Jason Carson

Jason Carson is the Senior Pastor of Encounter Church in Mission Viejo, CA.  He loves his family more than anything on the planet.  Jason and his wife Julie were married in 1998 and have 4 amazing children: Halley, Lucy, Janey, and Shane.  Jason was the Youth Pastor at Mission Hills Community Church in Rancho Santa Margarita for 14 years and saw it grow from 11 to 160. After transitioning to adult and family ministry for a couple of years, Jason got the clear call from God to plant a church in his hometown of Mission Viejo in March of 2015. His true passion is shepherding people and caring for them as they encounter a life changing God, and become passionate followers of Christ.

Formerly, Jason was the founding member of The OC Supertones, one of the most popular bands in all of Christian music. While serving in the band, Jason delivered the message of the gospel to over one million people.  He has spoken at numerous Harvest Crusades, Billy Graham crusades, Food for the Hungry events, Creation festivals, for the Pope, and at several youth camps.  Before the band, Jason worked as a small group leader, teacher, worship leader and youth director at Mission Hills Church in Mission Viejo, CA for 7 years.

Jason graduated with a degree in Pastoral Ministries from Vanguard University in Southern California.

Aaron Kellim

Aaron Kellim is a singer/songwriter and worship leader from Los Angeles, CA.  He has been creating music and leading worship since he was sixteen, and has traveled the country playing with bands such as Switchfoot and OneRepublic.  Aaron is currently writing new music and leading worship at churches across the Los Angeles and San Diego areas.  Aaron has been married to his beautiful wife, Kristin, for seven years, and has two rescue pups, Waino and BB.

Paul Twiss

Paul serves at Grace Community Church in California and teaches as a professor of bible exposition at The Master’s Seminary. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Old Testament studies. Paul loves to preach and teach the Bible and is grateful for the opportunities afforded to him at Grace Church to do this. He is blessed to be a husband to Laura and a father to six young children.

Dr. Chris and Alisa Grace

Dr. Chris and Alisa Grace met in 1986 when they were seated at the “singles” table at a friend’s wedding. He fell in love with her quick wit, she fell in love with his motorcycle, and (after selling the motorcycle to buy her engagement ring) they were married just a year later. Now, for more than 30 years the Graces have been writing, teaching, and speaking nationally to thousands of couples, churches, and college students on healthy Christ-centered relationships, dating, and marriage. Together, they co-lead the Center for Marriage and Relationships at Biola University, where Chris is a social psychologist and full professor, and Alisa is an adjunct faculty member. They also co-teach an undergraduate course on Christian relationships and co-host the popular podcast, The Art of Relationships. The Graces co-authored the Marriage Mentoring Workbook and Video Series, and serve on the speaking team for FamilyLife’s Weekend to Remember marriage conferences.
Chris and Alisa live in Southern California and have two adult children married to fabulous spouses, as well as their unexpected blessing who attends Biola University.

Scott Stevenson

Scott is a follower, a husband, a GirlDad three times over and a local church pastor. Originally from Sacramento, California, Scott currently leads the community of Open Arms Church in Scottsdale, AZ where he has adapted to desert living in all the best ways! At any given time, you can find Scott enjoying unlimited refills on iced coffee, trying not to injure himself in the Crossfit box or hanging out with his four favorite ladies.

David Guzik

David Guzik serves as the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara. He is married to Inga-Lill, and has three adult children. David founded Calvary Chapel Simi Valley for fourteen years. David has over 35 years of pastoral ministry, including church planting and directing an international Bible College in Siegen, Germany. David is a popular Bible commentator with millions of people accessing his teachings and commentaries.

Paul and Virginia Friesen

Drs. Paul and Virginia Friesen were married in 1976 and are the parents of three young women, two of whom are now married to wonderful, Godly men.  They have been involved in Family Ministries for over 40 years through family camps, church staff positions, speaking, consulting, and writing. In 2003, they founded Home Improvement Ministries (www.HIMweb.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to equipping individuals and churches to better encourage marriages and families in living out God’s design for healthy relationships.

As the lead resource couple at Home Improvement Ministries, the Friesens regularly speak at marriage, men’s, and women’s conferences in the US and internationally, as well as local family and parenting seminars, and have an ongoing ministry with professional athletes.  Paul and Virginia both have Doctorates in Marriage and Family Therapy from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

The Friesens have authored over ten books and curriculums on parenting and marriage, including Letters to My Daughters, In Our Image, Raising a Trailblazer, Before You Save the Date, and most recently, The Marriage App.

Paul and Virginia’s greatest joy in life is knowing that their children are walking in the Truth.

Justin Unger

Justin has been committed to the local church for over 17 years as a worship pastor.  Passionate about unifying the Body of Christ with the gift of music, he has learned to stand firm amidst the cultural and traditional challenges that many churches face in regards to worship and the Sunday gathering.  He is a pastor of pastors and has a heart to disciple, equip and encourage both young and seasoned worship leaders  that are called to serve the local church.

