches worldwide. I'm the author of the highly acclaimed books Be Radiant, Flourish: Planting Your Life Where God Designed it to Grow, and School of the Spirit: Living A Spirit-Empowered Life.

    My wife Jane and I were married in 1992 and have three grown children, two sons-in-law, and two grandchildren. We reside in Kalamazoo, MI, where Radiant Church was birthed.