We are a Christian church in Upland California focusing on studying God’s Word, Connecting with others, Serving our community, and Sharing the hope of Jesus with others.
About LBF Church
We Follow Jesus Christ
We believe you don’t have to be perfect to come here, and you don’t have to have it all together. At LBF Church there are people from all walks of life trying to grow closer to God.
We exist to in Jesus and to our to do the same.
Passionate Pursuit
We chase Jesus wholeheartedly — with our time, habits, and hearts — making disciples as an overflow of love.
Life
Life in Jesus is forgiveness, purpose, and daily transformation by the Spirit — here and now.
Lead
Every believer influences others toward Jesus through serving, inviting, and modeling His way.
Neighbors
We start right where we live — loving our literal neighbors, our city, and the world God’s placed us in.
Vision
As we pursue our mission, our vision represents our next horizon – or our ability to see as far as we can with clarity, our plans to live out this mission.
Connecting
We envision families gathering, studying together, praying together, serving together, and creating real and meaningful relationships where they support each other and grow. LIFEgroups create community within our church where we walk alongside each other, sharing burdens, caring for needs, and encouraging each other towards LIFE in Jesus. They allow us to show grace to one-another and apply what we learn in our study of God’s Word.
The healthiest churches in the nation depend on LIFEgroups for creating a firm foundation. Likewise, LIFEgroups will be our key priority to unite our church family and get people connected and growing.
Serving
When Jesus modeled love-in-action, He did so as a servant. He invited us to be like Him. He commissioned us to make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). Jesus told us to feed His sheep. And He asked us to reach out to the disenfranchised, the homeless, the imprisoned, and the needy (Matthew 25: 31-46). Jesus asked us to preach the good news and to serve “the least of these brothers and sisters of mine.”
Love in Action
We envision creating projects that serve real needs of our community. These projects will be located in our community and beyond our church walls. They will provide opportunities for our church to be involved life-to-life with our neighbors – where conversations can take place and relationships can grow. They will be ongoing and sustainable so we can improve our outreach and learn to be even more helpful. They will always be about lifting up those we serve – establishing love, respect, dignity, and value no matter what the circumstances are. We will work together with other groups, organizations and churches whose goals and methods we admire. When we put love in action, we trust we will grow as Jesus will stretch and mold us into His image.
God's Word
God’s Word brings us LIFE! We envision deepening our knowledge, understanding and dependence on the Word of God. God reveals Himself through His Word. It is truth – accurate and penetrating – and as we come face-to-face with God’s Word, reading it and engaging it on a personal level, our lives will be changed. We are embracing God’s Word in new, intentional ways.
Bible Reading Plans
Our Bible Reading plans unite our church family as we journey together through God’s Word. Weekly emails and daily posts through our Facebook Bible Reading Page guide our readings and allow us to collaborate – sharing thoughts, asking questions, and genuinely encouraging each other.
Deeper Bible Study Events
Deeper Events are extended times of in-depth Bible study led by LBF Church Pastors. Through these extended times, we dive into God’s Word where we can really struggle, ponder, and uncover God’s deep truths and love. A mixture of lecture and Q&A, our Deeper Events provide opportunity to cover more ground than we can in Sunday morning services.
Sharing
God’s plan for getting the Good News of Jesus out to the world is through people just like you and me. And whether we take the time to think about it or not, if you are a follower of Jesus, people are watching your life. And this is a good thing. People are on a search for God – they desire to draw close to God but they don’t know how. This is where you come in. Whether the audience is large or small, every Christian has a sphere of influence. And within that sphere of influence are those to whom we can help bring an understanding of how a person can restore their broken relationship with God through Jesus.
LBF Church is committed to helping people know how to share their faith in our every day ordinary living. This is done through the relationships we already have in place. This is not about confronting people as much as it is about loving people and recognizing and then responding to the preparation that God is already doing in their life. We want to have our church family trained and prepared so that when the time is right they can share their faith so that others may personally receive Jesus.
Doctrinal Statement
Our statement of faith does not exhaust the extent of our beliefs. The Bible itself, as the inspired and infallible Word of God that speaks with final authority concerning truth, morality and the proper conduct of mankind, is the sole and final source of all that we believe.

