We’ve designated an area for you to get to know us better, although we’d much rather meet you in person! All of our staff & leadership are actively involved on Sundays and in Growth Group studies during the week.
Pastors, Elders & Deacons
Ted LeavenworthLead Pastor
Ted Leavenworth is the founding pastor of Reliance Church. He planted Reliance in 2007 and serves as the main teaching Pastor and President of the Board of Directors.
Prior to starting Reliance Church, Pastor Ted was the founder & Executive Pastor of Calvary Chapel Menifee, where he served for 15 years. Before that, Ted served as a Paramedic / Firefighter for 10 years, graduating from Daniel Freeman Paramedic School in Inglewood, California. He transferred to Riverside County in 1987 where he attended and graduated RCF’s Engineer Academy and served as a Paramedic Firefighter with the Riverside County Fire Department until 1995, when he entered full-time ministry.
Pastor Ted is a graduate of the Calvary Chapel School of Ministry and has a passion for church planting. Following the Lord’s leading, Pastor Ted has personally planted two churches and has helped to plant several others, serving on the Board of Directors of six Southern California churches. Pastor Ted has been married to his wife, Brenda since 1984. Together, they have three adult children and three grandchildren.
Nick MitchellExecutive Pastor
Nick Mitchell joined the Reliance team in the fall of 2011 serving as the Executive Pastor. Among other duties, Pastor Nick is primarily responsible to assist Pastor Ted in the day-to-day management and oversight of the church office and staff.
Prior to working with Reliance Church he was on staff at the Calvary Chapel Conference Center in Murrieta. Through his 10 years at the Conference Center, Nick held various roles before being promoted to the Assistant Director. He attended the Calvary Chapel Bible College in 2001 and then earned his business administration degree from the University of Phoenix in February 2011.
In 2004 Nick met his wife, Sara and proposed within six weeks; operating under the philosophy “if you know, why wait?” Five months later in June of 2005, they were married. Nick and Sara have three young daughters Nia, Emilia and Rose.
Kyle CurryStudent Ministries Pastor
Kyle has been married to his high school sweetheart, Sarah, since 2008. They had their first Child, Bella, in July 2009 and are expecting another child in April 2012. Kyle is the Student Ministries Pastor at Reliance, a ministry in which he and his wife have served faithfully since February of 2007. With a heart for ministry and a passion for the word of God, Kyle exemplifies a godly example for the students of Reliance Church.
Cody KingPastor
Cody King is one of the founding pastors of Reliance Church and serves on the Board of Directors. Pastor Cody is responsible in assisting Pastor Ted and the Board in the overseeing of the ministries of the church. Accordingly, Pastor Cody works closely with the various ministry leaders of the church to ensure the vision of ministry is clearly understood and executed day-to-day. He has a passion for teaching and discipleship, using his gifts to facilitate the growth and development of our many Bible studies, classes, teachers and programs.
A graduate of the Calvary Chapel Bible College, Pastor Cody served as the full-time youth pastor at Revival Christian Fellowship in Menifee from 2003 to 2007. He has been married to his wife, Myca, since 2002. Together, they have four young daughters: Hailey, Leah, Ainslee, and Breelyn.
Jairo MartinezSpanish Pastor
Jairo Martinez is the pastor of the Spanish Ministry at Reliance Church. Jairo served as a leader in the Spanish ministry at Calvary Chapel Romoland, and he was sent to us by their pastor, Gerry Brown, in the Spring of 2010 to bring much needed leadership to our Spanish Ministry here. Pastor Jairo is a native of Columbia, and he and his wife, Marta, have lived in Southern California for many years. Jairo is a graduate of the Calvary Chapel Bible College.
Scott LoseeElder
Scott Losee serves as an Elder at Reliance Church and is responsible to oversee church operations, working closely with the Deacons to insure that the practical needs of the church are met.
Scott helped plant Reliance Church. He served faithfully as a Deacon from 2007 through 2009 and became an Elder in 2010. Prior to his service here at Reliance Church, Scott served for many years as a Sunday School teacher at Revival Christian Fellowship in Menifee.
Scott has an extensive business management background, serving as a Corporate Vice-President for many years, before starting his own Real Estate Investment Company. Scott is a devoted husband and father of three. He has been married to his wife Autumn since 1999 and together, they have three children; Emma, Aidan, & Liam.
Tom WolterHead Deacon
Tom Wolter is the Head Deacon at Reliance Church, overseeing all things maintenance – parking, greeting, ushering, helps…you get the idea. Tom recently retired from the Rancho Water District where he served as the Director of Maintenance. Prior to attending Reliance Church, Tom served as a Deacon in Calvary Chapel for 6 years.
Tom and his wife Kathy have four adult children.
Darius MarianoDeacon and VBS/AWANA Director
Darius Mariano is a Deacon at Reliance Church. He & his wife Emily helped plant Reliance Church. Darius & Emily have been married since 2000 and have two boys, Nathan & Noah. Darius served faithfully as our Children’s Ministry Director for over two years and is now our AWANA Commander & oversees the Vacation Bible School program.
