Rev. Israel Gonzales
Israel Gonzales is a first generation Presbyterian minister and calls himself a "presbycostal" since he was raised in a bilingual Assemblies of God church. He learned to appreciate the diversity and richness of the Christian family tree by being educated at a Baptist private school from K-8 and graduating from a Roman Catholic high school.
He is a Southern California native who later received his undergraduate degree in Church Ministry with an emphasis on Evangelism from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, OK. It was there he met his lovely wife, Ada (aka Eunice), while she earned her degree in Christian Education. They were married in 1996. They moved to California in 1997 and began raising a family while being involved in church and parachurch ministry. Israel eventually served as Youth Director at Wesminster Presbyterian Church where he was mentored and encouraged to continue his Master of Divinity studies at Fuller Theological Seminary.
Upon completion of his seminary studies in 2005, Israel and Ada accepted the call from the Presbytery of Santa Barbara to become the "second" designated pastor for New Covenant Presbyterian Church, a New Church Development nested at First Presbyterian Church of Santa Maria which was (and is) situated in the downtown area where new life and business have struggled to emerge.
Israel later became the designated pastor of First Presbyterian Church in 2006 (while still pastoring New Covenant) and served as a catalyst for God's work of reconciliation, healing, and mobilization of new ministry. Both leadership groups prayed for wisdom as they imagined and dreamed of new possibilities: becomining a new church together. After several months of prayer and planning, the congregations voted to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit to become a "new wineskin" for "new wine", to embrace change not for the sake of survival but for the sake of God's name, story, and mission of glorifying Jesus, God's only Son.
In January of 2007, First Presbyterian Church and New Covenant NCD (New Church Development) united as one, blended, multicultural church with the blessings and support of the Presbytery of Santa Barbara.
In January of 2010, Santa Maria Presbyterian Church agreed to partner with Highlands Church in Paso Robles to share the pastoral ministry of Pastor Israel. Israel is 3/4 time in Santa Maria and 1/4 time in Paso Robles.
Israel and Ada have four children: Sarah, Hannah, Elijah, and Josiah. Israel and Ada love great movies, wonderful food, traveling, and time with family. Israel enjoys watching the Lakers win, eating a Dodger dog at Dodger Stadium, playing chess, and drinking an Extra-Hot Vanilla Latte from Starbucks. Ada was born in India and grew up in Texas. She enjoys fun people, trying new things, making crafts, swimming, and the outdoors.