Adam P. Groza
Vice President for Enrollment and Student Services | Associate Professor of Philosophy
Adam is a native Californian and has taught philosophy-related classes at a variety of institutions including California Baptist University, Tarleton State University, Scarborough College, and Korea Baptist Theological Seminary. Adam joined the Gateway family in June 2010 after serving on faculty and as director of admissions at Southwestern.
Alex Hopper
Student | Master of Arts in Christian Counseling
Alex Hopper is a Master of Arts in Christian Counseling student and serves as part of the administrative staff at Gateway. She and her husband look to plant a church in the Bay Area in Fall of '22.
Alexander Stewart
Vice President of Academic Services | Professor of New Testament Studies
Alex Stewart serves as vice president of academic services and professor of New Testament studies. Prior to Gateway, he served for eight years as a faculty member in New Testament at Tyndale Theological Seminary in the Netherlands.
Allan Karr
Associate Director of the D.Min. Program | Professor of Leadership Formation
Allan Karr is a full-time professor of Leadership Formation and the Associate Director of the D.Min. Program. Since 1995, Karr and his family have been designing and experimenting with new concepts of community and training others to do so. In 2008, Karr founded Ethne Global Services, a humanitarian non-profit with an expanding footprint in many countries.
Brian Orr
Pastor of Sovereign Way Christian Church
Brian J. Orr (PhD, London School of Theology) is a pastor at Sovereign Way Christian Church in Hesperia, California, and he is the author of the recently published book, A Classical Response to Relational Theism: A Reformed Evangelical Critique of Thomas Jay Oord’s Evangelical Process Theology.
Carlos Pamplona is a bilingual Mexican-American currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology at Gateway Seminary. His research focuses on the theological doctrine of adoption. In addition, he is a writer and speaker for Reasonable Truth.
Chris Chun
Professor of Church History | Director, Jonathan Edwards Center
Dr. Chris Chun is the professor of Church History and the director of Jonathan Edwards Center at Gateway Seminary. Chris' doctoral research at St. Andrews University was focused on the eighteenth-century Edwardsean Baptists in Britain. He also has served as president of The Evangelical Theological Society (Far West Region).
Conner Smith is pursuing a Master of Theological Studies degree at Gateway Seminary. He currently serves as lead pastor of Temple Baptist Church in Perris, CA.
Dr. Rathel is the associate professor of Chrisitian Theology at Gateway Seminary. Prior to Gateway, Dr. Rathel supplied pastoral care to churches in the United States and Scotland, served as an Adjunct Professor of Theology and Philosophy for the Baptist College of Florida, and provided teaching assistance for the University of St Andrews.
Dr. Debbie Steele is Professor of Christian Counseling at Gateway Seminary. Prior to Gateway, she was employed by the International Mission Board as an overseas missionary, serving for 12 years in the former Yugoslavia during the civil war, which lasted from 1988-2000. Since 2004, she has operated a private practice as a licensed marriage and family therapist, providing Emotionally-Focused Therapy and Bible-based counseling to the local community.
DJ Jenkins
Pastor of Anthology Church in Studio City
DJ is the pastor of Anthology Church in Studio City. After graduating with a BS in biology, DJ spent 9 years working with Cru - a national college parachurch ministry before moving to Studio City to plant Anthology Church with his wife. DJ received his Master of Divinity from Gateway Seminary in 2020.
Dr. Dwayne Ulmer is professor of educational leadership at Gateway Seminary. Prior to his faculty appointment at Gateway, his academic career involved a part-time Christian Education and Leadership professorship at SBTS and becoming the assistant professor of leadership at Dallas Baptist University shortly after.
Eddie Pate
Director, Kim School of Global Missions | Professor of Evangelism
Eddie Pate, professor of evangelism and director of the David and Faith Kim School of Global Missions, has been associated with Gateway in one way or another since 2005. Dr. Pate and his family served in Jordan and Sudan for over a decade. Eddie served as the senior pastor of the First Baptist Church, Barstow California from 1986-1993 and again from 2012 to 2021.
Eric Espinoza is a Master of Theology student at Gateway Seminary. Prior to pursuing the ThM, he graduated with his Master of Divinity. His research interests include Old Testament and Septuagintal studies. He currently serves as the administrative assistant to the president at Gateway Seminary.
Ikaika was raised on Maui while his wife, Stacey grew up in Indiana. They met at Gateway Seminary when it was in San Francisco; and both shared a desire to tell others about Jesus in ways that speak to their hearts.
Dr. Jeff Iorg is the president of Gateway Seminary. Prior to his service at the Seminary, Dr. Iorg was the Executive Director of the Northwest Baptist Convention for almost ten years. He was also the founding pastor of Greater Gresham Baptist Church in Gresham, Oregon, and has served as a pastor in Missouri and a staff pastor in Texas.
Jesse is a PhD candidate in Biblical Studies with a focus in Old Testament. His passion is serving and equipping the church both locally and abroad.
