The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. Ephesians 4:11-13 (NRSV)
Rev. bruce lethbridge (senior pastor)
Pastor Bruce has been the Senior Pastor of Orcutt Presbyterian Church since October 1996. He is a graduate of Westmont College and Fuller Theological Seminary. He has a deep love for teaching the Scriptures and a passion for people coming to know the living God who is revealed to us in Jesus Christ.
"The love of God has reached out to the world in the gift of Jesus. We as his disciples are committed to growing more like him in thought, word, and action. My hope is that we can all discover that the church is not primarily a place you go, but rather the people we are, people who has been called by God's grace into a new life, and a new community. It is my privilege and joy to lead others into this discovery."
bruce@orcuttpres.org
Rev. israel gonzales (Associate pastor)
Israel calls himself a "presbycostal" since he was raised in a bilingual Assemblies of God church (Centro Evangelistico in Oxnard, CA). He received his undergraduate degree from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, OK where he met his lovely wife, while she earned her degree in Christian Education. They were married in 1996, moved to California in 1997, and began raising a family. Ada is a LCSW and received her MSW from Cal State Northridge in 2013.
Israel served as Youth Director at Wesminster Presbyterian Church in 2001 where he was mentored by Rev. Dr. Tim Fearer and encouraged by the congregation to continue his Master of Divinity studies at Fuller Theological Seminary. Upon completion of his seminary studies in 2005, Israel became the designated pastor of New Covenant Presbyterian Church which later united with First Presbyterian Church under his leadership. He enjoyed serving as a catalyst for reconciliation and renewal even all the way through selling the property to the Salvation Army and setting aside the funds for new church development.
He has been serving at OPC since February of 2012, and he loves to mentor students, preach and teach the Scriptures, cook, and play chess.
He has served in the community with Care Net (volunteering at the local juvenile hall), Serve Santa Maria, Casa of Hope (a local safe house for trafficked survivors), the Pastors' Network of the Santa Maria Valley along with local youth pastor meetings, and at Hardy Diagnostic as their chaplain.
He also serves as the Moderator of Mission Presbytery and is on the Synod Executive Council for ECO. israel@orcuttpres.org
REV. JAE HOON KIM (ASSISTANT PASTOR)
Jae Kim was born and raised in a Korean Presbyterian denomination and was involved in that group before sensing a call to ordained ministry. Jae and his family moved to Los Angeles from Korea (south) in 1981 where he graduated from Fairfax High on Melrose. He went on to get an Electrical Engineering degree at Cal Poly SLO. He has been the owner and operator of a small business, a church planter, and currently works as business manager of a dental office.
But instead of working as an engineer or as a business manager, he accepted God's calling and went to Gordon-Conwell Seminary in Massachusetts during the summer of 2013 and finished with a Master of Divinity degree (M.Div) in 2016. While at Gordon-Conwell, he became aware of ECO and its relational and missional form of ministry. Jae has a strong sense of God's call in his life and has been involved in helping to plant a number of Korean Church bodies on the Central Coast.
In 2016, Jae and his wife Jenny joined Santa Ynez Presbyterian Church and Jae was deeply involved in the choir, youth ministry, and also in adult education until the beginning of 2019 when he joined OPC as a Covenant Partner with his family last Spring to continue his pastoral ministry with us.
Jae and Jenny have been married since 2002 and they are the parents of Ryanne (16 yrs) and Trenton (14 yrs) He currently is involved here at OPC in college ministry and was ordained October 11, 2020 as an Assistant Pastor with a focus on small groups and micro-expressions of church. Please keep him in your prayers as he continues to serve at OPC.
mike aguillon (Commissioned Lay pastor)
Mike is a longtime elder who graduated from the Lay Leader Training Institute in 2014. In October 2017, he was set apart for service as a Commissioned Lay Pastor at OPC to help provide pastoral care, preaching, oversight over Adult Education, and teaching. Mike is currently receiving additional training through ECO and we're blessed to have his patient, thoughtful, and helpful presence.
Mike was born and raised in Santa Maria. In 2010 he retired from a career in Law Enforcement. Mike and his wife Kay, a retired Social Worker who currently serves as a Deacon at OPC, live in Santa Maria and have two grown sons.
Mike is a huge Chicago Cubs fan, enjoys golf, and has a passion for serving the Lord! mike@orcuttpres.org
jenn malone (Dir. of children/family ministrIES)
Jenn has been serving at OPC since October 1, 2017, but she has already made a big impact! She has been a Christian since she was a child, living in foster homes. She learned at a young age the importance and value of leaning on God, learning about Him, and following His lead.
