Suzanne Vogel

The fabric of my faith walk reaches back across several generations. As the great-granddaughter of a Nebraska Mennonite pastor, one of my earliest memories is of sitting on my grandmother's lap with a simple salvation coloring book and inviting Jesus to wash my black heart clean with his red blood. Fast forward to my college years at Drake University in Des Moines, where my faith took wings and I discovered the joy of ministry by deciding to go on staff with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (an inter-denominational college ministry) rather than use my newly completed Bachelor's degree in Secondary Education and English in a classroom. It was also at Drake that I met my husband, Dennis.

Through the years God has nudged, molded, and prepared me for leadership here at Meredith Drive Reformed Church through positions of ministry and leadership outside and inside of the organized church. In 2003 I came on staff at Third Reformed Church in Pella, Iowa, as a Commissioned Pastor overseeing evangelism, pastoral care, and leadership development. In 2008 I was asked to assist Celebrate Church in Knoxville as they worked through a pastoral transition. By 2011 I knew God was calling me to serve the Church for the long haul and I answered God's call to seminary. During my time in seminary, I also served as a Marketplace Chaplain for Vermeer Manufacturing in Pella and worked with churches in transition.

I was approached in the summer of 2014 about the possibility of serving as the Interim Lead Pastor for Meredith Drive. Over the next several months I began to feel deeply called to MDRC's missional history, servant-hearted leaders and a vision for a people who would be the redemptive presence of Jesus to the places they were called.  In 2015, we agreed I was called to be the permanent lead pastor.

In the midst of all that craziness, God has gifted Dennis and me with two children (Benjamin and Jessica) who are the center of our hearts.  In my free moments I love cooking a good meal, coffee with a good friend, and quiet with a good story.