Leadership

Serving the Church

Throughout the Bible, God sets apart leaders to care for and serve His people, yet leadership in the Bible is distinctively different. Leaders in the church are called to serve, under God, to equip and build up others (Ephesians 4:11-12). The Bible lays out two main offices of leadership in the local church: elders and deacons.

Elders

The biblical picture of elders is found in 1 Timothy 3, Acts 20, and Titus 1. At King's Cross, elders are trained to see themselves primarily as shepherds (1 Peter 5) who lead, feed, know, and protect those entrusted to their care.

Deacons

The biblical picture of deacons is found in Acts 6 and 1 Timothy 3. The title deacon comes from the Greek word for “servant.” Deacons at King's Cross serve the church in a variety of capacities. They assist the elders of the church in diverse areas such as the Finance Team, Operations, Mercy Ministry, and Pastoral Care.

“Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

Mark 10:42-45

Our Staff

Russ Hightower

LEAD PASTOR

Russ grew up in South Carolina on a steady diet of bacon and grits. He graduated from Wake Forest (Religion) and Princeton (Master of Divinity).

He met his wife, Amanda, in New Jersey. They served in Jersey, Tennessee, and Mississippi before coming to LA in 2018. They have three children, one of whom awaits them in heaven. Russ is a recovering Pharisee who loves sci-fi movies, reading with his kids, college football, Coke Zero, and dad jokes.

Russ Hightower

Johnny Park

YOUTH DIRECTOR

Johnny loves serving the church and leading young students to know the love of Christ. He is a graduate of Cal State Fullerton and Fuller Theological Seminary with a Masters in Divinity.

Johnny grew up in Fullerton. He loves to read, play basketball, run, watch movies, and listen to podcasts at 1.2X speed. He closely follows the Los Angeles Dodgers and Lakers. He loves all types of food, especially Mexican and Korean, and can drink black coffee all day. He is always on the hunt for King Taco hot sauce and Sriracha. Johnny recently got married and loves being a part of King's Cross!

Johnny Park

Joe Brown

EXECUTIVE PASTOR

Joe is responsible for operations and details. He and his wife Tricia grew up nearby and have three adult children (and a son-in-law). Joe graduated from Berkeley (Architecture) and Biola-Talbot (Master of Divinity). After years of serving as a Youth Pastor down here, Joe served as an Associate Pastor on the Central Coast, then as a Lead Pastor in Northern California. Returning to SoCal to invest in a church plant has been a whole new experience; yet surrounded by the comforts of home! Joe is into skateboarding, kettlebells, Formula 1 on Netflix, Disneyland, and photography.

Joe Brown

Danielle Heath

CHILDREN'S DIRECTOR

Danielle was born and raised in Torrance and graduated from Biola University with a degree in Christian Ministries. After college, Danielle served in outreach youth ministry with South Bay Young Life, which stirred up a desire in her to see more students experience the abundant life Jesus offers!
In April 2019, the Lord called Danielle to serve the children here at PCC South Bay, which is now King’s Cross. She is honored to partner with the families to raise up their children to know and serve Jesus. Danielle enjoys hanging out with friends, In-N-Out, singing and playing her guitar, and walking by the beach. Currently, she is pursuing a Master of Arts in Bible Exposition at Talbot School of Theology. Her biggest prayer for the children here at King’s Cross is that they would be ambassadors for Jesus in the South Bay and beyond!

Danielle Heath

Andrea Gamble

OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR

As someone who loves to learn, Andrea has a wide array of experience. After graduating from CSULB with a BA in Communication, she managed the office of a mystery shopping company, then, while homeschooling her 3 sons, she worked as a paraprofessional teaching natural childbirth classes and assisting her husband with the office duties of his construction business. Prior to her position as Administrator at King's Cross, she gained valuable experience managing the church office at a local Long Beach church. You can find her enjoying the beach with her family or reading a book with a cat on her lap.

Andrea Gamble

Brandon Kaiser

WORSHIP LEADER

Brandon is originally from Ohio and moved to L.A. in 2001. He has worked and served in El Segundo, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Hawthorne. When he's not leading worship, you'll find Brandon cooking, gardening and watching old movies with his wife, Cherise. They live in the South Bay with their three kids, a boy, and two girls.

Brandon Kaiser

Andrew Kim

AUDIO / VISUAL TECHNICIAN LEAD

Andrew was born in Korea, and raised in Downey, California after moving at the young age of 7 months old. After falling in love with music, he strives to make sure everyone else can enjoy it as he does. He is currently finishing a BA in Digital Media Arts at CSUDH.

Other than music, Andrew enjoys searching for delicious foods all over Los Angeles. This includes fresh caught uni at Redondo Beach, to exploring bao buns at night markets. What better combination than good food and good music?

Bryant Woodert