James L. Wilson
Director, Doctor of Ministry Program | Professor of Leadership Formation
Dr. Jim Wilson serves as the Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program and the professor of leadership formation since 2006. Dr. Wilson has continued to serve the local church as an Interim Pastor, Transitional Pastor, Teaching Pastor, and guest speaker. He is a frequent speaker at conferences, seminars, retreats and does some International speaking.
Dr. Joseph Kim is the associate professor of intercultural education at Gateway Seminary. Since 1994, Dr. Kim has been teaching in the areas of intercultural studies, leadership skills formation, and educational leadership. He has served as the English Ministry pastor at various Korean-American churches since 1990.
John W. Taylor
Director, Academic Graduate Studies Program | Chair, Biblical Studies | Professor of New Testament
Dr. John Taylor serves as chair of biblical studies and professor of New Testament at Gateway Seminary. Dr. Taylor earned a Ph.D. in New Testament Studies at the University of Cambridge with a research interest in Pauline Studies.
Jonathan W. Jarboe is the president of the Baptist Foundation of California. Prior to his presidency, Jarboe served as Senior Pastor of Pathway Church in Redlands, California from 1999 until 2018.
Dr. Joni Lum serves as an adjunct professor of children's ministry at Gateway Seminary. She also currently serves as the Children's minister at Magnolia Church in Riverside, CA.
Joshua is a Master of Theological Studies student and serves as part of the administrative staff at Gateway Seminary. He is currently working on his thesis in Pauline hermeneutics. His other research interests include Pauline studies and early Christianity.
Joshua Ray is co-director of music ministry at his church and associate government program analyst for the state of California. He earned a master of divinity from Gateway Seminary in 2017 and a BA in literature from CSULB in 2010.
Recent Article
Laundry of Love
J.T. served as the associate director of the doctor of ministry program and professor of leadership formation. As retired faculty, he continues to teach as senior professor of leadership formation. While pastoring he earned a M.Div., Th.M. and D.Min. from Gateway.
Kristen Ferguson
Director of Online Education | Associate Professor of Educational Leadership
Dr. Kristen Ferguson serves as the Director of Online Education and associate professor of educational leadership at Gateway Seminary. Her doctoral research at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary investigated evangelical faculty perceptions on online theological education. Her continued research focuses on online course design, blended learning, and online teaching best practices.
Mark Bradley
Director, Pacific Northwest Campus | Associate Professor of Leadership Formation
While serving as an associate professor of Leadership Formation, Dr. Mark Bradley is a Northwest native and first-generation Southern Baptist. He began his MDiv studies at the Pacific Northwest Campus the day after he was elected pastor of Beavercreek Baptist Church in Oregon, in 1981. He returned to Gateway as director of the PNWC in January 2010
Dr. Michael Kuykendall has been teaching for Gateway Seminary since 1989. A former pastor, he maintains a regular preaching and teaching schedule for local churches in the Pacific Northwest.
Paul G. Kelly
Chair, Educational Leadership | Professor of Educational Leadership
Dr. Paul Kelly began his service at Gateway Seminary in Fall 2009 as the chair and professor of Educational Leadership. Prior to Gateway, Kelly served as vice president of ministry resources at Student Life Publishing, editor-in-chief of discipleship resources in Student Ministry Publishing at LifeWay Christian Resources, as well as a youth specialist in Discipleship at LifeWay.
Dr. Paul Wegner serves as the distinguished professor of Old Testament Studies at Gateway. Paul attended Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois where he majored in pastoral training and completed two degrees at Trinity Divinity School. For his doctoral studies, Paul graduated from Kings College, University of London in 1991.
Philip O. Hopkins is the associate professor of Church history at Gateway Seminary. He earned Ph.D. in applied theology from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and a second Ph.D. in Iranian history from the University of St. Andrews (Scotland). He is also a research fellow for the Institute of Iranian Studies at the University of St. Andrews, guest lecturer at Russian-Armenian University in Yerevan, Armenia, and part of the editorial board for Iran and the Caucasus (Brill).
Rodrick K. Durst
Chair, History/Theological Studies | Professor of Historical Theology
Dr. Rodrick Durst has served as Professor of Historical Theology and a variety of administration roles at Gateway Seminary since 1991. His current research includes a study of emerging church movements, ecclesiology for rapid cell and simple church multiplication, new paths for apologetics, single adults in the church, and faith and film.
Pastor Ryan Rindels resides with his wife Janai in Auburn, CA. Ryan received his Master of Divinity in 2014 and recently completed his Ph.D. in Theology from Gateway Seminary.
Sang Boo
Pastor of Canvas Ministry, Good Community Church of Torrance
Pastor Sang joined Good Community Church in June 2014. He earned two degrees from Gateway Seminary: the MDiv in 2009 and the PhD in 2017.
Stephen Feinstein serves as a preaching pastor at Sovereign Way Christian Church in Hesperia, California, a church he planted in 2010. He authored the book We Destroy Arguments in 2015, a book semi-popular among Presuppositional apologists.
Tyler Sanders is director of communications at Gateway Seminary. He is an avid fan of Ole Miss football, a Gateway alum, and has been known to, from time to time, hold down a funky bass line.