PASTOR CHUCK CASSISE

Hi, my name is Chuck Cassise and I am the Pastor of Family Ministries at Grace Community Church.  I am the oldest of five children, with one sister and three brothers.  I was raised in Orange County, California, and graduated from Fountain Valley High in 1975.  Following high school, I worked as a truck driver while attending part-time at a number of colleges (Cal Poly Pomona, Goldenwest Jr. College, Orange Coast Jr. College, Mt Sac Jr. College).  After 8 years of wandering in the “career” wilderness (thankful it wasn’t 40 years), I graduated from “Criss College of Business and Drafting” with an Electrical-Mechanical Engineering Diploma.

In 1983 I came to know Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior.  In the fall of that same year, I accepted a full-time position at Rockwell International (which eventually came to be known as The Boeing Corporation) as an Aerospace Mechanical Designer.  I continued my aerospace career for the next 19 years while at the same time faithfully attending and serving at Grace Community Church of Riverside.  My wife Joann and I have taught Nursery, Toddlers, Pre-Schoolers, 1st - 6th Grade, the Junior High, the High School, Adult Home Bible Studies and “Christianity 101” Adult Class for new Christians.  We are presently teaching an adult class called “Highway.”

In January of 2002, Pastor Brian Smith asked me if I would prayerfully consider joining his staff as his associate and Pastor of Family Ministries.  After months of prayer, God’s calling in my life to go into the ministry full-time became evident.  I accepted God’s calling and joined the staff of Grace Community Church on April 1 (April Fools Day).

My lovely wife, Joann, and I have been married for more than 28 years.  We have been blessed with three boys, two of whom have reached manhood—Anthony, a graduate of Cal Poly Pomona, now doing graduate work, and Brian, attending Cal State Fullerton as a criminal justice major.  Our youngest son, Curtis, attends La Sierra High School, loves sports, and plays baseball for the La Sierra Eagles. 

I enjoy being with my wife, my children, and watching and cheering at my son Curtis’ athletic events.  I also enjoy surfing, water skiing (when the water is warm), biking, snow skiing, and golfing.  The St. Louis Rams (I’m a LA Rams die-hard fan) is my favorite football team and I’ve jumped on the “band wagon” of the Angels after their 2002 World Series Championship. My favorite major league baseball team is the Dodgers.

I enjoy serving as Pastor of Family Ministries at Grace Community Church.  Some of my responsibilities include overseeing our Junior & Senior High Youth Ministries.  I am also seeking God’s leading to expand our existing adult ministries, and developing new avenues of ministry to the various spiritual needs of our growing church family.  My ultimate passion, as a fellow servant of Christ, is the exalting of our Lord and Savior, Jesus through “the equipping of the saints for the work of service and to the building up of the Body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-13).