About Us
We are a small, close-knit congregation rooted in the Free Will Baptist tradition. Here, you won't get lost in the crowd. You'll be greeted by name, welcomed to the table, and surrounded by people who genuinely care.
Pastor David Brunkhorst
Pastor David sensed God's call to preach at the age of 19, a calling that has continued to shape his life and ministry ever since. Pastor David and his wife, Cheryl, have faithfully served at Amador Free Will Baptist Church for more than 25 years. In 2019, David became pastor, continuing the ministry of Pastor Larry Caris.
His heart is to faithfully preach God's Word, equip believers to grow as disciples of Jesus Christ, and strengthen families as they walk through life together. He believes the church is strongest when people of every generation worship, serve, encourage one another, and build genuine relationships that extend beyond Sunday mornings.
Our Family
Family has always been at the heart of our ministry. God has blessed us with six wonderful children, and you'll often find our whole family involved in the life of the church — serving where there's a need, worshipping together, and enjoying fellowship with our church family.
We believe children are not a distraction from worship but a blessing and an important part of the church. Raising our family has been one of God's greatest gifts, and through every season we've seen His faithfulness. We even navigated four years of childhood cancer while raising small children, with our church family faithfully walking beside us. Those experiences have only deepened our gratitude for the love, prayers, and encouragement found in the body of Christ.
Outside of church, we've enjoyed homeschooling our children, family game nights, baking together, and caring for our little homestead with goats, chickens, ducks, dogs, cats, and even a fish named Diego. One of our greatest prayers is that each of our children develops a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and grows to love and serve Him with their own faith.
Long before God blessed us with a big family, He began writing our story together.
We met as teenagers at Camp Koinonia in the Santa Cruz Mountains in 1999. Koinonia means friendship, and that's exactly where our story began. God allowed us to build a strong friendship over the following year through handwritten letters (and many expensive phone calls) before we started dating the next summer at camp. We were married in October 2001 and are grateful to be celebrating 25 years of marriage.
Amador County has been home to our family for more than 25 years. We spent fifteen years in Pine Grove before settling in Volcano, and we've been blessed to call Amador Free Will Baptist Church our church family throughout that time.
Looking back, we're grateful for God's faithfulness through every season of life. Our prayer is that Amador Free Will Baptist Church will be a place where others experience the same encouragement, fellowship, and hope that we've found as we've grown together in Christ.
Our Mission
"Where there is no vision, the people perish" — Proverbs 29:18. We believe that there is no greater vision than that of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ whose purpose was to glorify God and save mankind from the wrath to come, that man might be reconciled to God. Therefore, we dream of the following things with the hope of seeing them come to reality.
To be a Church that preaches and teaches the word of God in its entirety. We dream of a church that preaches the truth of God and equips the saints through teaching of the Word. We dream of a church where every believer's heart is given to true worship and eager to give corporate praise to God.
To bring homes and families back to the foundation of God's word. We dream of a church that helps believers mature in their knowledge of God's Word. We dream of a church that enables each member to discover his or her spiritual gift, bringing fulfillment as they serve the Body of Christ. We dream of a church that demonstrates Christian love by helping hurting and broken people, lost in a dark and dismal world, find hope in Jesus Christ.
To bring unity in the family by staying together in worship and teaching. We dream of a church that desires to spend time together in stewardship, encouragement, fun, and fellowship. We dream of a church that helps in building biblical Christian families where dad becomes the spiritual leader and the mother is the virtuous woman found in Proverbs 31. We dream of a church where children love and obey their parents that they may receive the promise of God.
To be an impact in our community for the glory of God. We dream of a church that sees the needs of our community, seeking out those who are lost, and sharing the Gospel message that they may believe and be saved. We dream of a church equipped to bring new Christians back to a loving and welcoming place of worship and learning for the glory of God. We dream of a church, which sends out missionaries throughout the foothills and into the entire world, starting new churches and other ministries.
Join us Sundays at 10:30
Fellowship & prayer begin at 10:00 am. Come as you are — kids, questions, and all.