Leadership

I first heard the good news about Jesus Christ as a high school sophomore. Shortly after hearing about Jesus for the first time I began to follow Him. That decision has shaped my life ever since and eventually led me to study Bible and Theology at Mid South Bible College in Memphis, Tennessee. I went on to study Islamics at William Carey International University, and finally, Western Theological Seminary. 

Through my local church, I became involved in a discipleship ministry called the Navigators during that time and also as an inner city missionary. This was followed by five years of mission service in Asia as a relief worker and church planter. I then joined the ministry team of West Hills Community Church (known then as the Hillside Church) in 1987 and served as an associate pastor until 1989 when I became the lead pastor. 

I am passionate about knowing Christ, making Him known, and seeing people grow in their knowledge of Him within the local church. I am also passionate about Christ’s mission in the world and seeing the good news of Jesus spread to other peoples and nations.

I have been married since 1986 to Rachel, who is my closest friend and confidant. We have two adult sons, Joshua and David, and a growing number of grandchildren. I enjoy hiking, fishing, hunting and reading and occasionally playing golf - which can be humiliating. It is a joy to serve Jesus Christ and to see His church prosper and I look forward to the day when I see Him face to face.

I joined the staff of West Hills in Jan of 2013 after spending 9+ years as a student ministry director at Morgan Hill Presbyterian Church. I started following Jesus as a high school student in Morgan Hill after being invited to youth group by some friends. After high school, I enrolled at San Jose State to pursue my undergraduate degree in Social Science with the hopes of becoming a teacher. It was at this time that I first started to volunteer in youth ministry which eventually became a part time and then full time ministry position. The Summer of 2004 was a big time for me. In June, David graduated from SJSU and started youth ministry full time at MHPC and then in July married my high school sweetheart Pamela. Realizing a desire for more biblical and theological education, I enrolled in a Master of Divinity program at Western Seminary which I completed the summer of 2010. It was at this time that I felt God’s leading to pursue pastoral ministry, which would eventually lead me to West Hills a few years later.

I have two ministry passions. The first is to teach the Word of God and the second is to equip people to use their spiritual gifting for God’s kingdom. It is great that the two so often go hand in hand. A lot of transformation happens as people interact with the bible, as well as when they experience the grace of God in action through service and the inevitable stretching that comes with using their spiritual gifts. It is a privilege to walk alongside people in this element of discipleship.

I loves spending time with my wife and my five kids. Likewise, I am working hard to teach them to love baseball (Go Giants!). I spend much of my free time reading, drinking coffee, running, cycling and playing music.

I grew up in the South Bay Area and have been attending West Hills Community Church since infancy. Under the shepherding of WHCC, God led me to follow Jesus at age 17. I have volunteered in WHCC youth ministry, worship music ministry, and missions ministry since 2002. I worked as a commercial electrician and estimator/project manager for 10 years before leaving that career to join staff at WHCC. Beginning in 2016, I spent two years as the Pastoral Resident/Worship Leader at the San Jose campus until in 2018 I transferred to the Morgan Hill campus as full-time Pastor of Worship. My main pursuit is knowing Jesus more and making Him known. I'm excited to see people grow into deeper faith in Jesus and thoroughly enjoys seeing God’s healing power at work. I've devoted my life to applying the Gospel to the hardships of this broken world, the greatest of which is the sin we all experience. I absolutely love how God takes simple, lost people like I once was and makes us His children, fellow heirs with Christ!
 
After meeting and ministering alongside one another at WHCC, my wife Alisha and I were married in 2009. As of now, Alisha has temporarily stepped out of her career as a registered nurse in order to care for our four children, Jachin, Elijah, Kariese, and Asher. Alisha also has experience in youth ministry, music ministry, missions, and young women’s discipleship. Together Alisha and I enjoy family, the outdoors, music, traveling, and SF Giants baseball. We both love people and always love a good celebration or get-together.
 
After completing my BA in Christian Counseling through Liberty University in 2016, I enrolled in the M. Div program at Western Seminary in Santa Clara, CA. I prayerfully aspire to enter full-time preaching ministry in the coming years and eagerly wait to see where God is planning and directing.

I joined the staff as Director of Student Ministry in May of 2020. Although I grew up attending church and youth group in Wisconsin, I did not truly understand the weight of my sin and my need for Jesus until my second year of high school. Soon after my conversion, I became more involved in the student ministry at my church as an intern and began to sense the Lord guiding me toward full-time ministry. After graduating from high school, I followed that calling to the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, where I graduated with a Master of Divinity, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Biblical and Theological Studies from the attached undergraduate college, Boyce College. Throughout my time at Boyce, I was heavily involved in campus ministry, serving as a campus event coordinator, a member of the student government, and as an RA.

Just before graduating, I married my wife, Alex, whom I first started dating while serving as an RA at Boyce. I am passionate about teaching the gospel and watching students learn more and more about the surpassing worth of knowing Christ (Phil 3:8). I have experienced first-hand the spiritual impact of various church staff members and leaders in my own life and feel privileged to serve alongside a team so committed to helping students grow deeper in the understanding of the gospel and God’s Word. When I'm not doing something related to ministry in one way or another, I love getting outdoors, trying new foods, or teaching myself piano and Spanish.

