David Bales
Dr. David Bales has joined the EFCC staff as Classic Worship Pastor in August of 2022. He leads the Classic Worship Ministry including our Choir & Orchestra.
JT Martinez
JT Martinez grew up in Corona, CA after his grandparents took on the calling to raise him and his two sisters. During that time, he struggled with faith due to the trauma he had experienced from his parents. He rebelled against God for many years never knowing if his life mattered. It wasn’t until high school that he experienced the love of Christ and decided to commit his life to the Lord and be open to whatever God was calling him to do.
After getting involved in a local church and going on a mission trip to Kenya, he was affirmed that he had been called to vocational ministry. Through interning in a local church, serving on staff as a pre-teen associate in Huntington Beach, CA, and being a junior high pastor in Pomona, CA, his passion for investing in the next generation only grew stronger.
He is married to his amazing wife Alicia who he has known since 5th grade. They enjoy going to the beach, trying new food, experiencing San Diego county, rooting for their favorite teams, and spending quality time together.
Luke B.
Luke joined our staff in the summer of 2020, coming over to our staff from another local Southern California church. Luke brings a passionate heart for ministry, and a solid background of both community and global outreach to our church family.
Michelle Jones
Michelle joined the EFCC staff in the winter season of 2022 and guides our administration and finance department.
Lillian Arjona Garzon
Lillian Arjona Garzon was born in Monterrey, Mexico but grew up in Escondido, California to two parents dedicated to serving and seeking the shalom of the inner city. Lillian received her Bachelors in International Community Development from Covenant College and completed an Urban Leadership Fellowship in Denver, Colorado. She has spent the last several years working in an urban church setting doing economic development, neighborhood beautification, career development, and cross-cultural work.
Lillian has a desire to see every community restored to its full potential through a reconciled relationship with God, self, their neighbor, and creation. Lillian loves sharing a meal with her family and friends, watching soccer, and experiencing different cultures.
Cheri Wright
Cheri Wright serves as our Communications Director and oversees our various communications-related efforts including overall church and event promotions, social media, the printing and graphics team, and graphics/creative project management. She’s attended Emmanuel Faith since 1973 and her 2 children also grew up attending the children’s and youth programs here. She and her husband, Dave, live in Valley Center.
Nate Keating
Nate was born and raised in San Diego and Jesus found him when he was 15 years old on a camping trip. The Holy Spirit spoke through the words of Jesus in John 6:35 which says, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst."
Nate has an extensive career in both ministry and business. He has a strong passion for the areas of worship and creative arts, but especially songwriting and production and loves seeing others walk and grow in their gifting. As our Modern Worship Director, Nate oversees our Modern Worship and Production teams.
He also loves spending time adventuring with his wife and two boys. When he's not at church, you can find him and his family creating lifelong memories somewhere around the world.
Tom Wade
Since 1996, Tom has served as the Technical Director at EFCC, where he combines his love for music and technology with serving the Lord.
Escondido born and raised, his passion for music and providing behind-the-scenes tech started at a young age.
Tory Kirgiss
Tory Kirgiss ( pronounced `ker - jis ) is a Midwestern transplant who was born in Chicago, Illinois, raised in Minnesota, and moved from Indiana to San Diego in 2014. His earliest childhood memories involve music, either from watching his parents performing on their instruments, or listening to their U2 and Eagles records.
Tory tended to get his hands on any instrument that was within his reach, usually without asking first. Although he deeply regrets quitting piano lessons early on, he filled his time learning guitar and playing percussion in school orchestra bands. In 2009 he graduated from the Atlanta Institute of Music & Media College (AIMM) in Duluth, GA, with a Performance Certification degree in drumming.
Tory began serving at EFCC in 2015 and was brought on to the staff in 2017. His drive to develop musical proficiency for EFCC’s worship services culminates from his desire to give his best to the Lord, who gave His best gift to us: life through Jesus. Outside of EFCC, Tory enjoys collaborating on music projects with friends, trail running with his wife Katie, backpacking in the mountains, and attempting to surf.