Randy with his Grandson Jaxen.
Randy F. Larson, Lead Pastor
Randy grew up on a farm in North Dakota. He accepted Christ at the age of 12 and said yes to God’s call to devote his life to full-time Christian ministry.
After graduating from Bethany College of Missions in Minneapolis in 1966, he moved to New York and worked as a counselor for Teen Challenge, a Christ-centered program for young people with the life controlling problems of drug addiction and alcoholism. It was there that Randy met Pat, a secretary from Tennessee. They were married in 1968, and later had two daughters, Wendi and Melani.
From 1976 to 1984 Randy served as Director of Teen Challenge, Brooklyn. In 1984 he joined the staff of Vineyard Ministries International, conducting seminars on healing, spiritual gifts and spiritual warfare.
He became a full-time worship pastor at The Vineyard Church in 1989. Since then he has used his gifts in music to lead the church in its number one priority, worshiping God. He became the lead pastor of the Vineyard Church in October 1997. Randy’s and Pat’s desire is to raise up leaders who will participate with them in building God’s kingdom.
Tad Blackburn, Marriage & Family Pastor
Tad was born in Illinois and grew up in the Midwest and New England. After becoming a fully devoted follower of Jesus he met his wife Amy in Upstate New York at a Bible Institute.
Amy was born in Guam and was raised as a missionary kid in Palau and the Philippines.
Amy and Tad were married over 25 years ago while they were attending a Bible College in Pennsylvania. They have three children – a grown son, Boomer, daughter, Jamy, living in New England and their youngest son, Isaac, who will be entering middle school.
Tad holds a BS in Bible (PBU), MA in Missions (CIU), MS in Psychology (CCU), and a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology (EBU). Tad and Amy served as missionaries in the Philippines and as a Baptist pastor before joining the Vineyard movement in 1988 in Connecticut.
They served on the pastoral staff of a Vineyard in Connecticut before taking the senior pastorate of the Dartmouth Vineyard in Massachusetts, where they served 14 years. Before joining the pastoral staff of the Vineyard Rockville Centre, Tad was the Associate National Missions Coordinator for Vineyard USA for two years.
Tad and Amy have a passion for spiritual formation, missions, evangelism, and marriage and family ministry.
Annie O’Donohoe, Administrator
Annie was born on Long Island where she and her brother were raised by their widowed mother, a native Ecuadorian.
Her career as a floral designer began at an early age and gave her an outlet to express and develop her creativity. After a successful 11 years, she decided end her career co-managing a florist in the World Trade Center to pursue a career selling real estate in a then booming New York market. Her exciting new career was cut short when she was injured in a major car accident.
Shortly after, a friend invited her to the Vineyard and in October of 2002 she became a follower of Christ. Although injuries from the accident greatly limited her ability to work, this left her with time to begin serving. Unsure of how she got there exactly, Annie soon found herself in leadership overseeing the churches food pantry ministry. It was there that she began to develop deep compassion for the poor in the community and where she received much of her own healing.
She joined the Vineyard staff in October of 2006 when a position as the churches secretary opened up.
Annie continues to have a heart for the poor and a passion to see God’s people set free from oppression, living effective lives for Christ
Larry Hauser, Lynbrook Site Pastor
Larry grew up in Freeport, NY and started attending the Vineyard Church in 1993 with his wife Pam and three children. Larry has served in many of the ministries of the church. He was in the first graduating class of Vineyard Leadership Institute in 2003. Larry has grown in his leadership skills raising up other leaders in the Growth Group system. His self-less service to the Lord and to our church has resulted in the churches leadership asking him to serve as campus pastor for our Lynbrook site. He was installed to that position on August 7, 2011.