“A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in or the kind of car I drove …. But the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child” .. (Taken from Successories) I have changed the last line to say, “But the world may be different because Jesus used me to plant “seeds” in the life of a child”. My desire is to see children make a decision to follow Jesus at an early age and continue on the narrow path throughout their life.

I am an example of a “seed” planted in Children’s Sunday School during my elementary years. Born and raised in San Jose, California, I put my faith in Jesus during my 7th grade summer at Hume Lake Christian Camp. In my high school years I choose to do "my own thing” and ignored my faith, but the Lord had other plans for her.

I rededicated my life after a series of life changing events and totally surrendered to God in 1982. Leaving my profession of 18 years, the Lord lead me to a total career change. I left the hair industry and began ministering to children.

In 1986 my family was asked to leave Los Gatos Christian Church to help begin a new sister church in San Jose, known as South Valley Christian Church. It was there that I began my journey in the Children’s Ministry volunteering as a director for 6 years. In 1991 another partnership was formed with Hillside Church of Morgan Hill, now known as West Hills Community Church and I was asked to serve as the Children’s Director. Presently on staff full time I now lead women's ministry and special events.

Don and I have been married since 1971 and we have a son and daughter and have lived in Morgan Hill since 1986.

I was born and raised in the Bay Area. I grew up aware of God but never fully embraced him or his teachings. Many years passed before the Lord would change my heart. In early 2014 I felt the need to finally seek God’s word. My path led me to West Hills Community Church where I would learn to truly follow Jesus Christ and come to know the awesome God that brought me here. He had a plan for me and it included sharing my testimony, being baptized and leaving a career as a theatrical hairstylist and makeup artist for over 20 years to serve in the church office.

I am thankful that my husband Ed was also called to faith at the same time and we were baptized at WHCC on the same day! We have been married since November of 1994.

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

I am a native Californian having been born and raised in Santa Clara. I attended San Jose State University where I completed a B.A. Economics and an M.S. Accounting. After college I received a CPA credential and worked as a consultant serving international clients. In 2005 the Lord blessed me with the opportunity to transition from Silicon Valley into vocational ministry. I completed an M.A. Biblical Counseling at The Master’s College in 2009 to better equip me for the work the Lord has called me to do.

I currently live in Gilroy with my wife Colleen and our children Hannah, Essie, Elle, Mario and Arvi. Colleen is my constant help in ministry. Prior to our marriage, Colleen served as a missionary in Albania, teaching English and working within the church. We have a special heart for adoption and disability ministry as God has blessed us with 5 unique children with 5 unique stories, including 2 who are teaching us about life with Down Syndrome.
 
I became a Christian in high school as the result of the witness of another student (the gospel was new to me as I did not grow up in the church). The years that followed were marked by a slow but steady spiritual growth and a desire to enter missions. After college, I struggled spiritually as I grappled with career pressures and the fruit of my own spiritual compromise. This season ended when the Lord confronted me with my sin and showed me in a way I had never comprehended before the beauty of the gospel. Because the Lord started putting me in situations where I was informally counseling others I began taking counseling classes at The Master’s College to become better equipped for ministry. One of my passions in ministry is to connect with people who are grappling with the messiness of real life and help them connect where they are with what it means to walk with Jesus in the “real life” world that we live in.

After growing up in Marin County in the 1960’s, I attended U.C. Berkeley where I graduated in 1978. At Berkeley, I became a Christian through a fraternity Bible study in 1977. I met my future wife, Holly, while in college. Holly had accepted Christ at a young age. We were married in 1979. After attending college, I earned an MBA from U.S.F. and shortly thereafter pursued a career in business.

After moving to Morgan Hill in 1980, Holly and I began attending WHCC . We have four children, Robin, Kelly, Matt, and Andrew. I enjoy golf, basketball and running. I currently work for Performance Food Groups, a manufacturer of fresh cut fruits and vegetables.

I am a native Californian born, in San Jose in 1961. I am married to his dearest friend Kimberly. We are parents of three treasures, Gabriel, Laurelyn, and Rebekah. I work as a manager of a large roofing company.

In late 1980, I began following God after recognizing my need to yield my life to the Creator – past, present, and future, and receive the wonderful gift of God’s grace. That gift was a life changed when I encountered forgiveness from God for sin, offered through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Our family have been members of the church now known as West Hills Community Church since 1991. I have enjoyed serving in the church as a shepherd elder for several years. My other pleasures and interests include family life, friends, people, travel, outdoor activities (camping, fishing, shooting, four wheeling, etc.). I also play and coach soccer.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”– Luke 10:27
“Love God, love people.”-Jim

I am a Santa Clara Valley native, born at Stanford Hospital in 1960 and raised in Cupertino. Deborah and I married in Yosemite in 1989 are the delighted parents of Laurel and Avery. We live in the east foothills of Gilroy. Active in the ministry of Firefighters for Christ for my entire career, I retired as Fire Battalion Chief after 32 years, and am now a Training Specialist with State Fire Training.  Deb and I were baptized at West Hills in 1991. I became a Christian as a youth, while attending an adult bible study with his parents at Valley Church in Cupertino.