Next Incubator Starts August 14-16, 2025

Los Angeles

Starting and Strengthening Churches in Long Beach

Our Next Church Planting Incubator Starts

AUGUST 14-16, 2025

A two-year church planting training program that provides practical tools, coaching, community and funding for starting and growing a new church that is grounded in the gospel and rooted in its neighborhood.
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August 14-16, 2025 | Incubator Intensive Launch

Start with gospel Fluency & Renewal

What is the value of the gospel for personal growth and not just our conversion? What is the difference between gospel-centered growth and self-help growth? We will be exploring these crucial themes. We will also discuss the anatomy and effects of idolatry, particularly those that are common to church planters. The Incubator starts with Gospel Fluency & Renewal.
SEPTEMBER 12, 2025 | Personal Life of a Leader
Participants will develop crucial self-awareness skills essential for effective ministry leadership. Leaders will learn to recognize the vital connection between personal health and successful church planting, develop emotional intelligence to identify and process their feelings, and address personal wounds through gospel-centered healing. This session equips participants to understand their family systems through genogram work, recognize how these patterns influence their ministry, and manage leadership anxiety in key relationships during the church planting journey.
OCTOBER 10, 2025 | City Vision and Contextualization
Develop a gospel-centered vision for your city that reveals the complex forces shaping your community. Learn to identify cultural blind spots while growing in your understanding of local context. Master the art of contextualizing ministry approaches that allow Christ's message to resonate authentically within your specific neighborhood. Equip your church to respond effectively to the systemic challenges present in urban environments.
NOVEMBER 14, 2025 | Discipleship Pathways
Developing and training is different than teaching or preaching. People need opportunities to suggest ideas, give input, practice, and have greater buy in. Come learn a model for apprenticeship for your core team that includes internal goals that strengthen your infrastructure and external goals that build missional habits.
DECEMBER 2025 | CTC SoCal Gathering
Gospel Community Gathering to connect, share and encourage one another.

Gospel Community refers to a spiritually vibrant, relationally connected group of people shaped by the gospel of grace. Rooted in Keller’s emphasis on the gospel as both the means of salvation and the pattern for all of life, Gospel Communities embody the redemptive power of the gospel in everyday relationships.
JANUARY 9, 2025 | Networking and Gathering (Evangelistic Pathways)
Learn to develop intentional pathways that effectively lead people into your church community. Equip yourself with strategic approaches to evangelistic networking and community-building that will transform your church's culture. Through this module, you'll gain practical tools to foster authentic relationships and create engaging events that naturally cultivate a missional mindset throughout your congregation.
FEBRUARY 13, 2025 | Cultural and Community Engagement
Develop the skills to meaningfully connect with your community through our Cultural and Community Engagement module. You'll learn to identify your cultural engagement style, explore four proven models for cultural interaction, and gain practical frameworks for authentic community connection. This transformative training equips you to discern appropriate cultural engagement strategies specific to your ministry context, fostering continual growth as a cultural bridge-builder in your city.
MARCH 14, 2025 | Ministry Design
Transform your church planting journey with our Ministry Design module. Learn to articulate a compelling kingdom vision that brings goodness, beauty, and justice to your city. Develop a biblical framework centered on communion, community, and commissioning while mastering the art of creating meaningful gathering spaces.
This comprehensive training equips you to build a balanced ministry that integrates evangelism, discipleship, faith and work, and mercy and justice. You'll craft contextually relevant language that resonates with non-Christians, identify effective missional strategies, and cultivate core teams characterized by curiosity, ownership, and multiplication. Leave with the skills to evaluate your church plant's greatest needs and create a sustainable path for growth and impact.
APRIL 2025 | CTC SoCal Gathering
Gospel Community Gathering to connect, share and encourage one another.

