Pastors

Rev. Dr. Mark Brewer
Pastor/Head of Staff

In June 2001, in a resounding vote, the membership of Bel Air Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles voted to call The Reverend Dr. Mark Brewer of Englewood, Colorado as Pastor.

Dr. Brewer comes to church ministry as a third-generation Presbyterian minister’s son. He received his early education in Denver, Colorado and did his doctoral work at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena and in St. Andrews, Scotland. 

He served as Pastor in the Denver area for twenty years, not only building up his own congregation but reaching out to the larger Denver community in urban and suburban alliances as well. He was involved in starting two different churches in Denver, each growing to several thousand members.  He launched the nationally syndicated radio ministry “A New Day for America” which seeks to build relationships between the urban and suburban churches. Dr. Brewer was also head of ‘Denver LINK’, an organization that builds relationships among the spiritual leadership of the City.

In 1992 Mark served as Senior Pastor of a large church in Detroit. It was during his short time in Detroit that the passion of his life took hold. He found joy in building relationships between worlds that people said could not be bridged, discovering that it is possible to be in cross racial, cross denominational and extremely hostile situations while bringing true healing, by applying the truths of “family systems.”

In the year 2000 Dr. Brewer’s book A Walk Into The City was published. He writes about discovering the principles of the new relationships between urban and suburban churches, bringing to light the attitude of service and reconciliation.

Dr. Brewer is no stranger to Bel Air Presbyterian Church. He served the church for three years as an intern, from 1978–1980, while attending Fuller Theological Seminary.  Mark’s passion is “weaving a fabric of friendship across the city.”  His desire is to equip his missions-minded church with bold and fresh ways of connecting with the city.

Mark's primary spiritual gifts lie in leadership and preaching, each enhanced by his warmth, humor, humility, intellectual rigor and vision. He has been married to his lovely wife, Carolyn, since 1978. Carolyn is trained as an Occupational Therapist. They have three children: Vanessa, who is married and living in Denver, Colorado; Paul, who is a surgical sales representative; and Rachel, who attends medical school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Roger Dermody
Executive Pastor

Roger Likes to say, “I was bitten with the missionary bug very early.” At a young age, he lived in Cameroon, Africa with his parents, who were serving as short term missionaries with the North American Baptist Convention.

He received his undergraduate degree in architecture from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. After practicing Architecture for 5 years with The Luckman Partnership here in Los Angeles, Roger served Bel Air Presbyterian Church for six years as the Director of Student Ministries, Director of College Ministries, and Interim Director of Missions. Roger received his Master of Divinity degree from Fuller Theological Seminary in June of 1996. He was ordained in October 1997, and has continued to serve in the areas of College Ministry and Mission. For the past three years, Roger has led the new Contemporary Worship service at Bel Air.

Additionally, Roger has, or is, serving God as an "on-call" chaplain at UCLA Medical Center, the Dean of Forest Home's Annual College Briefing Conference, a design Architect for the Christian Environmental Association, and as a member of the Board of Directors of Living Hope in Los Angeles, and Lasting Impressions in Zimbabwe.

Roger’s passion remains firmly grounded in Missions. He has also led short-term mission trips to such diverse places as Romania, Bulgaria, Zimbabwe, Germany, Egypt, Belize, Mexico City, and South Central Los Angeles. “I love to walk alongside of people who discover how incredible God is, by getting out of the pew, rolling up their sleeves, and sharing the good news of His Son in word and deed, in neighborhoods very different than their own.”

Roger's life goal is to know Christ and to make Him known. He married Megan Wilde on January 18, 2003.

Rev. Carolyn Crawford
Pastor of Congregational Life

On Valentine's Day, 1986, Carolyn Crawford, known to the children as "Pastor Care," joined staff as Associate Pastor of Family Ministries. Care came from Princeton, New Jersey, where she was Hospital/Hospice Chaplain at the Princeton Medical Center. She previously held the position of Director of the Princeton Theological Seminary Child Care Center. She attended the College of Wooster, in Wooster, Ohio where she double majored in Religion and Education. She has also been a staff member at Forest Home Retreat Center in the San Bernardino National Forest.

Her father, brother, and sister are all ministers. Her father, David, and mother, Barbara, met at Princeton Seminary where they were preparing for work in Christian ministry. Her mother resides in New Jersey. Her brother, Bill Crawford, is the Pastor of Community Fellowship in Wheaton, Illinois. Care's sister Marilyn Crawford-Roberts, is a Presbyterian minister who is also married to a Presbyterian minister. And her older brother, David, trains horses and works with the breeding and birthing of horses.

Care loves children and their families, and that is a big reason why she came to Bel Air Church. Her passion is to pastor and care for people. She says, " I care about the lives and about the difference they can make in the world. There is a button on my bulletin board that says, 'Kids Are Special People.'" Our all-church Family Camp is an example of ministry which most excites Care. People of all ages and stages in worship, prayer, study and community! Care loves her work, doing needlework, playing tennis, entertaining friends in her home and collecting children's books and reading them over and over again. She also collects art depicting children and mothers, and she loves the color red. She likes walking on the beach, and going to the movies, and quiet evenings where she can sit and read or write letters to dear friends. Lastly, she loves her husband, Steve Madaris, whom she married at Bel Air Church.