Justin serves primarily as the Executive Director with Likewise Worship and also as a Speaker & Consultant for churches that are struggling to bring all generations together in worship.

He is married to his wife Falon, and together they have 4 beautiful children.  Visit www.likewiseworship.com to learn more about Justin’s music ministry.

Phil and Diane Comer

Phil and Diane have been married for 38 years of marriage. They have four children and six grandchildren. Combining forty years of pastoral experience, Biblical instruction, and lessons learned in their own story, Phil and Diane bring parents hope and the practical help they need to accomplish their God-given task of raising children who will walk with God in vibrant faith.

Jared Burke

Jared Burke is the pastor over fellowship and serving at Maranatha Chapel in San Diego, his great passion is seeing the body of Christ grow through fellowship and serving God in the use of there gifts. Jared serves with his wife Jessi at Maranatha and they have three children: Owen, Asher and Finley.

Jim Burns

Jim Burns is the president of HomeWord. He speaks to thousands of people around the world each year. He has close to 2 million resources in print in 20 languages. He primarily writes and speaks on the values of HomeWord, which are: Strong Marriages, Confident Parents, Empowered Kids, and Healthy Leaders. Some of his most popular books are: Confident Parenting, The Purity Code, Creating an Intimate Marriage, Closer, and Doing Life with Your Adult Children. Jim and his wife, Cathy, live in Southern California and have three grown daughters, Christy, Rebecca, and Heidi; three sons-in-law, Steve, Andy and Matt; and three grandchildren, James, Charlotte and Huxley.

Mandie Pinto

At the age of 14, Mandie Pinto clearly heard the call to minister through music and set out to sing at churches at conferences and services throughout the world. Currently, she attends and serves as a Worship Leader at Shepherd Church in Porter Ranch. Mandie also is the Worship Director at West Valley Christian Church in West Hills, CA, teaches voice privately and makes spiritual and musical development with mentorship a priority coaching worship leaders around the country. She enjoys regularly singing the National and Canadian Anthem for professional sports including the LA Dodgers, Anaheim Angels, LA Kings and LA Galaxy. Mandie resides in Southern California with her husband, Jeremy to whom she is happily married for 17 years and is a blessed mama to their two young beautiful daughters, Bridgette & Brielle.

Bob Lepine

Bob Lepine is known to radio and podcast listeners as the long-time co-host of FamilyLife Today® and as the on-air announcer for Truth for Life with Alistair Begg. Today, he serves as the host of Mornings on Family Radio, a network of more than 70 radio stations in the US. He is also the host of The Bounce podcast for pastors and church planters.

Bob is the teaching pastor at Redeemer Community Church in Little Rock, Arkansas which he helped plant in 2008. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Great Commission Collective and for Revive Our Hearts.

He is the author of Build A Stronger Marriage (2022), Twelve Things You (Probably) Didn’t Know About Easter (2023), The Four Emotions of Christmas (2022) Love Like You Mean It: The Heart of a Marriage That Honors God (2020) and The Christian Husband (1999). Bob and his wife, Mary Ann have five children and eleven grandchildren.

Erik Thoennes

Dr. Erik Thoennes serves as a professor and chairman of Biblical and Theological Studies at Biola University in La Mirada, California and is pastor at Grace Evangelical Free Church in La Mirada, California. He is a published author and award-winning professor who has a heart for sharing God’s love. Erik and his wife, Donna, have four children.

Jonathan and Melissa Brown

From the moment they were married in 1992, God has taken special care to teach his truths about marriage and parenting to Jonathan and Melissa Brown. It is with joy that they pass on their knowledge and understanding at every opportunity. Jonathan and Melissa have 7 children plus one African son to whom they are his American parents.

Jonathan and Melissa do not just teach family and relationships, they live family and relationships. Their wisdom flows from their Spirit filled faith and is grounded in the clear teaching of the Word of God. Their insights are transforming and practical. They will leave you empowered and confident.

Brandon Reed

Brandon is the Lead Pastor at Vista Church in Orlando, Florida. Born and raised in Tennessee, Brandon attended the University of Tennessee, where he studied biology and chemistry in pursuit of becoming a dentist before sensing God’s call to ministry. He has a Doctorate in Leadership and Master of Divinity degree in Theology from Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Brandon is a passionate fan of the Tennessee Volunteers and an avid college football enthusiast. He and his wife, Kara, have two kids, Addy and Bauer. Their family loves all things Disney, hanging out together at the beach, and going on fun adventures.

Danny Huerta

Daniel Huerta oversees Focus on the Families initiatives that equip mothers and fathers with biblical principles and counsel for raising healthy, resilient children.

