Pastors & Staff
of Mount of Olives Church
Pastors
-
REV. JOHN R. STEWARD
SENIOR PASTOR
Staff
A native Californian, Pastor Steward received his B.A. from California Lutheran University and graduated from Wartburg Theological Seminary with his Master of Divinity degree in 1979. His first ministry was at Peace Lutheran Church in South Gate, California where he served from 1979 to 1984. He was called to the Bethel Lutheran Church in Encino in 1984, where he started a scholarship program for underprivileged youth to attend Bethel Lutheran School. He also created a camp scholarship fund for underprivileged youth.
Pastor Steward was called to serve at Mount of Olives Church as the Senior Pastor on January 14, 1993. Mount of Olives has a growing membership of over 1800. Pastor Steward preaches and oversees all ministry of the church including: RHL Preschool – a Christian NAEYC accredited school, Adult Day Program for seniors with dementia, Kid City – midweek and weekend programs and services for children, The Rock – a program for the students and teens of the community, and missions ministry locally and around the world, as well as supporting programs like the Southwest Community Center and South County Outreach.
Pastor Steward and his wife, Torild, have a daughter and son-in-law - Astrid and Sean, a son and daughter-in-law - Sean and Jenny, and six grandchildren.
Pastor Jim became the Student Pastor at Mount Of Olives Church in September 2000, and began Rock Youth Ministries. It grew in participation and programming to include mid-week Bible studies with worship services two days a week, leadership training for volunteers, plus highly successful winter and summer retreats. Since 1990, Pastor Jim Reynen has had great success building healthy student ministries, and developing spiritually mature leaders.
Pastor Jim received a Masters of Theology from Concordia University, Irvine, and was called as Associate Pastor of Mount of Olives in September 2012. Pastor Jim now preaches and oversees many ministries of the church including Kid City children's ministry, Rock student ministry, and Drive-Thru Nativity, along with classes for young families.
Pastor Jim and his wife, Jennifer, have two children, Grace and Noah.
Additional Staff at Mount of Olives Church
The Adult Day Program at Mount of Olives Church (ADP) has been in operation since 1987. Click the link below to view the Adult Day Program's Staff page.
The Robert H. Lange Christian Preschool at Mount of Olives Church (RHL) has been in operation since 1967. Click the link below to view RHL Preschool's Staff page.