Central Heights is led by a board of elders who oversee the spiritual health and direction of the church.
Gord Braun
Chair
Gord has spent most of his career in the world of finance. At present and for the past 25 years he has served as the chief financial officer at Baptist Housing, which provides housing and care to seniors across BC. Gord has also served on multiple boards over the years including the Canadian Centre for Christian Charities, Tabor Village, and Abbotsford Christian School. When he is not serving in these capacities Gord enjoys gardening, photography and travel. Gord and Julie have three children Alana, Curtis, and Wes, and also have three grandchildren, who all also attend Central Heights Church. Gord and Julie have attended Central Heights Church since 1990.
Tim Buhler
Vice Chair
Tim is the proud father of five children and six grandchildren (so far). Three things that make Tim’s heart sing are: celebrating community with his wife, Doreen, and the family that God brings to them; teaching the word of God in informal as well as formal settings; spending time in God's creation, observing the birds with his binoculars.
Brent Nesbitt
Secretary
Brent is married to Jody, and has two teenage children. He has worked with Power to Change since 1997, first with the Jesus Film Translation Project, and most recently as a Programmer in the IT Department. He recognizes God's love for the Church, and wants to spend his energy building up the Body of Christ. His desire is to learn to read and understand the Bible like Jesus did, when he explained it to the disciples on the road to Emmaus.
Chris Hinksman
Chris has been attending and serving at Central Heights in kids ministry for 12 years and has been a member since 2019. He and his wife have owned and operated a successful landscaping company for the past 14 years. He has used his position to minister to and mentor employees and sees his business as his ministry calling. Business ownership has helped him to develop strong leadership and interpersonal skills. He also has a true love and appreciation for apologetics. Chris and his wife, Erin, have been married for 17 years and have 5 children: Elijah (14), Hannah (12), Titus (11), Grace (9), and Sarah (6).
Dale Collins
Dale was born in Vietnam to missionary parents and grew up in various mission field assignments, developing a multi-cultural perspective to his world view. He spent most of his life in the secular arena serving his country in the RCAF and as a Federal agent with CBSA for over thirty five years. Dale became a member of Central Heights in 1986 following his marriage to Carol. Dale and Carol have three adult children – Braedon (29) Rachelle (26) and Kayleen (23) all of which are following the Lord and attending churches in their communities. Dale has a passion for discipleship, a deep desire to care for men and their families, encouraging them in their spiritual journey to find the freedom that Christ can bring.
George Jacob
George moved to Abbotsford from India in 2006. He spent his growing up years immersed in church ministry and Bible Translation as his parents served with Wycliffe International. Having spent 10 years moving around the lower mainland, George and his wife Mahima and two boys – Micah (14) Marcus (7) felt called by the Lord to find community in Abbotsford in 2017 and specifically to the community of CHC since 2019. George currently serves as executive director at Tabor Home Society while Mahima is a clinical counsellor by profession. George and his family love all things basketball, hiking and long road trips. George feels strongly called to the area of Christian leadership and by the fact that we are all called to care for those in need in our community.
Larry Bieber
After years of serving in various ministry roles in churches, Larry began to earn a living in roofing sales, almost by accident. That turned into a 25 year career, eventually in sales management and training. Carol and Larry began attending Central Heights in 1993 where they soon became involved in small groups and Larry taught a weekly Adult Bible Class. When he retired, Larry served for about a year as elder before he was asked to serve as the Pastor to Seniors. He served in that role for almost exactly five years, retiring fully in November of 2020. Larry’s hobbies include the annual 3 day fishing trip in Northern Saskatchewan with his two brothers, and recording music videos for his YouTube channel. Carol and Larry have three adult children, all living in the Lower Mainland, and one grandchild.
Loren Warkentin
Loren loves Jesus, his family, and his church family. For the past 25 years he has worked as the Registrar and Web Developer at Northwest Seminary – College in Langley. Prior to that he and his wife, Becky, spent 16 years engaged in church and discipleship related ministries among the Dayak people in the interior of West Kalimantan (Borneo), Indonesia. Loren and Becky have a son and two daughters along with a daughter-in-law and two sons-in-law. They are also the delighted grandparents to three fun-loving grandchildren. Loren’s hobbies include photography, camping, and spending time with family.
Mike Woodard
Mike started his campus ministry staff career with Campus Crusade for Christ in Edmonton the fall of 1977. Karen joined him there in marriage in 1978. Ten years later they packed up 4 kids and headed to Ottawa to be the Quebec Regional director and the Ottawa director. In 1995 they moved to Abbotsford and started attending CHC shortly after. He became the national director of the campus ministry in 2002. In 2011 Mike and Karen moved from student ministry to FamilyLife Canada. In September of 2022, Mike became the Staff Care Director for Power to Change ministries. Mike finished a MA degree at TWU ACTS Seminary in 2008 and has been credentialed by the BCMB conference. Mike and Karen have four grown children and three grandchildren. Together they lead the marriage ministry at CHC. Mike enjoys backpacking and is a thrill seeker at heart; bungee-jumping, sky-diving, a marathon, triathlon and cycling across Canada have been checked off his to-do list. Mike’s motto is, “Life is an adventure!” Karen’s motto is “One adventurer in a family is enough!”
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