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Heiden is the son of Marc and Jody Ratner and was born and raised in the city of Las Vegas, NV. He is the husband to Neena Ratner and the father of their five sons, Epaph, Asa, Heiden Jr., Lion, and Obadiah. He serves as the Sr. Pastor of WALK Church in Las Vegas, NV where he preaches regularly. Along with pastoring, Heiden serves as the Las Vegas City Missionary for the church planting network Send Network. Heiden also has a passion and calling for sports ministry and has the honor of serving the NFL Las Vegas Raiders and the WNBA Las Vegas Aces as their Lead Team Chaplain.
Vegas Raised
Growing up in Las Vegas, Heiden’s dad Marc Ratner, would take him to UNLV basketball games during his childhood years where he was a “ball boy” for the team. Heiden quickly developed a passion for the game of basketball which led him to compete at the highest levels of prep sports in the Las Vegas valley. As a sophomore in high school at Silverado High School, Heiden was named Nevada Gatorade Player of the Year (‘04-05). He then went on to be named First Team All-State as a Sr. and finished his high school career (‘07) as Nevada’s fourth all-time leading score in the state’s history with 2,397 total points.
College on the East
Heiden went on to play division 1 college basketball at James Madison University (Harrisonburg, VA) where he played two seasons (2007-2009) followed by transferring to Mercyhurst College (Erie, PA) where he finished his collegiate career average 19.3 ppg and was named first team all PSAC league and was honorable mention All American for DII men’s basketball.
Professional + Coaching + Seminary
After graduating from Mercyhurst with his Bachelor of Arts degree in Religious Studies, Heiden went on to play professionally in Israel for Maccabi Hod Hasharon, where he averaged 8 ppg (2011). After playing one season in Israel, Heiden went into coaching by becoming a Grad Assistant at Kentucky Christian University (Grayson, KY). During this year in KY, Heiden realized that God was calling him and his wife back to their hometown of Las Vegas, NV to join his activity in planting churches and engaging the athletic space with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
While doing his church planting residency at Hope Church (Las Vegas), Heiden enrolled at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary online where he completed his Master of Arts in Church Planting.
Up to the Rafters
Schofield Middle School retired Heiden’s jersey (#23) in February of 2020. In January of 2024, Silverado High School retired Heiden’s jersey (#23). Heiden is one of the top-scoring guards to ever come out of Las Vegas, NV, and was the first ever basketball player to come out of Schofield MS and Silverado HS to play Division 1 College and professional basketball.
Family Focused
Heiden is the husband to Neena Ratner. They have been married for 12 years and have five boys, Epaph, Asa, Heiden Jr., Lion, and Obadiah. Heiden and Neena are excited to announce that the Lord has blessed them with another baby boy who will be arriving July of ‘24.
Heiden & Neena
Heiden and Neena Ratner grew up in Las Vegas, NV where God has called them together to plant WALK Church. Heiden and Neena did not grow up in typical Christian households, however, God did a radical work in their lives during their early college years and they have never looked back. It was during one of Heiden’s first-ever Bible Studies in Las Vegas, which Neena had attended, that they established a lasting relationship.
Two years later they decided to turn their friendship into a relationship and on November 18, 2011, Heiden and Neena were married in Israel, where Heiden was playing professional basketball. Together the Ratners share a love for the people of Las Vegas and are excited to be a part of God’s Kingdom activity in the city through planting WALK Church. Neena also serves on the Send Las Vegas team as the Planter Spouse Advocate as well as pouring into wives and significant others on the Las Vegas Raiders.
