Growing up in an urban area of Baltimore, Maryland, I know the value of hard work. Before I was led into working for the church, I worked as a janitor and a furniture upholsterer.  I later opened my own business, but only to finance my way through college. I have a beautiful wife and three beautiful daughters. To me, church is a place for people to come together and support one another as they worship and learn about God. The Church needs to be real, both in worship and how people deal with one another. God is not complicated, but formal religions have made him out to be so complex. Think about it!  He went to poor fishermen and farmers. He wrote the Bible using only 400 different words and most of them very simple. Christ used what he had and he valued the expertise of the common person. I value you and I want to make a commitment to you!  That is why I chose the name Promise, it speaks of both commitment and hope.  Therefore, I promise to work hard, serve you well and bring Christ to you in a way that will change your life forever.

In his service,
Pastor Chris Deknatel

It’s been said that if you love what you do then you’ll never work a day in your life.  God has blessed me in more ways than I can count.  The gift of faith has been placed in me, and the Spirit continually works, stirring up a passion for ministry.  God comes to us in worship bringing forgiveness, restoration, and peace.

As a response we give thanks and praise, through the power of the Holy Spirit.  It is my joy and privilege to lead worship at Promise and be used by God to connect those things in meaningful ways to our congregation.  I get to help people experience God.  The better we know God, the better we really know ourselves.  The same philosophy works in Youth Ministry too.  Our teens are loved, forgiven children of God.  Knowing that made a huge difference in my life as a teen, and I want to make sure our youth know it too. God is real, and he can make a real difference in our lives.

In May 2011 I married Jordan. She’s my best friend and my partner in ministry. Life is great with such an amazing woman by my side. We live in Temecula with our cat Max and our dog Tank.

you will usually see first when visiting Promise. I have been married to my best friend, my loving and gorgeous husband, Mike for 17 years and am a mom to two beautiful, talented, funny, active kids: Hunter and Rylee.
Can you tell I like them?!

Our family is very involved at Promise. I volunteer in a variety of ways, Mike plays in the praise band and Rylee sings with the youth choir. On our personal time, we love to camp, go the beach and it seems there is always a sporting event to attend!

Being called to work at Promise has been a blessing. The Lord has grown me in my faith and understanding of Him through it. Saying that I love what I do doesn’t speak to how I truly feel about Promise; getting an opportunity to experience first hand, how God works in people’s lives is a gift. Seeing God grow Promise is nothing short of amazing as well! But my favorite part is getting to daily see all the children who attend Promise preschool. Their excited, curious, and happy little faces are exactly how we as adults should approach life as well as our awesome God.