Dr. Roger Helland is a Canadian pastor, author, and denominational leader best known as Associate Senior Pastor of New Life Vineyard Fellowship in Kelowna, British Columbia, a church he helped plant in the late 1980s. Over a ministry career spanning more than three decades, he’s pastored across four different traditions, taught at the Bible college and seminary level, written seven books on spiritual renewal, and now serves as Prayer Ambassador for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.
[IMAGE: Roger Helland teaching at a pastors’ conference]
| Personal | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Roger B. Helland |
| Raised in | Southern California, USA |
| Based in | Near Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
| Nationality | Canadian (American-born) |
| Children | Three, and six grandchildren |
| Education | |
| Seminary | Dallas Theological Seminary, ThM in Old Testament |
| Doctorate | Trinity Western University, DMin in Leadership and Spiritual Formation |
| Ministry | |
| Title | Associate Senior Pastor |
| Church | New Life Vineyard Fellowship, Kelowna, BC |
| Traditions served | Vineyard, Mennonite Brethren, Christian and Missionary Alliance, Baptist |
| Current role | Prayer Ambassador, Evangelical Fellowship of Canada |
| Also serves with | Ignite Prayer Canada |
| Books | 7 published, including The Revived Church and Pursuing God’s Presence |
Early Life and Education
Roger Helland grew up in Southern California before eventually settling in Canada, where he’s lived and pastored for most of his adult life. He pursued serious theological training early, spending four years at Dallas Theological Seminary, where he earned a ThM in Old Testament and developed what he’s called a lasting passion for Bible exposition and teaching.
That training led to a teaching post at Okanagan Bible College in Kelowna, British Columbia, a move that would end up defining the next several decades of his ministry.
Planting New Life Vineyard Fellowship
Helland’s arrival in Kelowna wasn’t just an academic appointment. On his first day at Okanagan Bible College, two church leaders showed up at his office. A mutual friend had pointed them his way, and they invited Helland and his wife to join a new church plant forming around a group of young, Bible-believing Baptist and Brethren leaders. Helland agreed and started as an elder.
Two years later, on December 9, 1987, during a Christmas dinner for the church’s pastors, elders, and their wives, Helland felt a nudge to pray together as a group before everyone left for the night. People resisted at first. He kept at it. That small, almost-missed moment became part of the founding story of what grew into New Life Vineyard Fellowship, the church where Helland would go on to serve as Associate Senior Pastor.
[IMAGE: New Life Vineyard Fellowship church building, Kelowna BC]
Ministry Across Four Traditions
Few pastors can say they’ve served meaningfully inside four different Christian traditions. Helland has pastored within the Vineyard, Mennonite Brethren, Christian and Missionary Alliance, and Baptist streams over his career, in addition to his long tenure at New Life Vineyard.
He served as Senior Associate Pastor at Garden Valley Community Church and as Pastor of Discipleship at Vernon Alliance Church, overseeing small groups, discipleship programs, and spiritual formation initiatives. He later took on a denominational role as District Minister for the Baptist General Conference in Alberta, where his job was to help establish and strengthen missional, disciple-making pastors and churches across the region.
He describes his own theological identity simply: a Pietist, committed to Scripture and the Spirit in equal measure, devoted to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.
Author and Educator
Helland has written seven books, most of them centered on the same core concern: spiritual renewal and what it actually takes for a church to come alive again rather than just grow numerically. His titles include The Journey: Walking with God, Let the River Flow, The Revived Church: A Challenge for Tomorrow’s Church Today, Missional Spirituality: Embodying God’s Love from the Inside Out, The Devout Life, and Magnificent Surrender.
One of his most recent works, Pursuing God’s Presence: A Practical Guide to Daily Renewal and Joy, was co-written with fellow Canadian pastor and author Mark Buchanan. The book argues that experiencing God isn’t about chasing signs and wonders, but about pursuing what Helland calls God’s kavod, His radiant glory and manifest presence in ordinary life.
