MEMORIAL FOR PASTOR JOE VAN KOEVERING

 

Affectionately known as “Pastor Joe”, Dr. Joe VanKoevering, born

September 1, 1962 in St. Petersburg, Florida, graduated to Heaven in the early morning hours of Wednesday, January 11, 2023.
 

Over the past few years he has sadly succumbed to continued failing health
related issues, and after months of suffering physically, his will to live

suffered the most.  He prayed every day for God to heal Him or take him

Home to be with Jesus!  In the end his faith for the latter was stronger and God answered his prayers.  Joe VanKoevering is now in Heaven, his ultimate goal. 
 

He is rejoicing there with his parents, David and Rebecca VanKoevering, as well
as one of his mentors, Dr. Jack Hayford, an international Foursquare leader, of Van Nuys, California, who also graduated to Heaven a few days earlier!
 

He is survived by his wife, Kaye VanKoevering and his children:  Charity, from St. Petersburg, and Jeremy (Wife: Pam), and only grand-daughter, Sydni, (his favorite person) of Plantation, Florida.
 

He is also survived by his sister Debbie and brother-in-law Craig Brown, of
Virginia, and their daughter Cosa (Caleb) Walsingham of Alabama.
 

Pastor Joe preached many wonderful sermons, simply but powerfully teaching the precious Word of God!  And he also was able to do many great things in his brief 60 years of life, but he would say without a doubt that accepting Jesus as his personal Savior at an early age and faithfully serving Him all the days of his life was the best decision he ever made.  
 

Those years of service included being involved heavily in every area of the
ministry, God’s News Behind the News, for many years.  Joe and Kaye
VanKoevering took over the international television ministry of God’s News Behind the News when Kaye’s parents and founders, Ray and Darlene Brubaker stepped down from the role of leadership in 2000.  
 

For over 35 years , Dr. Joe and Kaye VanKoevering have also been involved in
and eventually exclusively hosted the annual world-renowned event known as the “International Prophecy Conference”.  He had a real passion for end-time Prophecy.
 

Joe also had a burning love for Israel and the Jewish people for many years and was able to visit and minister in his beloved Holy Land at least 14 times. He was an outspoken supporter of Israel, even meeting with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In the end, above all of the things he has been able to do in his lifetime, he would say that he fulfilled his highest calling when he became the Beloved Pastor of Gateway Christian Center in the city of St Petersburg, and joined the Foursquare Denomination almost 30 years ago.
 

And even though he was able to serve the Foursquare denomination as the last
Foursquare Supervisor for the State of Florida (before they switched to regional
supervisors), during his term he faithfully served and supported many Foursquare Pastors and ministers throughout the State of Florida and was grateful for the experience, but his one true love was his own congregation of Gateway Christian Center.

 

Pastor Joe was a living testimony of John 15:13 – “Greater love hath no man
than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”  He loved people, and literally “never met a stranger.”  Everyone who knew Pastor Joe, loved him as well.
 

He always proclaimed that he wanted his church, Gateway, to be the God
appointed “Gateway to the City.”  He felt a deep responsibility and desire to bring the unity of other churches and other believers of all races, together.

 

He loved having Gateway, humbly but joyfully, participating in the annual MLK Parade (MLK was a huge hero to him!). Perhaps his most cherished award that he ever received was the “Martin Luther King, Jr Drum Major for Justice Award in Religious and Community Service” presented to him in 2011. The award reads, “For his involvement in countless initiatives to eliminate the color line between those inside and outside the Christian Community in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He is synonymous with the efforts of Dr. King to reach out and embrace people of diverse cultural, ethnic, religious and racial derivations in his evangelistic crusades.”
 

That was easily one of Pastor Joe’s greatest achievements when they presented
him with that award for his part in bringing communities together - a cherished goal!  And he also had the privilege to say that his church congregation proved that reality (not an easy feat in his city)!  All people were welcome to his church and loved by Pastor Joe without exception! He always said, “my church looks like heaven!” His “family” was Gateway Christian Center.

 

You can attend the memorial “Celebration of Life”

to be held at

Gateway Christian Center

6740 Park Street South

South Pasadena, FL. 33707

at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, February 3, 2023.

There will also be a “live stream” of the service at
www.gccstpete.org.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his honor.

Select the “donate” button to offset service expenses.
 

God’s Word says it best….

“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be

uninformed about those who sleep in death,

so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.  

 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we
believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen
asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we
who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will
certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.    For the Lord
himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with
the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and
the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive
and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to
meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the
Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18”