We believe – The Bible (a) is the divinely inspired Word of God, inerrant in the original writings, (b) and is, therefore, the final authority in matters of faith and life (2 Timothy 3:16,17; 2 Peter 1:19–21).
We believe – in the Triune God, one in essence, eternally existing in three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, coequal in attributes, power, and glory and equally worthy of all obedience, worship, praise, and adoration (Matthew 28:19; Deuteronomy 6:4; John 14:6,7; John 5:23; Acts 5:3–4).
We believe – that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin and that He is in very truth God and in very truth man (Luke 1:30-35).
We believe – that the Lord Jesus Christ, having lived a sinless life, was buried following His crucifixion on the cross at Calvary and rose bodily from the dead; and that He is the only Savior through whom fallen man can find forgiveness and salvation (Luke 24; John 1:29; 8:46; Hebrews 4:15; I John 3:5).
We believe – that humanity is lost and sinful and therefore needs to be saved; that the forgiveness and salvation made possible by the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ on the cross comes to humanity through personal faith in Christ, the Crucified One, and that salvation is by grace alone, not by any good works (Romans 3:10-23; 6:23; Eph. 2:8–10; 1 Peter 2:24).
We believe – that the Holy Spirit baptizes the believer into the body of Christ at salvation, distributes Spiritual gifts to each believer as He wills, and seals the believer for the day of redemption (1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:30).
We believe – that Jesus Christ will come to this world to rule and reign in righteousness, and that His coming again is imminent and that it will be literal, personal and visible (John 14:1–6; Acts 1:11).
We believe – in the resurrection of both the saved and the unsaved; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are unsaved unto the resurrection of damnation (John 5:28-29; I Cor. 15; Rev. 20:4–6, 13; Daniel 12:2).
We believe – that the Lord Jesus Christ instituted and commanded two ordinances for His church: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 28:19; Luke 22:17–19; I Cor. 10:16; 11:23,24; Acts 2:38; 8:34–38; 10:47–48).
We believe – as Christians we are called to walk by the Spirit, not after the flesh, so our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in all things (Gal. 5:16–26; I Peter 4:11; Romans 12:1,2).
We believe – God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. Family is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood or adoption.
We believe – marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in a covenant commitment and is a sacrament of the church. Marriage is to provide for the man and the woman the framework for intimate companionship, the place for legitimate sexual expression according to biblical standards and the means for procreation of the human race.
We believe – that any sexual activity outside of marriage as described above is inconsistent with the teachings of the Bible and the Church. (Genesis 1:26–28, 2:15-25; Matthew 5:31–32, 18:2-5, 19:3–9; Romans 1:18–32; 1 Corinthians 7:1–16)
Our Staff and Elders
Dan Franklin
Lead Pastor, Elder

A California native, Dan has a bachelor’s in Biblical Studies from The Master’s College and a Master of Divinity from Multnomah Biblical Seminary. He has been on staff at LBF as the Pastor of Teaching since 2011. Married to Karina, they have three young boys – Matthew, Jack, and David. Besides his family, Dan is also passionate about seeing people overcome significant obstacles and embrace Jesus to find his calling for their lives. His favorite past times include reading, watching movies, playing tennis, riding his bike, and watching baseball and basketball.

Troy Spilman
Executive Pastor, Elder

After growing up in the Bay Area, Troy received his BA in Santa Barbara and later completed his Master’s in Christian Ministry. Troy began pastoral ministry three weeks before marrying Heidi in 1997. They have three children: Caedon, Ariel, and Tate. Troy joined the LBF team as the Serving Pastor in 2017 and transitioned to the XP (Executive Pastor) role in 2022. He has a passion for seeing people built up in the faith in the local community and around the globe. Favorite pastimes include exploring different cultures, hiking with his family, and having movie nights with his wife

Laurie Baiz
LIFEkids Pastor

Born in San Dimas and raised in Glendora, Laurie is a local who also attended school locally. She has an AA in Liberal Arts from Citrus College and a BFA from Cal State Fullerton. After 5-and-a-half years of dating, Laurie married her husband, Michael, in 1999. They have two children and together their family has been attending LBF Church since 2006. Laurie is passionate about teaching in fun and creative ways. She also loves to organize and plan events, and then watch them transpire.

Jeff Taylor
Student Ministries Pastor

Jeff and his wife, Laura, have three children, who he loves to spend time with and is passionate about raising them to love God, to know how special he has made them, and to love people without reservation. In fact, Jeff desires to help all people see how real God is and how much He loves us, bringing their understanding of God to a deeper more personal level in practical ways.

Andy Watson
Worship Pastor

Raised in a Christian home, Andy accepted Jesus as his personal savior when he was 16 and began leading worship soon after. During his senior year of high school he knew God was calling him to full-time ministry. Andy is passionate about God’s call for us to care for the orphan, as well as sharing the truth of the gospel in musically creative ways. His favorite artists and musical influences are Delirious, Tim Hughes, Matt Redman, Jesus Culture, Hillsong United, and Phil Wickham.

