About our pastor

Hello! It is a joy and privilege to attend and serve here at CPC. I have been a member here for 10 years, recently served 6 years as a Deacon and after a break am currently serving as the Moderator of our CPC Board of Deacons. I also participate in our CPC Prayer Ministry, Hospitality Team and Women’s Association.

John & I grew up in Boulder, Colorado and moved to California after we married in 1980. We moved to Lakewood in 1983 and we have two adult daughters Megan and Hayley and furry pup Jaylee.

I worked as a Clinical Medical Assistant before our girls were born. I enjoy traveling, gardening, doing stitchery and swimming.

I'm 74 years old. I graduated from Laguna Beach High School in 1962. My hobbies are sewing baby blankets and all types of blankets. I also love to paint Christmas village houses made out of plaster, my daughter & I try to get together once a week to paint. I have been coming to CPC for 6-7 years and feel that I've grown a lot in my faith by attending CPC. 

I am grateful to be serving as a Deacon and leader of our women's Bible study group at CPC.  Recently, my son gave me the gift of "Grandmotherhood" to  beautiful grandson who keeps me busy and delighted at his every move.  I was born and raised in So. California; graduated Hawthorne High School. Having worked several jobs throughout the years; now in my retirement, I volunteer at Lakewood Regional Hospital.

Hello all! My name is Derek Wung, and I am one of the Deacons for Christ Presbyterian Church (CPC) in Lakewood, CA! I've lived in Southern California for a majority of my life from as far south as San Diego to as far north as Santa Barbara. I attended Northminster Presbyterian Church (NPC) in Tucson, AZ, where I discovered my love for volunteering and giving back to the community. I volunteered for numerous different non-profit organizations based in Tucson, and I supported the church for various special events like Easter Sunday, Market on the Move (The 3000 Club), and the annual Halloween Trunk-or-Treat! After being blessed with the gifts God had given to me during my stay in the desert, I moved back to Southern California in 2014 and have attended CPC since then.

I became a member in May 2015 and was nominated to the Board of Deacons just 18 months afterwards. The following year, I joined the sound tech team and have worked behind the soundboard for select Sunday and Memorial Services. I've also lent a helping hand at various events for Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) from time to time. It's amazing the work that God has done over the past several years of my life! I'm looking forward to what the next several years will bring!

I grew up in a Christian household – prayer of thanks at the family dinner table every night, we knew the real/Christian meaning of holidays, went to church when Daddy didn’t have to work, Christian morals and values.

As a newly married young adult, I taught the kindergarten Sunday school, helped at VBS, and taught preschool. I took my kids to Sunday school and youth groups, ran a home day care, was a scout leader for many years, went to church most of the time. As they grew older life got even busier and we kind of got away from going to church, except on Easter and Christmas. “Sunday is the only day I had to relax,” was my reasoning! But there was a BIG hole – an emptiness in my life that I couldn’t identify.

About 10 years ago Carolyn (our second daughter) and her husband decided to stay in the area and wanted a church home – they invited me to come along – moral support and all that! The hole was filled and here I still am!

I have always known that I was cared for/taken care of – nothing really, bad ever happened. Until about April 2015. The God’s presence was really proven! I AM taken care of, prayer really DOES work, and I AM LOVED – I absolutely know it!!! And, I tell others about it!

My name is Nancy Kirstenpfad.  I was born in Howell, MI in 1939.  I lived in Brighton, MI where I went to the same school from Kindergarten through graduation in 1957.  My plan was to go to nursing school, but Gunter moved to my town in April, just before I finished high school and we married in September.  We moved to California in March of 1958.  We moved into our home in Lakewood in 1964.  We began attending Christ Presbyterian Church.  Our son, John was born in 1969.  He has a wife and two daughters. 

I worked at Farmers and Merchants Bank and their trust company for 8 years.  I worked at Pacific Savings and Loan for 2 years.  I worked for Hexcel Corporation for 11 years. 

Over the years I have been a deacon, an elder, sung in the choir and led the Lydia Circle Women’s Bible Study.

I was blessed to have my husband for nearly 63 years. So very thankful he was able to live in our home until he went home to be with the Lord.

I love being a Deacon!

It has been an amazing journey working as Children’s Ministry Director. A little over three years ago I was asked to consider serving in this role here at CPC. Initially my family and I were talking about just trying out a service here at CPC. A good friend of mine invited us. My husband, son and I honestly never looked back. Here is a little bit about my journey.

