Ben Abrahamsen

Elder; Lay Pastor


Ben Abrahamsen grew up in Redding and was saved at Cow Creek Community Church. He graduated from the University of Rochester with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. After living in upstate NY for a few years, Ben returned to Redding and started Frontier Consulting Engineers in 2011. Between 2013 and 2020, Ben completed a theological degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has been attending Cow Creek since 2015. 


Area of Oversight: Missions

Family: Ben and Natalie were married in 2009, and they have 4 children: Eliya, Anna, Lydia, and John. 

Passionate Hobby: Reading, playing basketball and tennis, backpacking.

A Favorite Book: Wingfeather Saga (Andrew Peterson), Till We Have Faces (C.S. Lewis), The Glory of Christ (John Owen), and the ever-expanding John Piper corpus.

MIKE FORAN

Elder; Lay Pastor


Mike was a power plant electrician working for USBR at Trinity Dam in Trinity County. He was saved by Christ through a VBS program held at Lewiston Community Church that his wife and children attended in 1982. He was disabled on the job in 1989 and moved to Redding in 1991. He and his wife started attending Cow Creek Community Church and he was honored to begin serving on the elder board in 1993.   


Areas of Oversight: Saints Alive

Family: Mike is married to Linda, and they have three children: Scott, Aric, and Mary; and eight grandchildren.

Passionate Hobby: Bible Study

A Favorite Book: The Bible and The Second Coming (John MacArthur)

Paul kaukonen

Elder; Lay Pastor


Paul grew up in Redding. He is a teacher at U-Prep and has been attending Cow Creek since 2006.


Area/s of Oversight: Jr./Sr. High Sunday School

Family: Paul is married to Sarah, and they have four children: Jakob, Micah, Titus, and Lucas.

Passionate Hobbies: Playing guitar and reading

A Favorite Book: The Talent Code (Daniel Coyle)

Sam Klass

Associate Pastor


Sam grew up in Escondido, CA. God used the book of Matthew to confront Sam with the godless self-centered orientation of his life and graciously unveil his need for Christ. Sam has studied at Shasta Bible College, and later Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. Sam spent four years in pastoral ministry in Quebec before joining Cow Creek. He and his wife Grace have three young children. He is preeminently grateful that God justifies the wicked, and does by his grace, that which we could never do by our works. He counts himself very privileged to be able to grow and serve in a local church that loves Christ and loves each other.


Areas of Oversight: Children's Ministry and Home Fellowship Groups

Family: Sam and Grace were married in 2016 and have young 3 children: Asaph, Iris, and Ellie.

Passionate Hobbies: I enjoy doing all things sports (except merely “running”, which is no sport at all). I enjoy being with other people. I enjoy being outside. I enjoy jumping off tall things into water. “Passionate hobbies” is a bit of an overstatement.

Favorite Books: Missionary biographies.

PAUL ROWE

Elder; Lay Pastor


Paul was born in Lone Pine, CA and grew up in Cottonwood, CA. He is a Water Quality Engineer at California Division of Drinking Water and has been at Cow Creek since March 1997.


Area of Oversight: Music Ministry

Family: Paul is married to Janell, and they have three children: Caleb, Karlee, and Caden; and two grandchildren.

Passionate Hobby: Woodworking

A Favorite Book: Living the Cross-Centered Life (C.J. Mahaney).

Caleb rowe

Youth Intern


Caleb grew up in Redding and was raised attending Cow Creek Church since 2001. He was baptized by his father, Paul, on June 2, 2013 at Whiskeytown Lake and became a member of Cow Creek shortly after. He graduated from Chico State University with a bachelor’s degree in animal science.


Area of Oversight: Youth Ministry

Family: Caleb is married to Wendy, and they have one daughter: Callie.

Passionate Hobby: Anything with his wife and daughter, fly fishing, working on vehicles, off-roading, mountain biking, hunting, playing guitar, and reading.

Favorite Books: The Bible (God), Knowing Christ (Mark Jones), and Rediscovering Humility (Christopher Hutchinson).

JEREMY TWOMBLEY

Elder; Preaching Pastor


Jeremy grew up in Redding for most of his life. During that time, he attended and was saved at Cow Creek Community Church. Eventually, Jeremy left Redding for 15 years, during which time he attended CSU Chico, Multnomah Biblical Seminary, and then served as a pastor at Immanuel Baptist Church in Sacramento. In God's providence, he was called back to Redding in 2014 to pastor Cow Creek and has served in that role since that time. Jeremy is married with 4 children. He loves spending time with his family, and loves to read in his spare time. While he is a sinner who struggles through life like every other Christian, the Lord has been very good to him and he is grateful to serve the Lord in pastoral ministry alongside his fellow elders at a church that has been especially dear to his heart over the years.    