A bilingual, licensed clinical social worker, Huerta addresses issues related to parenting such as communication, conflict resolution, spiritual growth, discipline, stress, anxiety, depression, media discernment and healthy sexuality.

He has been interviewed by media outlets including Fox News, Fatherly, Christianity Today, WORLD Magazine, The Christian Post and CBN, and he regularly speaks on Christian radio stations across the United States. He’s also written for publications including The Washington Post on topics related to marriage and parenting.

Huerta earned a master’s degree in social work from the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. He’s currently working on his doctorate in psychology at California Southern University.

He has maintained a private practice in Colorado Springs since 2003 and served as a board member on the El Paso County Mental Health Association for almost four years.

He and his wife, Heather, have been married since 1997 and have two children, Alex and Lexi.

Greg Smalley

Dr. Greg Smalley is the best-selling author of 11 books, co-host of “Everyday Relationships” radio program and Executive Director of Marriage and Family Formation at Focus on the Family. Greg and his wife, Erin, have four children.

George Louis

Worship Leader, Artist, multi-instrumentalist, and singer/songwriter with over 15 years of musical achievements and accomplishments. George began by playing the drums alongside Eddie Espinosa and Andy Park. His original music has been recorded and played throughout Mexico, Latin America and Europe.

George has led worship at churches and events in Southern California such as Lake Avenue Church, the Crossing, KKLA Men’s Gathering, EPIC Worship Conference, Franklin Graham Samaritan’s Purse World Conference and Harvest Riverside. George is married and lives in Los Angeles.

Anthony Prince

Anthony Prince is a husband, dad, and pastor—in that order. Anthony currently serves as the Executive Pastor at Real Life Church of LA, a growing church plant in the foothills of Los Angeles, CA. He is a graduate of Fuller Seminary, with an M.A. in Global Leadership and an emphasis in Youth, Family & Culture. As a consultant & coach with Ministry Architects (http://ministryarchitects.com), Anthony specializes in helping congregations and pastors across the US develop church-wide strategic planning, build sustainable ministries, and create multi-site solutions to better reach their communities. He is married to Christine and together they have three children.

Matt France

Hi, I’m Matt France, am a Pastor who loves Christ and has a calling to use my life to point others to Him. My faith and walk with Christ have grown steadily since I became a Christian in 1993 at a Harvest Crusade. I began my college career centered around a baseball scholarship from Concordia University, Irvine. The scholarship was a blessing and of course a dream come true but then God began to open other doors and I allowed Him to mold my college education into one centered around Christ, finishing at Vanguard University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religious Studies with an emphasis in Ministry & Leadership. Some of the things I personally enjoy are family time, surfing, snowboarding, coaching sports, working out, experiencing new foods, traveling, hiking, camping.

The Lord has blessed me with a beautiful family consisting of wife- Monika, daughter Jordyn(22), Daughter-Skyler(19), Son-Bradyn(18), Son- Gavyn(15) and son-Caleb(9).  My wife has served a number of ways in Ministry over the years from late night counseling sessions, guest speaking, involvement in women’s ministry, being a small group leader as well as facilitating small group leadership training in both High School and Women’s Ministry settings. She has served at different levels with our Embrace Me (foster and adoption) ministry. She is CAPPA Certified Childbirth Instructor for San Antonio Community Hospital as well as a Professional Photographer, specializing in family, maternity and newborns and a real estate agent. My children enjoy music lessons, riding horses and are all involved in a variation of sports, they all serve and are actively involved in different ministries at our church. We thoroughly enjoy having a full house teeming with life.

My ministry work experience began at Ocean Hills Community Church in San Juan Capistrano, formally Mariners South County over 23 years ago and continued serving there for 8-1⁄2 years with jr high and high school students before the Lord called us to Rancho Cucamonga, California and Hillside Community Church. The Lord has given me a passion for young people with a desire to see their walks with Christ grow.

I spent 8 1/2 years at Hillside Community Church serving as the High School Pastor and Pastor of Life Celebrations. This has been a formative growing experience for 81/2 years. I have seen God do so much in and through the ministries I had the privilege to lead.

For the past 6 years I have been at Water of Life Community Church in Fontana Ca. a large church with avg. weekly attendance of 7000 adults & kids and a student ministry of around 400. I am currently the Sr. Director of Family Ministries overseeing kids ministry, students and college, birth through college and a staff of 22 with 600+ volunteers. Every step of my ministry calling and the opportunities that God has presented me has been a challenge to trust Him as I am at every step of my ministry career been entrusted with more and more responsibility. I love what I do and I’m excited to see God work through me and the leaders that have been called to serve alongside in ministry.

Throughout my life and ministry experiences I have seen lives changed by the power of Christ and the church body be a source of love and hope to the world. I look forward to getting to know you this week and serving your family.