Christ Presbyterian Church — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Kyle Wells (Senior Pastor); Joshua Burdette (Pastor of Spiritual Formation and Counselling); Nicholas Whitaker (Assistant Pastor)

Founded Not published

Denomination PCA

Service Times Sundays in Santa Barbara

Men's Ministry Yes

Kids Ministry Yes

Website cpcsb.org

Pastor Credentials Kyle Wells: PCA TE; Joshua Burdette: PCA TE in Pacific Presbytery; Nicholas Whitaker: PCA TE

10-Point Theological Scorecard

Christology

Is Jesus the only way? (John 14:6)

PCA confessional adherence to Westminster Standards — orthodox Christology.

Strong

Scripture

Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?

Westminster Confession affirms inerrancy and authority of Scripture.

Strong

Men's Discipleship

Intentional formation for men?

Standard PCA local-church practice.

Strong

Soteriology

Faith alone? How is salvation presented?

Reformed soteriology per Westminster Confession.

Strong

Gender / Biblical Design

Biblical manhood and womanhood by God's design — patriarchal, complementarian, egalitarian, or affirming gender ideology?

PCA complementarian polity per Book of Church Order — male teaching/ruling elders.

PCA complementarian — male teaching/ruling elders per Westminster Standards + Book of Church Order.

Strong

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

Kyle Wells (male) Senior Pastor; Nicholas Whitaker (male) Assistant Pastor; Joshua Burdette (male) Pastor of Spiritual Formation and Counselling; ruling elders Jason Eldred, Edd Noell, Jesse Covington, Randy Berg, Mark Corazza, Robert Nisbet (all male).

Strong

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

Reformed expository preaching tradition.

Strong

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

Santa Barbara congregation in Pacific Presbytery.

Strong

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

Pastor matches a red-direction signature list (Warhurst/AMR/Lament/Revoice/CBE) WITH state/presbytery corroboration — cultural drift marker per drift-watch protocol. Auto-applied YELLOW + cultural=red downgrade. RED — current/recent senior pastor signed the 2020 Warhurst Protest. Joshua Burdette serves as Pastor of Spiritual Formation and Counselling and is a TE in Pacific Presbytery.

WARNING!

Accountability Structure

Denominational home, elder plurality, or external network — is the pastor answerable to anyone?

PCA — Pacific Presbytery.

Strong

Assessment

Christ Presbyterian Church Santa Barbara is a PCA congregation in Pacific Presbytery led by Senior Pastor Kyle Wells with multiple pastoral staff. TE Joshua Burdette (Pastor of Spiritual Formation and Counselling) signed the 2020 Warhurst Protest. PCA confessional posture intact via Westminster Standards subscription; cultural drift flag for Warhurst-signer pastoral leadership.

#pca#ca#santa-barbara#warhurst-signer#needs-discernment#soft-progressive-flag#pacific-presbytery#needs-rating-review#cultural-drift-flag

MOOP Engagement Tracker

How this church was personally verified by the MOOP directory team:

✓ Researched church website

Pastor Signatures & Affiliations [Soft-progressive signatures]

Public statement signatures and organizational affiliations of this church's named pastors. "People is policy" — these are evidence-weighted signals about doctrinal trajectory, not the sole determinant of any rating.

Warhurst Protest (2020)

Joshua Burdette

Source: warhornmedia.com — hover for details

Alliance for Mission & Renewal

Kyle Wells

Source: a4mr.org — hover for details

Sources & Evidence

These are the URLs consulted to arrive at this church's scoring. Score-note claims are synthesized from homepage content, denominational directories, and public statements of faith at the time of review. Church websites change frequently; we're progressively adding Internet Archive snapshots to prevent link rot.

[1] Live source cpcsb.org/preacher/joshua-burdette/
[2] Live source pacificpca.org/directory
[3] Live source warhornmedia.com/2020/12/23/pca-hall-of-infamy-pastors-el…

Transparency note: MOOP ratings are researcher judgments about publicly available theological and ecclesial evidence. They are not infallible. If a church's public posture has changed since our review, or if we've mis-read evidence, tell us — we publish corrections.