Areas of Oversight: Preaching/teaching and pastoral care  

Family: Jeremy and Jeralyn were married in 2004, and they have 4 children: Hannah, Benjamin, Abigail, and Leah. 

Passionate Hobbies: Reading, playing softball, basketball, and golf, as well as following the A's and 49ers

Favorite Books: Besides the Bible, A New Testament Biblical Theology (G.K. Beale), Redemption Accomplished and Applied (John Murray), and for fun, The Lord of the Rings (J. R. R. Tolkien).

STEVE WATSON

Elder; Lay Pastor


Steve Watson was born in Akron, Ohio, but spent time growing up first in Santa Maria, California, then back in northeast Ohio. While there, he graduated from the University of Akron with a degree in Chemical Engineering. He moved to Redding in 1997 and enjoys calling it home. Steve is an engineer for the State's Division of Drinking Water and has been attending Cow Creek since 2004.


Areas of Oversight: Deacons and Technology

Family: Steve and Patricia were married in 1998, they have five children: Naomi, Ava, Luke, Daniel, and Caroline.  

Hobbies: Mountain biking, growing fruit trees, bee keeping, and Karate

Favorite Books: The Lord of the Rings (J. R. R. Tolkien), Desiring God (John Piper), Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis), and Pilgrim's Progress (John Bunyan).

BEN HANNA

Deacon


Ben came from the Bay Area and moved to the Redding area in 2001. He and his family began attending Cow Creek in 2006.


Area of Oversight: Deacons

Family: Ben is married with two children.

Passionate Hobbies: Reading, watching sports, and spending time with his family.

A Favorite Book: “No specific favorite book, but I enjoy non-fiction, especially history and biography.”

ANDREW LOCKWOOD

Deacon


Andrew grew up in Redding and works in law enforcement.  He has been attending Cow Creek since October 2016.

 

Area of Oversight: Deacon

Family: Andrew is married and blessed with 6 children.

Passionate Hobbies: Hanging out with my wife, building things with my kids, hunting with my kids, backpacking, camping, fishing, raising farm animals, growing fruits and veggies, basketball, family movie nights

Favorite Books: The Whole Christ (Sinclair Ferguson), Slave (John MacArthur), The 9 Marks Series.

Shane Nurnberg

Deacon


The Lord saved Shane in 2004, just months before his son would be diagnosed with autism. Shane describes himself as a man who excels at being mediocre. Regardless of what his family is doing or where they’re at, if there’s a wide smile on his son’s face Shane feels great satisfaction. He loves 4-wheeling with his boy, having early-morning coffee with his wife and training (with?) his dog. Essentially a native to the Redding area, Shane grew up enduring the blistering hot summers of northern California.


Area of Oversight: Deacons

Family: Shane and his wife Anne have one son.

Hobbies: Creative writing, light noncommittal woodworking, basketball, competitive napping, avoiding venomous arachnids.

A Favorite Book: Outside of the obvious answer, Shane prefers books with a minimal number of pages.

SCOTT SCARBOROUGH

Deacon


Scott grew up in Southern California in a solid Christian home attending the same church his mother was raised in. He moved to the Redding area in 2009 for a job in Whitmore where he met his wife, Kelly. Scott and Kelly have been attending Cow Creek since early 2012.


Areas of Oversight: Deacon, HFG, Ducks class

Family: Scott married Kelly in 2011, they have four biological children: Clara, Issac, Judah, and Sadie; and have had four foster children since receiving their license shortly after getting married in 2011.

Passionate about: Family, Reading, and Food.

Favorite Books: The Distinctiveness of Baptist Covenant Theology (Pascal Denault), The Defense of the Faith (Cornelius Van Til), Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices" (Thomas Brooks), God's Big Picture (Vaughan Roberts), and way too many others to list...

Steve youngs

Deacon


Steve grew up in Petaluma, California. He met Cindy in 1973, but they didn’t start dating until both were attending Santa Rosa Junior College. The Lord saved Steve in Summer 1981 after attending an evening bible study at Cindy’s house. Steve and Cindy were married in Fall 1981. Steve served in the US Army for 6½ years and is retired from a career of 29 years with the California Highway Patrol. While in the military, they lived in Virginia, Texas, Alabama, and Alaska. They moved to Palo Cedro in 1999 and began attending Cow Creek Community Church. Steve and Cindy, as well as their three children, have served in many different ministries while at Cow Creek. Their children, as well as their daughter-in-law and both sons-in-law, all know and trust in the Lord as their Savior. Steve and Cindy are blessed with seven grandchildren and pray they will be blessed with more.


Area of Oversight: Deacons

Family: Steve and Cindy have two daughters and a son, all married: Jenae/Cal, Kaylin/Ashton, and Colton/Riley; as well as seven grandchildren.

Passionate About: Spending time with family, serving others, bicycling, photography.

A Favorite Book: The Gospel According to Jesus (John MacArthur).