As many of you know I began going to church with my grandmother. I remember she was my first Sunday School Teacher. I have a large family but I am the only child. In some way I have always worked with children. I started as a nursery worker in church. I remember always telling my parents that I wanted to own my own daycare. Well now I am blessed to have three families. I have my own family which includes my husband Matthew and my son Jace. I have my preschool classroom family and my CPC Children’s Ministry family. God had this mapped out for my life. I am so grateful and do my best to give back. It is so much fun to make a CPC child smile and know that they love their church and I am part of that. I also enjoy working with my church family and recently became a Deacon. In my free time I enjoy all sorts of crafting, jewelry making. I am pretty silly and big hearted. I have gained so much on this journey is that God is good!!

Matt is a deacon at CPC, where he assists with grief mailing ministry, as well as running sound and games for VBS alongside his wife, Heather.

Matt is an Eagle Scout and is currently working toward a bachelor's degree in Business Analysis. 

Matt enjoys tabletop and computer games and currently lives in Fullerton with his wife, Heather, and their son Jace.

Hello everybody, my name is Spencer Riddle and I am proud to be a deacon of Christ Presbyterian Church in Lakewood  California. I have lived in Lakewood California for as long as I can remember. I have done a lot of volunteer activities throughout the years of being a follower of Christ, everything from mission trips to Mexico, playing guitar on various Sundays throughout the month and I also sing in the church choir when I am not working. What do I do for a living, you may ask, I work for the Transportation Security Administration or TSA for short. I have been doing that for almost 6 months and I love doing what I do because it gives me the chance to help people get to their destination by air safely and quickly. My hobbies include playing softball on Sunday afternoons when I can get the chance to, watching baseball, going on adventures with my girlfriend, and watching baseball. I love what I do with the TSA and I love being a deacon here at Christ Presbyterian Church in Lakewood. 

I was born in Oakland, CA.  My family moved to Southern California when I was a baby.  I graduated from Lakewood High School, Long Beach City College and Pepperdine University with a B.A. in English.

I did secretarial work for various companies including Fluor Engineering (Word Processing), Atlantic Richfield and Lucky Stores/Albertson’s Regional Office.  I enjoy singing in the CPC Choir and with the CPC Praise Team.  I love to listen to and learn music and practice harmonies.  In Jr. High and High School my favorite hobbies were writing poetry, practicing harmonies, and playing my tambourine. I always wanted to learn the drums but in lieu of drums the tambourine and maracas would suffice.

I started attending CPC in 2017.  I became a member of CPC in 2019.  I have really enjoyed getting to know the wonderful church congregation and staff at CPC.  I have been involved in Women’s Association, and Bible studies here at CPC.  I love attending CPC’s Women’s Association meetings and sharing fellowship with the wonderful women of CPC.  2020 is my first year serving as a Deacon at CPC.  It has been my honor and privilege to become a part of the CPC Church Family. 

I was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  When I was 9 years old, my family moved to Long Beach.  Two weeks after arriving, I contracted polio and spent the following year in hospital recovering and receiving what would now be called rehabilitation.  I graduated from Lakewood High School, Long Beach City College and California State College at Long Beach.  I worked for the County of Los Angeles full time for 32 years and part-time for five years.  When I retired, I was the Director of Human Resources at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.  I am active in the Assistance League of Long Beach and, in particular, their Orthodontia Program.  The Assistance League has several philanthropies that seek to address the needs of underserved children living in Long Beach.  I am also an active member of the Fine Arts Affiliates whose purpose is to the raise money for scholarships for students in the Fine Arts programs at CSULB.  My main hobby is reading, and I particularly enjoy English murder mysteries which I also enjoy watching on PBS. 

I was born in Lynwood, California to wonderful Christian parents.   I attended St. John’s Presbyterian Church of Compton where I became a member of the church, sang in the children’s choir and attended Sunday school as a child.  I attended Lynwood High School and after graduating my family and I moved to Lakewood.  I started attending Christ Presbyterian Church in 1976; several years later became a member of CPC. I have been both Secretary and am currently Missions person for the Women’s Association, also ushered for many years for church services.  I have worked for PEVCO as an Administrative Assistant for 20 years, than after the company moved out of state, I went to work for Lew and Associates, Inc. in 1998 as an Administrative Assistant, and where I am currently still employed. Many of those years I also spent taking care of my elderly parents.  Some of my hobbies are cooking, baking, for family, friends and my neighbors and church events.   I enjoy reading a variety of books: mysteries, westerns, and suspense.  I also enjoy embroidery, and gardening, writing letters and cards by hand to family, friends, and pen pals, camping and, hiking.  I am thankful for the many blessings Jesus Christ has given to me and my family over the years.