He’s also taught at the graduate level, joining the faculty at Kairos University, where he teaches pastoral care, spiritual formation and discipleship, spiritual leadership, and the theology of prayer and holiness.
[IMAGE: Roger Helland’s book Pursuing God’s Presence]
Prayer Ambassador for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada
Helland’s current role puts prayer, rather than a single pulpit, at the center of his ministry. As Prayer Ambassador for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, under President and CEO David Guretzki, Helland works to foster intentional, united prayer among the EFC’s affiliated churches and partners across the country.
He’s also a lead team member with Ignite Prayer Canada, a movement co-hosted by groups including the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association of Canada, the National House of Prayer, the Peace and Reconciliation Network, and Vineyard Canada. Ignite events have drawn hundreds of pastors and ministry leaders to cities like Calgary, Kelowna, Edmonton, and Victoria, all built around the same conviction Helland has preached for decades: that prayer, not programming, is what heals a church and a country.
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14) — the verse behind the Ignite Prayer Canada movement Helland now helps lead.
Ministry Philosophy
Ask Helland what drives him and he’ll point past strategy to something simpler: dependence on the Spirit of God. His book The Revived Church makes the case directly, arguing that real renewal isn’t another church growth formula built on programs and human effort. It’s what happens when a church takes seriously its need for God to show up.
That conviction shapes how he talks about leadership too. He’s spent his career helping “pastors, church leaders and churches thrive and flourish in missional disciple-making,” a phrase he uses to describe his own life’s work. Four particular passages, Matthew 4:23-24, Acts 6:4, Jude 20-21, and Galatians 3:5, anchor that vision for him, all centered on prayer, the ministry of the Word, and the confession that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Personal Life
Roger Helland and his wife have three children and six grandchildren. Outside of ministry, he’s spoken about a fairly ordinary set of loves: Mexican food, ice cream, baseball, powder skiing, music, reading and writing, and a good cup of coffee. He splits his geography too, having grown up in Southern California and now living near Calgary, Alberta.
Influence and Legacy
Helland’s influence runs through two channels that reinforce each other. Locally, he helped build a single church plant in Kelowna into a lasting congregation across nearly four decades. Nationally, his role with the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and Ignite Prayer Canada puts him in front of pastors from dozens of denominations who are wrestling with the same question he’s asked his whole career: what would it look like for the Canadian church to actually be revived, not just busy?
His books continue to circulate well beyond the churches he’s personally pastored, giving pastors and church leaders a framework for spiritual formation that doesn’t depend on charisma or platform size.
Interesting Facts
- Helland started as an elder in the church plant that became New Life Vineyard Fellowship, before becoming its Associate Senior Pastor.
- A single prayer nudge at a 1987 Christmas dinner became part of the founding story of that church.
- He’s served in four different Christian traditions: Vineyard, Mennonite Brethren, Christian and Missionary Alliance, and Baptist.
- He’s authored seven books, most focused on spiritual renewal and the presence of God.
- He co-authored a book with fellow pastor Mark Buchanan.
- He now works alongside EFC President David Guretzki as the organization’s Prayer Ambassador.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Roger Helland?
Roger Helland is a Canadian pastor, author, and prayer leader, best known as Associate Senior Pastor of New Life Vineyard Fellowship in Kelowna, BC, and as Prayer Ambassador for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.
What church does Roger Helland pastor?
He serves as Associate Senior Pastor of New Life Vineyard Fellowship in Kelowna, British Columbia, a church he helped plant in the late 1980s.
What books has Roger Helland written?
He’s written seven books, including The Revived Church, Missional Spirituality, The Devout Life, and Pursuing God’s Presence, co-authored with Mark Buchanan.
What is Roger Helland’s current role?
He serves as Prayer Ambassador for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and is a lead team member with Ignite Prayer Canada.
Where did Roger Helland study?
He earned a ThM in Old Testament from Dallas Theological Seminary and a DMin in Leadership and Spiritual Formation from Trinity Western University.