Summer Brown
Women’s Pastor

Summer would say that she is a California girl in spirit and in lifestyle, but her heart belongs to the nations. She and her husband Greg spent eight years serving the Lord together in a global capacity in Europe, where they welcomed their son Kodiak. She is passionate about gathering and connecting women and bringing them in unity to the feet of Jesus. If there is food, ridiculous games, laughter, dark chocolate, and deep conversations… you can count Summer in!

Tim Longo
Outreach Pastor

Tim and his family have attended LBF Church since 2002. He is passionate about helping people use their gifts to draw them closer to Jesus through serving Him locally and globally. He is also passionate about building relationships with those in other parts of the world that haven’t had the opportunity to experience the love of Jesus. Tim, his wife Tracy, and their two children, Ruby and Hayden, have lived in Upland since 2000 and love their community. Some say that Tim’s interest in motorcycles is something he should seek help for. He maintains it’s just a healthy interest.

Garrett Gerhart
Strategic Communications & Young Adults Pastor

Garrett has been serving in church ministry since 2003. After receiving a BA in Church Ministry from Hope International University, he was called to Youth Ministry for many years. As a Youth Pastor Garrett got a first-hand look at the implications of the most significant shift in communication in 100 years. This led to an MA in Communications with research into the effects of social media on the Church. He is passionate about how and what LBF Church communicates to its community. He and his wife Stacey have been married since 2007 and have two daughters, Lucy and Adeline.

John Eltiste
Pastor

John is a local boy growing up in Ontario. He and his wife Natalie have been married for 26 years. They have two adult children Zach and Kaitlin. John and Natalie lived in San Antonio for nine years, where they were part of a church plant and different ministries. They have been attending LBF Church since returning to CA. John has a passion for people and is looking forward to seeing how the Lord uses him here at LBF Church.

Ethan Nolan
456/Exit83 Youth Coordinator

Ethan grew up in Rancho Cucamonga, California. He, his wife Natalie, and their son Levi began attending LBF in 2025. Ethan felt called to ministry in high school, leading him to help start a church and serve in various roles—including leader, intern, director, and pastor—over the past decade. He loves investing in people of all ages, helping them know God personally, and equipping those called into ministry. Outside of church, Ethan enjoys barbecuing, watching movies and TV shows, and embarking on new adventures with his family.

Ryan Godoy
Video Coordinator

Born and raised right here in Upland, Ryan graduated with his bachelor’s in Communication at Cal Poly Pomona. Passionate about film-making, Ryan has been on staff as LBF’s Video Coordinator since 2012. He and his wife, Kathy, were married in 2014.

Lea Lee
Programs Coordinator

Hailing from Vincennes, Indiana, Lea attained a Bachelor’s in graphic design and fine art through Vincennes University and Indiana State University. After stumbling upon LBF Church through our website and attending Meet LBF, she quickly made LBF Church her home. Lea is passionate about the Bible, books, food, and musicals.

Greg Lindsay
Director of Business Operations

Greg joined the LBF staff in 2024. He and his wife Joy are Pastors’ “kids” who grew up in La Verne. They have been married for 35 years and have 3 adult children: Mark, Kaylen, and Jarret. Before, Greg spent 35 years in corporate business in strategic management, operations, budgeting, project management, and leadership. He has a Masters of Business Administration from the University of La Verne. His transition into church operations is driven by his personal faith and desire to leverage his business background to enhance the church’s administrative functions and ensure financial stewardship.

Zach Rubio
Facilities Specialist

Zach grew up in Claremont, California. He found LBF through the website and decided to attend a Sunday service. From then on, he declared LBF as his second home. Before he was welcomed onto staff, he regularly volunteered around the campus. He enjoys reading, music, and nature. Furthermore, he is passionate about God, serving the church, and opportunities to grow.

Emilia Vargas
Payroll/Accounting Manager

Emilia was born and raised in L.A. She went to high school in West Covina, where she met Sergio. They married in 1985 and now have 3 grown, married children, 6 grandkids – and counting! She loves the outdoors, discovering new places and reading historical fiction.

Sarah Romero
Accounts Receivable & Communications Coordinator

Sarah grew up in Orange County, California. She and her husband, Ruben, have been married for 18 years and are proud parents to five daughters. After spending several years in Riverside, they settled in Upland in 2017, where Life Bible Fellowship Church quickly became their home church. Before joining the LBF staff in 2021, Sarah was an active volunteer in both LIFEKids and Guest Services. She loves spending time at the beach, baking, and hanging out with her family.

