Our Story

this is living

We’re convinced the only life worth living is a life all in, and a life all out. It’s the reason we’re a community full of passion, why we protect each other rather than judge each other and why we never settle for the status quo. Vibrant Church is all about living life with hope and purpose.

OUR Heritage

Pastor Jesse Ray and his wife, Barbara, founded Evangel Church in 1980 with a group of 64 people. The two of them provided biblical teaching and leadership until Pastor Ray felt God calling him into evangelistic work.

In 1984, Ron Delgado was unanimously elected to become Lead Pastor of Evangel Church, now Vibrant Church. Over the next 25 years, the church experienced exciting growth with people and buildings. Due to the faithfulness and unity of its members, all building debt was paid off in 2003, and Evangel was proud to operate debt-free.

In 2009, Pastor Ron humbly surrendered his role as Lead Pastor to his son, Jason Delgado. For twelve years, Pastor Jason led Vibrant to exceptional growth through a vision for reaching those far from Christ.

For a brief period in 2021, Pastor Mike Stephens assumed the role of Interim Lead Pastor until Pastor Ethan Boggs was confirmed with a 97% membership vote.

Before arriving at Vibrant, Pastor Ethan served in various ministry capacities: Children’s Pastor, Youth Pastor, and Executive Pastor. He comes from a family of church builders and has a deep love for God, His Word, and people. Pastor Ethan is committed to Vibrant’s Mission: “To see people that are far from God, raised to life in Christ”.

A New Day

Vibrant Church continues to be a passionate, life-giving church and a beacon of light in our community. Our dynamic leadership is vital in continuing to meet the needs of our community and Church family. Ethan and Lena Boggs are the pastors of Vibrant Church in Columbus, Mississippi. An Ohio native and pastor’s kid, Ethan is no stranger to ministry. He has been honored to serve the church in multiple roles in a full-time capacity for many years. Ethan, along with Lena, an Alabama native, both feel a heart to serve this region and together they are committed to building a life-giving church.
Their love for people inspires them to empower others to know God, find freedom, discover purpose, and make a difference. They desire to serve people from diverse backgrounds who are not familiar with church but curious about God and help individuals of all faith walks who desire to experience God in a new way. Avid readers and travelers, Ethan and Lena, married since 2012, are the proud parents of two children.

What We’re Not

We aren’t a social club, and we’re not boring. Weekends are full of passion, and we’re relentless in our effort to be a community that’s life-giving, rather than a people who spend life getting. We’re not here to judge you. We are a community of far from perfect people experiencing a fresh start and audacious grace through Christ.

A Promise to Each Other

We’re not going to get it right all the time, but there are a few promises we’re willing to make and, more importantly, are committed to keeping. As a Vibrant community we protect unity, we pursue life with passion and we constantly progress. This is Vibrant Church and this is living.

PROMISES

WE PROTECT UNITY
If you’re known for judging a book by its cover or people by their skin, then you probably won’t fit in here. You’ll find every age and every race walking through these doors. We’re more into protecting each other than judging each other. We call it our “Unite or Flight Policy”. In short, it means we deal with our struggles and we forgive each other even when it’s hard. Life is too short to waste by holding a grudge.
WE LIVE LIFE WITH PASSION
God never intended for church to be boring or irrelevant. It’s easy to get stuck in our daily routines, but there is so much more to life. We believe it’s worth the challenge to find purpose and passion in every day and to get involved in the life of your church.
At our weekend services, you won’t be delivered stale dogma. Instead, you’ll be given Biblical truths that have been made practical for each area of your life. Don’t be surprised if you can’t stand still to the music!
WE CONSTANTLY PROGRESS
Vibrant Church may be a new name, but we’re still founded on the heritage we started over 25 years ago as Evangel Church. No matter what has changed through the years, the one thing that hasn’t is our refusal to grow stale in our faith and our effort to make it easy for you to find out what living is all about. From technology, campus expansion and our ever-growing missions outreach, we’re constantly pushing ourselves to be a community of givers, not takers.