Care is now the Associate Pastor of Congregational Life. Her ministry is the whole family of God. Her work finds her doing women's retreats throughout the state and country. She also does many workshops dealing with grief and loss for the Presbytery and different churches.

Rev. George Hinman
Pastor of Discipleship

George joined the BAPC staff as Associate Pastor of Discipleship on January 5, 2004. He earned his M.Div. at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary on Boston’s North Shore after completing his undergraduate degree at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

Prior to coming to Bel Air, George enjoyed helping young men and women grow as disciples of Jesus Christ with Campus Crusade for Christ. For 15 years he worked with a team of a dozen staff and scores of student leaders building a Christ-centered, citywide movement of students across forty-two of Boston’s colleges. The goal of RealLife Boston (as it is called) is to engage every student and impact the world with the good news of Jesus Christ. George's role was to teach the Scriptures at a weekly gathering on Harvard's campus, to serve as an Associate Chaplain at M.I.T, to coach the student leaders at Brandeis University, and to help with spiritual formation and leadership development strategies.

“I want to say how deeply honored and humbled I am to be called as one of your pastors. BAPC is clearly bound together by the grace of Christ. He has given us a rich heritage and offers a brilliant future. Ann and I can think of nothing sweeter than to join with you as he continues to shape and reshape you as his disciples. Together may we study his word, grow deep in community, and issue forth equipped by God to make a difference in the great city of Los Angeles!”

George and his wife, Ann, have three children: Harvey, Will, and Phebe. When he's not immersed in ministry, George loves to jog, fly-fish, sail, hike, take walks, read the paper, wrestle with his kids, eat waffles, fiddle in the garden, play tennis, and once a year or two (at most) look for golf balls in the woods.

Rev. Kim Dorr
Pastor of Entertainment Ministries

Kim Dorr has worked in entertainment, specifically with on-camera talent, for over 20 years. She developed and ran the Casting Department of The Arthur Company, an independent television production company, for nine years. She cast many hours of comedy and drama for cable, syndicated, and prime time programming while also finding and developing talent for the company. Kim jumped across the desk in 1993, becoming a talent agent at the Bobby Ball Agency where she headed up the Children's and Young Adult TV/ Film Division and started the Adult Theatrical Department. In 2002, Defining Artists, an Adult Theatrical Boutique Agency, was born out of the Adult Theatrical Department of BBA. In 2005, Kim took over ownership of Defining Artists with her partner, Dede Binder-Goldsmith. Kim holds a BA in Theatre from the University of Denver and was in the first class at the National Theatre Conservatory housed at the Denver Center Theatre Company. Kim is also a graduate of Fuller Seminary, holding an M. Div. degree. She received a call to Bel Air Presbyterian Church as the Designated Associate Pastor of Entertainment Ministries where she began serving in ministry in 2005. Kim is passionate about ministering to and connecting Christians working in all spheres of entertainment. In her spare time, Kim plays with her dogs, then falls asleep.

Rev. Enock De Assis
Pastor of Outreach

Enock was born in the southeastern part of Brazil and grew up in a family of ten brothers and sisters. He started preaching when he was 14 and left his family’s home when he was 17 to prepare to serve as a missionary outside of his country. After planting churches and training lay leaders for a number of years, he was nominated as one of the leaders for the board of missions for the Independent Presbyterian of Brazil. In Brazil, Enock was part of the great movement of missions that occurred in the country. During his tenure as the Mission Executive Secretary, his church started three mission training centers which implemented mission programs for presbyteries and local churches and also sent more than 100 missionaries to serve in Brazil, the Americas, Europe, and Africa. Enock studied Latin America history, anthropology, and theology in Brazil. In the US he earned a MBA degree with focus on non-profit management at Azusa Pacific University and is working to conclude a masters in Theology and Missiology at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA.

Prior to coming to Bel Air, Enock worked in the International Office at Fuller, supporting international faculty and graduate students of over 70 countries, working and studying in the USA.

"I came to Bel Air Presbyterian Church with a deep sense of wonder, devotion, and determination. Wonder because of God’s grace that calls us and unites us in him. Devotion to the mission of the Church. Bel Air has a rich heritage of outreach engagement. We are still building upon the work of those who came before us. Determination to challenge our flock to serve the city and the world in the name of Christ. We are called to serve in compassion and justice, share the good news of the Kingdom, and learn along the way with friends around the word."

Enock has two amazing children: Lucas and Ane. Lucas loves graphic arts and Ane enjoys ballet. Enock enjoys, cooking, reading books (history, theology, urbanism, anthropology and some good novels). When Enock is able to pull himself away from his ministry tasks, he spends time fishing and hiking with the children. He has tried golf, but was so humiliated that he gave it up.