Gospel Community refers to a spiritually vibrant, relationally connected group of people shaped by the gospel of grace. Rooted in Keller’s emphasis on the gospel as both the means of salvation and the pattern for all of life, Gospel Communities embody the redemptive power of the gospel in everyday relationships.
MAY 8, 2025 | Kingdom Prayer
Deepen your understanding of spiritual warfare in church planting through our Kingdom Prayer module. Learn to recognize your complete dependence on God's Spirit while developing transformative prayer practices. You'll master both individual and collective prayer approaches that are Christ-centered and directed both inward for personal growth and outward for community impact. This foundational training equips you to build a prayer-saturated ministry that fuels spiritual breakthrough in your family, church, and community.
JUNE 11, 2025 | Preaching and Effective Communication
What differentiates a gospel-centered sermon from other types of sermons? How do we preach the gospel from every text to benefit the non-believer and the Christian? Come learn various values and skills for delivering your sermons. You will be asked to preach in front of panel of leaders and be given feedback.

JULY 10, 2025 | Mercy and Justice
Gain profound insights into the historical, theological, and spiritual foundations of justice and mercy in our comprehensive module. Learn how the gospel revolutionizes your approach—shifting from power-based benefaction to Christ-like servanthood through incarnational presence. Acquire practical principles for embedding biblical justice as a communal lifestyle in your church, creating lasting transformation in your community.

Meet the team.

Regional Director

Sean Fenner

Sean and his wife Sarah have two boys, and have been serving at Light and Life Christian Fellowship Church in Long Beach since 2012, where now Pastor Sean is Co-Lead Pastor. One of his main passions is to train, guide, and raise up church planters to reach urban city centers in Southern California. Through his strategic leadership and partnership, Long Beach has become a hub for networking and gathering for CTCLA.
Program Director - Español

Mario Adriel Ortiz

Mario was born in Mexico and immigrated to the U.S. in 1989. He has been in the ministry for over twenty years and has served in worship and lead pastor roles. Currently, he serves on the Senior Leadership Team at The Church On The Way in Van Nuys, CA., where he has a dual role leading the Worship Arts department and The Church On The Way – En Español (TCOTW-EE). TCOTWEE launched in March 2021 and is rapidly growing. Mario's Sunday Spanish message of the Gospel is aired daily in thirty-three California state prisons. In 2013, he launched Vida Real, the Spanish congregation of Real Life Church in Valencia, CA, which grew from a small group of thirty to hundreds. In 2016, he and a team planted Neuma Church in Santa Clarita, CA., which merged with The Church On The Way in 2020.
Mario attended Fuller Seminary, where he earned a Masters in Theology. He is passionate about his family (his wife, Mayra, and their daughter, Sarah) leading worship, developing leaders, church planting, good music, traveling, and great food.
Catalyst - South Los Angeles

Gentre Adkins IV

Gentre is a dedicated leader serving South Los Angeles with a passion for gospel-centered transformation. He holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Southern California and serves as the Executive Pastor of Faithful Saint Mark Church. Gentre brings a wealth of expertise in community engagement, ministry development, and leadership training. His work focuses on equipping pastors, revitalizing communities, and fostering sustainable ministry growth in urban contexts.

To keep life light, he loves God, cherishes time with his family, and finds joy in celebrating people.
Catalyst - Español

Jose Luis Sáenz

Jose Luis Sáenz, es conocido por su labor como productor principal de programas de la Asociación Evangelística Alberto Motessi, tales como Latinoamérica Nueva, Hupomoné, Tiempo Fuera con Jose Luis Sáenz, Venga Tu Reino, entre muchos otros. Su experiencia como productor y evangelista lo han llevado a compartir el mensaje de Cristo a miles de personas a través de medios de comunicación y cara a cara por medio de “La MoVida” el trailer que lleva vida en las calles de los Estados Unidos.
Program Coordinator

Kimy Brennan

Hi, I’m Kimy! I am an associate & youth pastor at Light & Life Church in Long Beach, CA. I’m passionate about all people being reached with the Gospel and sent into their ministry calling. Let’s connect over social media or a cup of coffee! @kimybrennan
Director of Training

Enrique Melendez

Enrique has a passion for the urban poor and helping people get connected to Jesus.  With God's grace & help he planted and currently pastors Hope Community Church in East LA and serves as the Director of Training with City to City LA.  Enrique received his MA in Social and Civic Entrepreneurship and is a life-long learner. He and his wife Jennica have been married for 16 years and have three children. In his spare time, he loves a good meal, a good game of basketball, and a good book.