Photo provided Local pastor Bob and his wife Nancy Vance are having a homecoming get together from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Gather Columbus.
In celebration of their five decades contributing to the community, local pastor Bob and his wife Nancy Vance are having a homecoming get together Sunday.
The homecoming celebration will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Gather Columbus.
Bob and Nancy Vance moved from their Ohio home to Columbus in October of 1975 to start Northside Church of God. As there was interest in a young pastor starting a church in the area, the Indiana state overseer of Church of God Mountain Assembly called him and asked if Bob would be interested.
At the time, Bob worked at Rubbermaid’s world headquarters and Nancy was a registered nurse. Bob preached on the side and had graduated from Omega College and Bible Institute.
“The call of God was greater than I guess even being in an area that you’re well known,” Bob said.
Their ministry, which was later renamed to Cathedral of Praise Church of God, has changed locations over the years. In 1997, they moved to a new 10-acre property after their former location caught fire.
Bob said their church did a little bit of everything, including a rock-a-thon in October to raise money for missions. They also held fall festivals where anyone in the community could come, tent revivals and an annual youth trip.
“We always drew a lot of young people and that was good,” Bob said. “We always had a good youth group, Nancy taught the youth class, the teen Sunday school class for 25 years and it was always as big as any class in the church.”
The Vances enjoyed their time in Columbus, with Bob working as a full time pastor and Nancy as an adjunct instructor at Ivy Tech. Nancy felt that their children, who all graduated from Columbus high schools, grew up in good schools. Bob said they also love the people of Columbus and how they come from diverse places to gather, just like they did.
“It was a good place to live and to pastor,” Bob said.
In 2010, Bob was called to pastor in West Virginia for two years, but he continued to drive back to Columbus every week to take care of things. Due to health reasons, however, they had to give up the church for a while and moved to Florida.
But now, the Vances are back in Columbus and have been for a year. They also started their ministry back up, recently holding a baptism event in Crossroads Community Church’s space.
“… we had 56 people and five baptized in water, one gave their heart to the Lord,” Bob said. “So the people of the community are showing me they want us to do it again.”
The homecoming celebration invites anyone who was a part of their ministry in the last 50 years to join them. Light refreshments will be offered and Nancy will host a Bible Jeopardy game, just like she did when she taught. Bob said they are excited to all gather again as some people have moved away and some have passed away.
“And to a pastor of so many years in one place, it kind of breaks your heart to see people scatter and know that God used you to bring them together, so hopefully He’ll do it again,” Bob said. “But this Sunday we’re expecting a good time and a big crowd.”