Darius also serves in our Worship ministry
Richard AllenDeacon
Richard Allen and his wife Janet have been attending Reliance since April 2008. Richard serves as a Deacon at Reliance church. The literal definition of deacon is “one who serves”. This description fits Richard perfectly as he is very active serving God in the children’s ministry, men’s ministry, prison ministry, and our community food outreaches.
Richard previously attended and served in various ministries at Safe Harbor Christian Fellowship prior to coming to Reliance. He has served as a Children’s Ministry teacher since 2000 and has served in Jail/Prison Ministry since 2003. Richard has been married to his wife Janet, for over 25 years and together they have three adult children and three grandchildren.
Aaron RusslerDeacon
Aaron and his wife, Sarah, have been with Reliance Church since its launch in 2007. Aaron oversees the sanctuary setup and teardown crews, as well as actively serving in children’s ministry and men’s ministry leadership.
In 2005, Aaron moved to San Diego after graduating from Purdue University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Construction Management. He currently works as a project manager for a San Diego based Electrical Contractor. He and Sarah have a passion for hospitality and fellowship; they regularly host growth groups and fellowship nights at their home. They have two young daughters, Kaelyn and Averie, and are expecting twins!
Zach HodgesWorship Ministry Director
Zach Hodges is the Worship Ministry Director at Reliance.
He has an extensive background in music and music production and spent many years producing for Tooth and Nail and BEC Records in Seattle, Washington. Prior to attending Reliance Church, Zach served in the worship ministry at Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington. A man of many talents, Zach is also an accomplished professional photographer. Zach married his wife, Katelyn, in 2006 and they had their first child, Holland in December, 2010.
Staff & Leadership
Shirley RuizChurch Administrator
Shirley Ruiz is the Church Administrator at Reliance Church. As such, Shirley manages the church office and its staff to administrate church operations and to assist the ministry leaders in the administrative facilitation of their ministries. Shirley previously served as the Administrator for the youth ministry at Revival Christian Fellowship for 5 years.
Prior to that, Shirley was the CFO for Family Business in Washington for 5 years. Amazingly, Shirley has also been a homeschooling mom for the past 12 years. Shirley has been married to her husband, Mike since 1989 and together they have four children; Niko, Dominic, Susie, & Alex.
Brenda LeavenworthWomen’s Ministry Director
Brenda currently serves as the Women’s Ministry Director at Reliance Church. She has been married to her husband, Ted since 1984 and together have served in the ministry since the early 1990.
Over those years, Brenda has served in just about every area of ministry; “except the Men’s ministry”, she says. Her heart and passion is teaching women to follow Jesus. She has three adult children: Megan, married to Ben Hanks, Katelyn, married to Zach Hodges, and Scott, married to Jessica Leavenworth. Additionally, she has three grandchildren – Willow, and Holland, & Jude.
Tami PenaChildren’s Ministry Director
Tami Peña has served faithfully in the Children’s Ministry at Reliance Church since 2009 as the Director of our Children’s Ministry. She and her husband Jason (her High School Sweetheart) were married in 1994 and have lived in Temecula ever since.
Tami has extensive experience – serving over 20 years in children’s ministry leadership and she loves Jesus and His kids. Fittingly, Tami became a Christian at the age of 4 while attending a Vacation Bible School and has carried with her a life long passion to help children to know and to serve Jesus. Her previous ministry service includes several years on staff at Calvary Chapel North County & Temecula Creek Christian Fellowship. Tami & Jason have two children; Mariah & Elijah.
Scott LeavenworthTech & Creative Director
Scott Leavenworth has a love for Jesus and a passion for worship. He serves primarily as the Tech & Creative Director for Reliance Church, responsible for sound, media, lighting, & graphic design. Additionally, Scott is a gifted musician and plays many roles on our various worship teams (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, & drums)
1 Timothy 4:12 says; “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” – Scott exemplifies this verse, serving faithfully at Reliance Church from the very beginning. Scott comes from a ministry family. Not only is he a Pastor’s son (being active in the church since he can remember) but he was also an actor in the Hollywood entertainment industry for over 16 years. A mission field where was able to shine the light of Christ as Jesus commands in Matthew 5:16. Scott was married to his wife, Jessica, in November of 2011.
Luke VanderburgMulti-Media
Luke serves as the Visual Arts Coordinator at Reliance Church.
Having been brought up in a missionary family, Luke understands what it means to be sold out for Christ. Luke was born in a small town in Kenya, grew up in the Congo and lived in Indonesia as well as Mali all before the age of 10. Luke’s family came off the mission field in 2001, and has been in the Temecula area since 2005. Luke has two brothers, and three adopted sisters from the Ukraine.
As well as working at Reliance, Luke has a passion for flying just like his father. When he’s not building something or working with technology he is logging flight hours to pursue his goal of being a professional pilot.
Sara RupertMOPS & Nursery Coordinator
Sara joined the Reliance team in early 2011 to serve as the MOPS and Nursery Coordinator. She and her husband Jeff helped plant Reliance Church in 2007. They have been married for over 14 years and have four grown sons. They have been living in the Temecula area since 2004.
Over the past 20 years, Sara has served the Lord wherever He has called her, from children’s ministry, to worship ministry, to women’s ministry.
Sara loves encouraging and helping women find their identity in Jesus Christ and to know that in Him they have worth and a purpose.