The kids call her "M.J" (short for Miss Jenn), and she is a firm believer that children belong in the church family. Jenn graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Behavioral Science from Concordia University, Irvine with minors in Cross-Cultural Studies and Sociology. Jenn has always valued the importance of faith, family, prayer and togetherness. She promotes a Bible-based curriculum.
Jenn is a cheerleader for children and leads our children's programs including Kids Connection (Sunday School), Joyful Noise Children's Choir, Movies and Ministry nights, our Kids for Christ (KFC) group, Annual Talent Show, Christmas Pageant AND caroling, as well as our seasonal camps like Vacation Bible School and SUPERHERO Day Camp AND Lego Day Camp! We know.
THAT's A LOT! And she LOVES it.
Her hopes for the children are that they have the opportunity to develop faith that "sticks", friendships that last, confidence based on who they are in Christ, and a growing awareness of their value and place in God's world.
Jenn is married with two beautiful children and is a proud foster mom!
jenn@orcuttpres.org
cindy baeza (church secretary)
Cindy grew up in the Santa Maria Valley, and is the voice over the phone, the smile you see when you walk into the office, and the minister who prays and helps so many in our church and community.
She is a joy to work with and has been serving in this position since 2004.
Cindy loves spending time with her family, reading books, going on walks and road trips, and hearing people's life stories "with all the juicy details."
info@orcuttpres.org
AMY CURTI (Celebration worship)
Amy has been a key leader in our church for many years and just joined our staff in May 2018 to continue to help shape and develop our 9:00am worship service in the fellowship hall called "Celebration."
Amy loves to play the piano, sing, pray, and lead women's Bible studies. She has led countless workshops, youth productions, and Glee Clubs. She and her husband Alfonso stay pretty busy with their four boys too.
She received her BA in English from Westmont College, MA in English Literature from University College of Ripon and York St. John in England, and a Secondary Teaching Credential from Chapman University.
amy@orcuttpres.org
Meredith brough (Chancel choir director)
Meredith filled in as our interim choir director years ago, but we soon realized that the "interim" part of her title needed to go! She loves to bring her musical passion and gifts to the choir and beyond.
She is such a blessing to us as she continues to re-energize the choir with her creativity, passion, and love for the Lord.
You might also see her at Righetti High School where she works at the Attendance Office.
haroldine roberts (organist)
Haroldine has been serving as our Organist since July of 2013. She believes the Lord clearly directed her here after growing up with the music of the Church.
Haroldine's earliest music memories consist of hearing her father's quartet practicing. Her dad sang bass and she began piano lessons at the age of 4. By the age of 8, she was playing the hymns for church, and by the age of 15, she was singing and accompanying choirs and other musicians too. She went to college to become a nurse and earned both BS and MS degrees. She also taught nursing and worked at other positions in the health field. She has two children and three grandchildren.
Having grown up with church music, she finds playing for the Heritage service especially enjoyable and is thankful to be in such a welcoming church family.
haroldine@orcuttpres.org
josh kerley (technical support COordinator)
Josh has been working as Worship Technical Support staff since July 1, 2018, but if you've been at OPC for some time, you'll know that he has been a huge source of help and service even during his high school years.
It didn't take long for Josh to get plugged in with playing keyboard for youth on Wednesdays and the congregation on Sundays. Josh loves music, the church, techs stuff, and running the sound system. He helps with our Live Stream capabilities as well.
Josh graduated high school in June 2018, and is currently attending Allan Hancock College with plans to pursue a degree in computer engineering. Josh enjoys using sound equipment to promote an atmosphere of worship by making sure the musicians are fully equipped to lead the congregation in praise, and he loves to play the keys on the worship team every opportunity he gets.
Mike Wilson (Church business administrator)
We're blessed to have Mike as part of our staff as of May 2019.
With patience and wisdom, Mike serves OPC by managing our day-to-day business operations. Beyond assisting with financial management and maintaining computer systems and operations, Mike also serves in various ways and is a blessing to our church family.
Julie coolidge (wedding coordinator)
Julie has served OPC for 20 years as our wedding coordinator. She loves to help couples and families with their special day and strives to make it seamless.
If you would like to have a wedding at OPC, please come to our church office so we can share what our process looks like. Once you fill out the proper forms and provide the required deposits, we will let you know if the request has been granted and will walk with you as your wedding day approaches.
julie@orcuttpres.org