Hansel and I (Natalie) Orzame (pronounced or-ZAH-mee) planted Ekklesia in March of 2019.
Hansel has been pastoring since 2008. He began in a Youth Pastor role at Gospel Life Community in Walnut, CA. After attending Potter's House School of Supernatural Ministry at The Mission church in Vacaville, CA, he was asked to be an Associate Pastor at GLC, then became the 'Nurture Pastor' for several years.
In May of 2017, the Gospel Life senior leadership changed some of their essential theology, so we chose to gracefully transition out of both leadership and membership.
After a brief interim, Hansel was asked to pastor a Christian club at a local grad school. The club grew and students from all over the world were meeting Jesus. Then we started seeing opposition in the form of satanic imagery drawn on the whiteboards where we met. We discovered that the school administration was not in favor of a flourishing and active Jesus group on campus, and both the Protestant and Catholic chaplains on staff wanted no part in supporting us. Hansel was kicked off of campus for proselytizing.
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The students still wanted to meet and break bread together, so we leaned into the phophetic words spoken over us, and our budding desire to create a church for our community. Ekklesia was already in our hearts, so I searched around downtown Pomona, 37 weeks pregnant with two kids in tow, for a meeting space. We found a cool venue, designed a logo, and pulled the trigger.
Our first service was held in March of 2019, right around Hansel's birthay and our third child was less than one month old.
We are the UNWOKE church. We believe that current events should not be pushed aside from the lecturn, but challenged and addressed head-on. These issues shape our culture, our communities, our families, and our faith.
We are a Bible-believing church. The Bible is the inerrant word of God.
We are a spirit-filled church. The Bible is clear about the active role of the Holy Spirit and His gifts to us in our present day, everyday lives.
We are not a cruiseship church with the sole purpose of making people comfortable. We are a battleship church with a mission to influence our culture for Jesus together. We welcome anyone who wants to join us in spreading the Gospel with biblical values in SoCal.
Read more about our beliefs and values!
Meet Our Team
- Volunteer Coordinator
- Prayer Leaders
- Pastor
- Pastor/Children's Pastor