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Former ’90s football player sees God’s provision as he serves Virginia church for over 20 years

Former Liberty University football player Anthony VanDyke (’93) first saw his life altered when he accepted Christ at a campus event, but over the course of his career and ministry, he has learned to trust in God’s provision through uncertain times.


After studying and playing football at Liberty, Anthony VanDyke (’93) has balanced his pastoral ministry and business career and is using both to impact his community.

After attending junior college, VanDyke said he was drawn to Liberty simply for the football program, where he would go on to play linebacker under former Head Coach Sam Rutigliano. His original career plan was to become a football coach himself, but this changed during a revival service on campus in 1991.

“I remember walking down from the rafters crying and deciding that I wanted to give my life to Christ,” VanDyke said. “After that, the Lord told me to become a pastor.”

VanDyke saw a clearer picture of what God had in store for him when he was stirred by a chapel message emphasizing the need for students to return to their communities and make an impact for Christ. After graduation, VanDyke returned home to Suffolk, Va., and made plans to start New Community Christian Center Church, which officially launched in 1997. He has served as the pastor ever since.

In his first few years post-graduation, VanDyke worked to build the church from the ground up, spending lunch breaks at his full-time job as a business executive by going door-to-door in his community to hand out flyers. With the income from his own mortgage banking business, VanDyke said he was experiencing success.

“When I came out of Liberty, I came out guns blazing like I knew it all, but then God gave me a dose of humility,” he said. “After graduation, I started pastoring a church and I was a business executive, and I remember being 24 or 25 flying on corporate jets, making a six-figure income, and life was going really good, but years later I almost lost it all.”

In the span of a few years, his company suffered financially from the economic downturn of 2008 and both he and his wife, Nicole, were left with no incomes (outside of the church). Within 90 days, their home was damaged by a tornado, and his wife was diagnosed with pulmonary embolism and later breast cancer.

“I felt God say, ‘You’ve told people that they need to walk by faith, but you’ve never had to walk by faith yourself. You’re not going to lose everything, but I need you to feel what people go through,’” VanDyke said.

Anthony VanDyke and his wife, Nicole

In the midst of their recovery period, they did not give up. Vandyke wrote and published his first book, a 30-day devotional titled “The Power of Words,” and, while going through chemotherapy, his wife earned her master’s in accounting from Liberty University Online Programs with a 3.9 GPA. His book can be purchased online through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

VanDyke was able to bounce back and continue his career in mortgage banking in addition to preaching on Sundays. He said his business career has allowed him to connect with more people, many of whom might not go to church. He likens his opportunity to that of Apostle Paul.

“Paul is one of the greatest evangelists that we’ve heard and read in biblical history, and his job was as a tentmaker, and in his journeys he met people who he never would have met if he’d been in the temple all day,” VanDyke said. “A lot of times, the pastors of predominantly Black churches have to work full-time jobs, but I think one of the benefits of that is it keeps you sharp because you get the chance to see people that you might not see if you’re at the church all day. The world hungers to see Jesus illustrated in the lives of believers; the Church must become more than revelatory and relational with the black church and white church as one.”

He extended this idea to address issues in the United States today, saying that the Church as a whole has an opportunity to be present and open with those on opposing sides of modern civil unrest and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“One of the things that I desire for the Church is, with all of the things going on involving George Floyd and the call for racial reconciliation, I think America’s eyes are open and we need to bridge the gap,” Pastor VanDyke said. “There’s a generation that the Church won’t touch unless we allow them to feel our heart and see that we are real. Also, the Church is not just a building, but we’ve minimized it to that, and I think COVID-19 is teaching the Church a lesson in how we have church when you’re outside of the building.”

As a student at Liberty during the early 90s, VanDyke experienced a time in the school’s history where it was on the verge of bankruptcy and the campus would hold all-night vigils to pray that the doors of the university would stay open. Seeing both the struggles in Liberty’s past and its success today, VanDyke said that Liberty’s story has become a vivid reminder of God’s provision.

“I think God allowed me to see Liberty in the struggling stages and learn from it,” VanDyke said. “I remember eating dinner with Dr. (Jerry) Falwell and he’d come and talk to us and share his vision for the school and the program. For me and my wife coming to Liberty’s campus, we see it as a memorial or a reminder that, if you stay faithful and consistent, you will see the hand of God on you.”

The VanDyke family has remained consistently linked to Liberty, as they have been Flames Club members and season ticketholders for home football games for eight years. Their son, Nick, studied at Liberty, and VanDyke was able to speak to the football team at a pregame Friday night chapel for the football team in 2017.

“Back then (as a football player) the program was nothing like it is now,” VanDyke said. “It was just a program that we wanted people to believe in, and now it’s crazy to drive onto campus and see what it’s like.”

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