PASTORS
Hello! Born and raised in Boulder County, Colorado, I now live in Livermore. Before pastoring, I worked as a plumber's apprentice (which might explain something of my focus on us being apprentices of Jesus). My wife and I moved to the Tri-valley in October of 2009 to join the pastoral team of VCC. I became the lead pastor in 2015. My wife (Marla) and I have three kids: a 9-year-old boy, a 6-year-old girl, and a 4-year-old girl. I am a bit of a book nerd, so talk of Tolkien, Lewis, Dostoevsky, Eliot, O'Connor, Peterson and others are likely to happen at some point! In my opinion, theology should have some poetry to it. Jesus is beautiful to me. He is my great joy and only hope.
Heath Hardesty
Lead Pastor
A Bay Area native, I love serving at VCC! Married to the love of my life, Jennifer for 29 years, we met while I was serving on staff with Cru at Sacramento State. A graduate of UC Santa Barbara and Western Seminary, I have served in a variety of pastoral roles before landing at VCC in 2022. Jennifer and I have a college aged son Zach, who attends Vanguard University, and a Red Fox Labrador named Ruby. Together we enjoy hiking, strolling along the beach and the San Francisco Giants.
Bryan Hardwick
Executive Pastor
Born and raised on the east coast in Florida, but have spent time in both North Carolina and Arizona, planting churches and ministering the Gospel. I’ve been leading worship in various churches and ministry environments for the past 25 years — 17 of which have been in a full time pastoral role. After stepping away from ministry for a short time, the Lord graciously led my family and I to become part of the VCC family in January of 2019. It is with great joy that I get to serve this church family through music — singing to the glory of King Jesus.
Probably my greatest brag is that I’m married to the Communications & Connections Director here at VCC, Lisa. We have two amazing kiddos together — Madeline (13) and Liam (8). Other than Jesus, my family has my heart.
Jerad Collier
Worship Arts & Prayer Pastor
Born and raised in Tucson, AZ I now live in Livermore with my wife Lilian and two kids Grace and Micah! Before I jumped into Pastoral ministry I served seven years in the United States Army and finished my undergraduate degree in Psychology at Colorado Christian University. I am currently completing my Master's degree at Western Seminary in Leadership and Theology. Going on 10 years in pastoral ministry I have served in a variety of roles from Family Pastor, Associate Pastor, Small Groups Pastor, Church Planting Resident, and Teaching Pastor. In addition, I'm a big sports fanatic and love going to San Francisco Giants games with my family. I'm also a pretty big nerd when it comes to theology, one of the most life-giving practices for me is sipping on really good coffee and reading a Theology book. I also oversee Inklings Coffee and Tea our local outreach to the city, that provides artisan coffee and opportunities for missional engagement with the community.
Joe Jewell
Outreach Pastor & Executive Director of Inklings
I started working in youth ministry fresh out of high school, thinking that it would be a fun summer job, and now, 10 years later, I still consider it to be a fun (all year long) job. I consider it to be a profound privilege to follow Jesus alongside students. I lives in Pleasanton with my wife Jill and two kids, Brynlee and Brooks.
Jake Lemmer
Student Ministry Pastor
When I was a child my family would periodically attend VCC and, too shy for Sunday School, I would sit in the pews utterly confused. I made my first attempt to follow Jesus in 7th grade after earning the nickname 'sinner boy' at camp. I felt an unexpected urge to preach while in South Africa at 19 in '07 and somehow ended up back at VCC as a pastor in '14. My high school sweetheart Brittany and I have 3 kids: Levi, Avila, and Banks. I graduated from aka survived Fuller Seminary in 2019 and now spend my time reading (mostly Lewis and Tolkien) and leading our family and care ministries. My family's not-guilty pleasures are Mr. Pickles sandwiches and Giants baseball.
Dane Olney
Family & Care Pastor