Rev. Rich Katekawa
English Language Pastor
Pastor Rich was born and raised in Los Angeles. He is a third-generation Japanese American. He grew up a Dodgers and Lakers fan. He plays chess and fantasy sports. He was saved by Christ as a sophomore at UCLA, and from the beginning of his Christian life he was gifted by the Holy Spirit with a deep love for the Bible. He graduated from The Master’s Seminary in 1995. He identifies himself as a Bible nerd.
Pastor Rich has enjoyed the honor and privilege of serving Christ in a variety of cultural ministries. He was saved in a Chinese Nazarene church, trained and mentored in a Hispanic Fundamentalist church, has preached in a wide variety ofsmall ethnic ministries, worked as a struggling independent church planter of a multi-ethnic ministry called Generations (2001-2016), and served nine years as the English Pastor of an Indonesian Chinese church, New Life Baptist Church of Los Angeles (2016-2025). Since 2023, he has taught at the Los Angeles Bible Training School (LABTS). Now, with great joy, he serves as Transitional English Pastor of West L.A. Holiness Church.
God answered Pastor Rich’s prayers by bringing Glenda (Jing) into his bachelor pastor life. They married in 2016, and God answered even more prayers by giving them a beautiful boy, Ezekiel, in 2017. God has been gracious to this family, and it is their prayer for God to use them bless others.
