Meet Our Pastors
The most significant command God has given us is to love one another. "Loving people to their next place in God" is the mission for Christian Life Center South Bend that empowers us to embrace people where they are in life and helps us to guide them to what God has next for them.
Pastors Doug & Shanna Neal
Senior Pastors
Doug and Shanna Neal met fresh after college and began serving together as youth ministers in Chicago, Illinois. They married and became ordained in pastoral ministry. A few years later – after receiving their graduate degree in Biblical Studies – they continued serving as a team and pursued a new worship experience, while adding to their family.
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In 2008, during their pastoral tenure as associate and campus pastors of their home church in Illinois, Pastor Doug had an experience that changed the course of their ministry. He clearly heard the voice of the Lord directing his family and ministry to South Bend. In just a few short weeks they were offered the opportunity to pastor a church in South Bend, Indiana.
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Doug and Shanna desire to see unity throughout the Body of Christ aspiring to develop and nurture ministry relationships throughout the Michiana region. Through prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit, they’ve committed to breaking through denominational, socio-economic and cultural barriers to unify God’s people displaying the love of Jesus Christ to the world.
Cruz and Patricia Rivera gave their lives to God in Mexicali, B.C., Mexico in 1988. They met in 1986 and were married in 1987. After three years of marriage, they began to serve together in the Children’s Ministry before ultimately expanding their reach to adolescents, men, women, and marriages.
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In the Christian Community of Mexicali, they received their degree in Biblical Theology and were ordained as Pastors in 2001. Soon after that, they received their Pastoral appointment to begin a journey to establish “Christian Community of South Bend” where they serve God with love and passion for seven years as well as serving in Michigan for two years.
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In 2013 God led them to Christian Life Center where they met Pastors Doug and Shanna Neal. Cruz and Patricia joined the church and became a part of what God was doing at CLC and the Community. In 2017 they were appointed as Associate Pastors, embodying the church mission: “Loving people to their next place in God.”
Pastor Stephanie Rose-Weldy leads Christian Life Center South Bend’s Worship & Arts ministry. Her love of music started as a small child as both parents were exceptional musicians. Stephanie has three beautiful children, and one of her greatest joys was working with her youngest daughter in passing on such a great legacy of creating and arranging powerful sounds in music, simply for inviting people to worship our King.
Inviting people into the presence of God is one of the greatest honors one can have, and her love of worship became synonymous with breathing.
Her vision for worship includes the intentionality of teaching people the importance of exalting our God, the power of agreement – in Jesus being revealed in people’s lives – resulting in the experience of encountering Him in ways only He can provide.