Ruby Longo
LIFEkids Assistant

Ruby Longo has attended LBF since 2007. She grew up attending LIFEkids ministries and was an active member in Exit83. After graduating from Upland High School, she went on to be a volunteer for 3 years as a Exit83 Detour Group Leader and worship leader. She is currently attending Cal State Fullerton studying Communicative Disorders with plans to become a Speech and Language Pathologist working with young people. Her love of kids and Jesus are what motivates her and why she loves being part of the LIFEkids team.

Gwen Pitts
456 Coordinator

Born and raised in Long Beach, Gwen met her husband Matt while studying at LBCC. They now live in Ontario with their five children, and have been calling LBF home since 2016. Gwen loves spending time with her family, laughing, watching old movies, and the rain.

Nichole Landon
Graphic Designer

Nichole grew up in the countryside north of Paso Robles, CA. She attended Biola University to study studio arts with an emphasis in design. After graduating she went on to work at LBF Church in 2020 as the graphic designer. She enjoys doing ceramics, drawing, swimming, reading books and spending lots of time with friends and family.

Tyler Townley
Sound Engineer, Assistant Video Coordinator

Tyler runs sound every Sunday at Life Bible Fellowship Church and also helped install much of the lighting and video equipment that makes the campus look and sound great. He’s a valuable part of the staff team. Say hi to Tyler in the sound booth on Sunday mornings!

Kiki Hahs
Pastoral Assistant

Kiki was the first person in her family to get a formal education. She was eventually led to get an LVN degree, graduating with honors at 53 years old. Before she was able to land her first job, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. After successfully beating cancer, the opportunity to work at LBF Church opened and she couldn’t turn it down. What a blessing it is to work with a great staff and be a part of the LBF Church family! Married, with two daughters and three grandchildren, she and her husband Greg and have a collection of vintage cars they enjoy sharing with others.

Kristen Shores
HR/Payables Admin

Kristen grew up in Sunland, California. She and her husband, Rich, have been married for 28 years. After spending 18 years in Washington and Arizona they settled here in Upland. Life Bible Fellowship was the second church they visited and have called it home for 9 years. Kristen did a lot of volunteer work over the years at LBF before coming on staff. She loves to spend time with family and friends, reading and playing in the dirt (also known as gardening).

Shauntel Raymond
LIFEcare Coordinator

Shauntel grew up in Glendora, California. She and her husband Chad have three children and have been coming to LBF Church for 23 years, where she says, “It’s such a joy to come to a place where the leaders and elders have a such a passion for the word and for God’s truth and the people. We all have a story and I love being able to meet new people and see how God is at work in their lives and what he has in store for their future.”

Kim Cooke
Outreach Coordinator/Sunday LIFEkids Coordinator

Kim proudly says she’s from Chicago, though her family relocated to Rancho Cucamonga, California when she was just two years old. She and her husband, Darrin, still live there and have been members of LBF Church since 1996. They have three adult daughters – Payton, Taylor, and Lacey. Kim is happiest when camping at the beach with her family or watching a Bears game.

Jeff Collier
Elder

Jeff and his wife Colleen met in the college group at Grace Church Glendora and have been married for 41 years. They have three adult children and five grandchildren. Jeff served for over 40 years in city government before retiring, after which they moved to Rancho Cucamonga. They started attending LBF Church and have been members since 2021. Jeff enjoys volunteering wherever he can be of use to the Lord and serves on the Board of Trustees for Oak Valley College. Jeff is involved in Men’s Bible Study, New Commandment Ministry, and he and Colleen lead a LIFEgroup. He is excited to serve LBF.

Bob Butler
Elder

Bob was raised in San Dimas and became a believer in Jesus Christ at age 19 thanks to his girlfriend Cathy who later became his wife. They have two wonderful sons, Todd and Drew, and three grandchildren that they adore. Cathy and Bob started a business in 1985 that’s still going strong! Bob believes in raising up the next generation of leaders and loves teaching children and youth to be Christ-like. He enjoys restoring pre-’65 Porsches and VWs and is excited to see Life Bible Fellowship Church grow in its passionate pursuit of LIFE in Jesus.

Loren Van Woudenberg
Elder

Loren and his wife Diane are native Californians and have been married for 53 years. They have attended LBF since 2018. The have three married children, nine grandkids, and three great-grandkids. Loren taught high school for eleven years and has been in full-time ministry for 39 years until he retired. His passion is teaching in Life Kids (K-3), facilitating a LIFE Group, and seeing people become fruitful and fulfilled as they use their gifts.


Join us this Sunday
We have three services every Sunday, 8 a.m., 9:30 a.m. & 11 a.m. We also have an online, live service beginning at 9:30 am for those who want to check out what an LBF service is like. We’re looking forward to meeting you!




