“Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.”
meet the regional leaders.
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John Elmer
SUPER REGIONAL LEADER
Gwen and John planted the Syracuse Vineyard 30 years ago and have grown it into a multi-site church that has planted 13 other churches. John has also participated in translocal leadership, serving the Vineyard as an Area Leader, National Church Planting team member, Mission Partnership Leader, and as a Regional Leader for the last 10 years.
John and Gwen have been married 38 years and have lived together in NYC, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, the squatter slums in Bangkok, as well as Syracuse. They have three children and five grandchildren that they love to be with. John is a big Syracuse University sports fan, as well as a lifelong Yankees fan.
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Phil Chorlian
REGIONAL LEADER
Phil planted the North Jersey Vineyard in 1997 and serves as the Lead Pastor. Phil’s responsibilities include preaching and teaching, leadership development, and casting and communicating vision for the church. Phil also serves the wider Vineyard USA movement as a Regional Leader for the Eastern region.
Phil and his wife Norma have been married since 1991 and have 4 children.
meet the regional area leaders.
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Allen Austin
PATHWAY VINEYARD
Born in Lewiston Maine, Allen bumped into what is now Pathway Vineyard in 1991 and knew immediately that he had found a home. Allen and his wife Darlin have two children, Erik & Jennah and two grandchildren.
Allen joined the Pathway staff in June of 1999, after various roles he became Senior Pastor in 2012.
Allen has a heart to see God greatly impact the Central Maine area and is committed to helping people meet Jesus and walk with them along their journey.
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Jim Bleakley
CHARLOTTESVILLE VINEYARD
Jim and his wife, Megan, moved from Chicago to Virginia in 2006 to plant Charlottesville Vineyard Church. Together, they stepped onto the Mid-Atlantic Regional team in 2017, serving as Pod leaders and then Area leaders. They have two phenomenal children, now squarely in their teens. As a family, they enjoy taking advantage of the rugged beauty of their region… hiking, backpacking, and camping whenever they can. As a hobby of sorts, Jim has discovered the joy of power tools and finding excuses to put them to use.
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Derek Heilmann
VINEYARD ALTOONA
Derek Heilmann is the Co-Senior Pastor of Vineyard Altoona with his wife, Jeri. The two of them were sent from Vineyard Columbus in Columbus, OH in 2014 to plant Vineyard Altoona. Derek & Jeri were married in 2004 and have two children. Until 2022 Derek had a 21-year career as a professional pilot. He flew in a wide variety of jobs including airlines, corporate, charter, flight instruction, and skydiving pilot. Derek’s deep desire is to see the Kingdom of God break into unexpected places.
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Steven Salsman
THE WELL
Steven and his wife, Brenda, lead The Well – a Vineyard Church in Millersville, MD, located between Annapolis and Baltimore.. Steven and Brenda discovered the Vineyard Movement and each other at the Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Salinas, CA in the 1980s. They have been married for over 33 years and have three incredible children. With over 40 years of leadership experience in diverse environments including military, corporate, and church, Steven is passionate to equip and mobilize everyday believers into a Kingdom lifestyle that shows this world Jesus.
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Mark Tindall
BLUE ROUTE VINEYARD
Along with a team of 17 (mostly) young people from Joshua House and Vineyard Columbus, Mark Tindall planted Blue Route Vineyard in Media, PA, just west of Philadelphia, in 1998. He loves coaching other pastors and talking about the Kingdom in ways that help people understand and follow Jesus.
He and his wife Barb are nearing their 40th anniversary. Recent years have added much joy to their love as 5 grandchildren joined their family in a very brief timeframe. (Just ask if you want to see pics.)
Mark thoroughly enjoys reading on the porch with Barb, golf, the Philadelphia Eagles, and Nate Bargatze. He also hates golf sometimes.
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Sarah Schneider Watson
HOPKINTON VINEYARD
Sarah Schneider Watson is the Co-Lead Pastor of Vineyard Church in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. She loves studying the Bible and serving the community and believes she has the best job ever! She has a Masters of Divinity from Trinity School for Ministry and has been serving at the church for 6 years with her husband, Stephen, and their two daughters.
meet the regional ministry leaders.
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Scott Mailhot
REGIONAL YOUTH MOBILIZER
Scott has been a leader at the Vineyard church located in Manchester NH since its founding in 2003, and then through its adoption into VUSA. By God’s grace, Scott continues to serve the children and families in and around the area of the local church.
For more than a decade, Scott has served as a member of the East region youth task focused on developing the community of youth pastors in the East. Currently, Scott heads up the Youth Task Force serving the churches of our region as Youth Mobilizer.
Scott has also served the wider Vineyard youth initiatives through efforts related to Project Timothy Youth Ministry Bootcamps both domestically and abroad.
Scott has been married to the love of his life Deb for more than 30 years and enjoys the adventure with five daughters, a son-in-law, and two grandchildren.
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Grimaldi Martinez
REGIONAL WORSHIP LEADER
Grimaldi is the Worship Pastor at the North Jersey Vineyard, leading several worship teams for our weekend services. The aspect of ministry that he enjoys the most is training and releasing people to serve in the ways that they are gifted. “I love seeing them come from rudimentary musical skills and a basic understanding of worship to becoming effective worship leaders and musicians.”
Grimaldi and his wife Celine have 4 children — 2 boys and 2 girls. When Grimaldi has time to himself, he loves playing electric guitar, as well as boxing and working out as a boxer.
