2026 Pastors Conference Shepherd the Flock

Before becoming Gateway Seminary's eighth president, Dr. Adam Groza served the seminary for 14 years as vice president of enrollment and student services and professor of philosophy of religion. He is a California native with a demonstrated passion for guiding future ministry leaders who are confident in the Word, competent to minister the Word, and who have character shaped by the Word.

Adam earned his Ph.D. in philosophy of religion at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2009; his dissertation was titled “Siris Revisited (Did George Berkeley Change His Mind?).” He also earned a Th.M. from SWBTS in 2003. He graduated from The Master's Seminary in 2001 with an M.Div. In 1998 he earned a B.A. in political science from Northern Arizona University.

Groza's publications include Unraveling Philosophy (B&H Academic) with J.P. Moreland, Faith Wins: Overcoming a Crisis of Belief (New Hope Publishers, 2020), and he has contributed to various books, including Ministry in the New Marriage Culture (B&H, 2016) and Idealism and Christian Philosophy (Bloomsbury Academic, 2016), and more.

Adam has taught a variety of classes on evangelism, ethics, and philosophy at Gateway and has also taught philosophy-related classes at institutions including California Baptist University, Tarleton State University, Scarborough College, and Korea Baptist Theological Seminary. He is an ordained minister who has pastored churches in California and Texas.

He married Holly in 2000, and they have four children: Cosette, Charlie, Christian, and Cate. Holly is from Burbank, California, and enjoys being a stay-at-home mother and homeschooling their children. In their spare time, the Grozas enjoy hiking, going to the beach, and attending concerts.

Paul is the Ministry Pastor at Be The Message Church in Rosena Ranch, a follower of Jesus who loves His church, a husband and father of three beautiful children.

Scott Hill serves as Lead Pastor of Providence Church in Murrieta, California. He is also a co-founder of The Providence Collective and serves with SEND Network as a theology and teaching assessor, coach, and trainer. Scott is passionate about expositional preaching, leadership development, church planting, and strengthening local churches. He holds a Doctor of Ministry in Executive Leadership from Gateway Seminary and also serves as Executive Assistant to the President at Gateway. Scott and his wife, Lisa, live in Southern California.

Dr. Derek Berry is originally from Houston, Texas, and came to faith in Christ at the age of 15. He has been married to his wife, Krystal, for nearly 12 years, and together they are raising three daughters. Derek serves as pastor of Gospel of Christ Church in Pasadena, California. He earned his Master of Divinity from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and his Doctor of Ministry degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is passionate about seeing healthy, doctrinally sound churches established in urban communities and is committed to making disciples through faithful preaching, meaningful membership, biblical discipleship, and local church ministry.

Dr. Chris Morgan is Dean and Professor of Theology of the School of Christian Ministries at California Baptist University in Riverside, where he has taught since 1999. He is also the lead pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Highland.

He is the author or editor of more than 30 books. Recent volumes include Salvation, The Glory of God and Paul, Christian Theology: The Biblical Story and Our Faith, and the second edition of the Systematic Theology Study Bible. He serves as the editor of the Theology in Community series (8 volumes, Crossway) and a general editor of the Theology for the People of God series (15 volumes, B&H).

He and his wife Shelley have one daughter, Chelsey.

Ryan is the church planter and pastor of Trinity Church of Benicia in Benicia, CA and the former President of The Cornerstone Bible College and Seminary (2019–2026). Ryan grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and has a heart to minister to the people here, training up pastors to serve and teach in this unique region. He received his Ph.D. from Southern Seminary with an emphasis in Biblical Spirituality and a minor in Church History (2016). Ryan is the author of That God May Be All in All and several forthcoming books including Rediscovering God the Father and Kindred Leadership. Ryan enjoys teaching at Munster Bible College in Cork, Ireland and at the Bay Area Campus of Gateway Seminary. He has trained pastors in Uganda, Honduras, Mexico, the Philippines, Spain, and Hawaii. To unwind, Ryan loves training and teaching Brazilian Jiujitsu and playing the piano. Ryan and his wife Jennafer have been married since 1995 and have five children and two grandchildren.

Adam Co (PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is professor of theology at California Baptist University in Riverside, California. He has been teaching theology at CBU for 15 years. Prior to academia, he practiced law for several years as an attorney. He has also served as a pastor in the Chicago and Southern California areas, including English congregation pastor of Mandarin Baptist Church of Los Angeles. He is author of the book Providence in the Story of Scripture: The Work of God in Creation, Fall, Redemption and New Creation (Baker Academic). He has a forthcoming book on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit with B&H Publishing.

James Westbrook serves as the Send Network City Missionary for the San Francisco Bay Area, working with local churches to plant healthy, Christ-honoring churches amongst people of all ethnic groups in the Bay Area. He also planted a church in the SF Bay Area that represents over fifteen different ethnic groups and many nationalities. He transitioned out of the plant in the summer of 2025 to focus on planting churches in 11 counties in Northern California, where he travels quite a bit; the plant is doing well under new leadership, by God's grace.

Mr. Westbrook is a graduate of Gateway Seminary and is currently obtaining his doctorate in the area of Global Leadership. James and his beautiful wife Desiree’ have been happily married for over twenty-two years and together they have three fun-loving children.

Please keep the Westbrook family in prayer as they live with, serve, and share the Gospel with the nations across their community and beyond.

Luis Cardenas is the pastor of First Bilingual Baptist Church in Pico Rivera. Luis preaches in his church's English and Spanish services. He became part of the staff in 2015 after graduating from seminary. He and his wife, Veronica, have one son and two daughters.

Bio to come.