kent sparks

Education:
- Masters in Divinity, Systematic Theology, 1985, Talbot School of Theology, Biola University

- Bachelor of Science, Christian Education, 1982, Biola University

About Me: I was born in the Midwest and moved to Hollywood, CA with my family when I was about three years old. From there, my family moved to Orange County and I have lived here ever since. I attended Edison High School, UCLA, BIOLA, and Talbot Seminary. I finished my education with a Masters in Divinity, specializing in Systematic Theology. In 1980 while at BIOLA, I married my wife, Linda. After graduating from seminary, I started Beachcities Community Church in Huntington Beach. Since then we have had 3 children and a few dogs. Our latest version is a blond Sheba named Zelda.

charlie koeller

Education:
- Bachelor of Science, Civil Engineering, 1981, University of Southern California
- Masters Degree, Christian Ministry and Leadership, 2000, Talbot School of Theology, Biola University

About Me: In 1990, I was invited to the Edison High School gym to experience Beachcities Church for the first time. I was impressed by the contemporary style of ministry and a dynamic young pastor who taught the Bible with an emphasis on life application. Over the years, our family has been blessed to be part of a growing church family. As the Associate Pastor and Elder of Beachcites, my primary responsibility is to assist the Senior Pastor with the vision God has given him in fulfilling the mission statement of the church which is to “Help People Find Christ and Grow.” Over the years, my responsibilities have included counseling, pastoral care, youth ministry, administration, preaching, and mentoring. The greatest lesson I have learned in ministry is that God loves His people and wants them in a relationship with Him and others. These relationships are instruments used by God to serve others and fulfill God’s plan for His church. God has blessed me with my wife Karen. We have three kids: Kevin, Jack, and Annie. We enjoy creating memories as a family, especially now that our kids are close to leaving the nest!

clark kenyon

About Me: I grew up in Southern California and presently live in Newport Beach. I attended both Cal Berkley and UCLA while also serving 2 years in the Army. In 1984, I married the love of my life, Georgie. We now have 9 beautiful grandchildren. I was part of the original group of guys who met in a living room in Huntington Beach when Pastor Kent started his Bible studies. Out of that group, Pastor Kent established Beachcities Community Church in 1985. I've been an Elder since the beginning and it's been my privilege to serve God and my beloved Pastor for the past 26 years. Due to the fact that I got married late in life, I spent a lot of time reading everything I could get my hands on concerning marriage and counseling. My friends always wanted to meet with my dad when I was growing up because they said he gave great advice- and he did! So I grew up with a father who was a fantastic counselor. Pastor Kent asked me to provide counseling to our church family from the very start of the church. There is nothing I love doing more than serving our church in this capacity. We are all children of God and greatly valued by Him. Therefore, I love to teach others how to love well with God's kind of love.

ron binder

Education:
- Bachelor of Arts, Missiology, 1964, Biola University, La Mirada, California - Masters Degree, Linguistics, 1966, University of California, Los Angeles

About Me: I met my wife, Kathy, in high school, and she wanted to be a missionary since she was 10 years old. We both went to Biola for our undergrad work and determined that Bible translation would best allow us to engage an unreached people. After an MA in linguistics at UCLA for me and an LVN license for Kathy at Biola, we went to Colombia and Panama with Wycliffe Bible translators and worked with the Wounaan (woe-NAHN) people for 23 years in translation, literacy, training pastors, teachers and artists, community development and ethnomusicology. Along with all the wonderful things we saw God do in these areas, we had three sons—two born in Colombia and one in Panama. We've published over 70 books in the Wounaan language in addition to the New Testament and have seen God raise up some 15 churches, all of which are led by Wounaan pastors. We returned to the U.S. in 1991 and began attending Beachcities Community Church. Our ministry with Wycliffe is to multiply ourselves by helping others find and carry out what God is calling them to do, especially in the cause of Bible translation. At the request of the Wounaan churches, we've also been traveling to Panama 2-3 times a year since 2003 to develop audio, video and Scripture- based materials that have enabled the Wounaan to start new outreach and discipleship ministries among their own people.