Meet our team

The Henry Family

This is our Pastor and his family! The Henry Family joined Valley Christian Center in October 2019. Chris and Beverly have been a part of church ministry for a combined 50 years, serving in many roles, and taking on tasks where there has been a need.

They both felt the unmistakable call to pursue full-time pastoral ministry in 2018. After seeking direction from God for a year, they were led to serve as Lead Pastors at Valley Christian Center. Their children, Melody, Liam, and Trinity are already finding new roles in ministry here! Train them up as they should go....

Pastor Chris Henry

Pastor Chris joined Valley Christian Center in October of 2019.

He spent 33 years ministering in the church where his father was lead pastor, serving as worship pastor, youth pastor, and Director of Christian Education. He is passionate about helping others build a relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, because it's easy to receive from someone you know and love.

Chris is an Ordained minister with the Assemblies of God. He received his education through Berean School of the Bible at Global University, as well as earning a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from CSU-Stanislaus.

Pastor Chris also had a 20 year career in Health Care Business Development. Today, Chris brings all these experiences and now uses them to further God's Kingdom, including authoring the book, "The 8th Church: The Shining Church of California."

Angela Cowell - Worship Pastor

Angela Cowell joined Valley Christian Center as Worship Pastor in the fall of 2019. She is a well known and respected singer up and down the West Coast, singing with her traveling family vocal band for over 25 years. She also spent 5 years as worship leader for a local church right here in Ceres. She brings with her an ability to combine current modern praise songs with classic hymns of the church, making our worship truly inter-generational and uplifting for people of all ages.

Angela and her husband, Derek Cowell (who leads our Welcome Team), were married in 2008, and together they raise their son here in Ceres. She is also an elementary school teacher during the week.

Beverly Henry - Children's Pastor

Beverly Henry joined Valley Christian Center with Pastor Chris in October 2019. She has worked in Children's Ministries, Sunday School classes, and directed Vacation Bible Schools since she was a teenager, always having a passion to bring the story of Jesus to the little ones in our church and community.

Beverly is also an elementary school teacher in the area, having a degree in Education. She has authored several lessons published by VBS media companies, and has years of experience in child development.

Beverly is also an advocate of Organic products. She has struggled with severe skin allergies and Celiac disease most of her life. These illnesses have only led her to help those around her who have similar issues.

Laura Springston - Women's Ministry Director

Laura Springston joined Valley Christian Center in 2020 and quickly felt a passion to pour her life into the lives of the women of our church. Whether you are married, unmarried, widowed, divorced, or a single mom, Laura has a desire to see you become part of our family and draw closer to Jesus.

Laura would tell you that she has had the normal (and crazy) life that most women experience, juggling family and work life for many years. She is widowed with 2 children and 7 grandchildren. She worked as an RN for over 30 years. Most of that career was spent in Hospice care. Laura was director of Hospice of Emanuel (Turlock, CA) for many years. She ended her career as a clinical instructor for a nursing college.

She also spent many years as a Sunday School teacher, and still has a heart for children and teenagers to become disciples of Jesus Christ.

shelby smith - Youth Pastor/ Operations DIrector

Shelby Smith joined Valley Christian Center as our Youth Pastor in the Summer of 2022. Shelby has been a youth pastor and Bible Study teacher for many years as God has called her to minister to this

very important age group. She is also our Operations Director, assisting each ministry department to enable them to

be more effective in their kingdom work.

Shelby is an organizational expert and can often see efficiencies that others cannot. Along with that, she has a passion to draw people closer to Jesus in their everyday lives. Her passion for young people shines brightly every time there's a gathering. Expect a lot of fun as well as Godly teaching when you find Shelby with our teens.

Shannon and Ricky Garcia - Welcome Team

Shannon and Ricky were married in December of 2021 and immediately knew that God had called them to minister to people in our church. They both recognized that for many people, walking into a new church can be intimidating and sometimes scary. That's what made them decide that they would build and lead a team that would help people feel the warmth of Christ and the welcoming family-feeling of our church.

Their testimony of the lives God rescued them from is nothing short of supernatural. It's in those testimonies that love for God's children has become their guiding principle in their lives and their marriage.