OUR teAM



The Church is not a building.  The Church is the people.  

We could not do what we do without the people who do what they do

to make the Eagle Rock Church not just a church, but a family.  

There are too many to name, but we see what you do, and we are grateful.


"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you."  

Philippians 1:3

  • Mark Witas

    Lead Pastor

    pastor.mark@seektobefamily.org


    Hello Eagle Rock SDA! My name is Mark Witas and for an undetermined amount of time, I'll be your interim lead pastor. 

    (Note from the secretary: He hasn't rewritten this since becoming officially non-interim - He's totally stuck with us now... mwahaha!)
     
    I've been working for the Seventh-day Adventist Church for nearly 39 years now with various job titles. I've authored four books, been a featured speaker for places like It Is Written, The ONE Project, camp meetings, universities, hospitals, and academies around the globe. But none of this is really that important. 
     
    The most important piece of information about me is that I have one wife (my favorite one!), and one son (also my favorite one!). 
     
    I'm currently the Director of Mission and Spiritual Care at Adventist Health Glendale. Since I've been here, the conference has had me preach in several of their churches. It wasn't long ago that your ministerial director asked me if I'd be interested in leading your church until they found a permanent lead pastor. 
     
    When it comes to preaching, I have a hard time saying no. 
     
    I'm so looking forward to knowing you all and considering you my new church home for the foreseeable future. 
     

  • Christian botello

    Associate Pastor

    pastor.christian@seektobefamily.org


    Christian Botello was born and raised in Southern California. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Pepperdine University and a Master of Divinity from La Sierra University. During most of his undergraduate years in college, he served as a spiritual life advisor to his peers.  While earning his Master of Divinity, he served as youth director at one of our local churches before coming to Eagle Rock. 


    Pastor Christian enjoys getting to know people and sharing Jesus with others. By sharing the gospel of God’s love and grace, he hopes to be able to lead others into a joyful and meaningful relationship with Christ. 


    Christian enjoys traveling, learning about different cultures, dining out, snowboarding, hiking, and spending time with family and friends.



  • zac de leon

    Youth Pastor

    pastor.zac@seektobefamily.org


    Pastor Zac is joining us fresh out of seminary, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (yes, Zac, apparently I'm comparing you to a squirrel).

    He just joined our team in the summer, and has yet to turn in his bio.

    For now we can tell you that we think he's a great guy, and we really like him, not just because he can reach stuff on the high shelves for us.  He is easy to talk to, and is a great calming influence on people, which comes in handy in his line of work.


    He is part of the Pathfinder leadership team, and does a great job connecting with the kids.


    Team Secretary approved  ('cause that totally matters...)


    He just got married, and although we're still getting to know her, Kim seems like a very nice and completely great person (even if she's not quite as helpful in the high-shelf-reaching department as her new husband...), and we're looking forward to welcoming her to the family.



  • Krista Mchale  &  

    JANELLE MILLER

    Administrative Assistants

    aka Team Secretary


    Krista and Janelle were both born and raised in Southern California.  They have been Adventist their whole lives, and members of the Eagle Rock SDA Church for over 25 years.  Their powers combined, this sibling duo makes up Team Secretary - the duct tape that holds the office together.  


    Krista is the brains of the operation.  She’s the one to go to if you need someone who knows what’s going on.  She handles the human interaction and the thinking and stuff (yes, “thinking and stuff” is the main part of her actual job description).  In addition to keeping our office running, she is also a Sabbath School teacher, praise team member, Pathfinder leader and often acts the unofficial worship coordinator (plus all the other behind-the-scenes stuff we don’t even notice).  Her years of experience as an elementary teacher has given her the patience to deal with children (and childish adults), which helps her tackle the aforementioned tasks.  She has two awesome, brilliant, wonderful children (please note: while the writer is admittedly biased, she stands by the validity of the statement), who are already helping at church.  Her husband is also pretty awesome (but don’t tell him I said so).  She enjoys NASA trivia, chai lattes, quoting favorite childhood movies at/with her sister and volunteering at her children’s school (plus all the other stuff I can’t remember).

     

    Janelle was the first of the current team to come on board in late 2020 and considers herself "the pandemic secretary."  She’s the one to go to if you need someone to do an impression of a deer in headlights.  At the end of 2021, the world started to open up again and she realized just how much human interaction this job would actually require.  She immediately panicked and dragged her sister in to help ('cause Krista is much better at humans than she is – also, this really isn't a one-person job).  In early 2022 they agreed to officially share the administrative assistant job, and Team Secretary was born.  So, for the sake of their sanity, they split one half-time position.  Janelle has since relegated herself to the role of sidekick, offering moral support like only a little sister can (when she’s not hiding in a corner), fetching things for the other secretary and providing occasional comic relief (sometimes while hiding in a corner - she's a multitasker, that one).  She is responsible for a large portion of the office snark and is often clever and witty (usually when no one is around to hear).  She enjoys singing at the top of her lungs (also when no one is around to hear), drinking coffee while staring off into space, quoting favorite childhood movies at/with her sister and hiding in a corner (plus all the other stuff I can’t remember).