Pastors
In the beginning, God redeemed two people named Dennis and Carol Ware. Both had embraced Jesus as children, with Carol having grown up in the home of a Baptist pastor. Together they experienced being born again in 1978 and 1979.
Dennis and Carol received comprehensive discipleship training and underwent tremendous spiritual growth at the Church On The Way in Van Nuys, CA, where Dr. Jack W. Hayford was their pastor for more than 15 years. During that time, Pastor Dennis attended LIFE Bible College in Glendale, CA, and he and Pastor Carol also attended the King's Institute in Van Nuys, CA.
In 1985, Pastors Dennis and Carol organized the San Fernando Valley Branch of the American Philanthropy Association in Sylmar, CA, where they had a feeding outreach to low income families. Their belief at that time was that God was sending them to do a preparatory work in that community for a church ministry that would follow. They never imagined that they would pastor that forthcoming church.
In January, 1997 they were formally ordained into public ministry by Rev., Dr. John L. Lett, Pastor of Greater Missionary Baptist Church of Pacoima, CA. Pastors Dennis and Carol founded NEW ZION CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP, INC. (NZCF), in March, 1997 in their home in Lake View Terrace, California. They called together a group of loving believers to partner with them in prayer in order to lay a strong spiritual foundation for the ministry that they believed the Lord had called them to.
After nine months of steadfast and faithful prayer, they launched out and began to have public church services. The first meeting for New Zion Christian Fellowship, Inc. (NZCF) in its new home was on March 8, 1998, where approximately 60 believers gathered to form a new congregation. In that historic "first" meeting there was a strong sense of family, comfort, and joy, and two people accepted Jesus as their personal Savior.
Pastors Dennis and Carol have been married for 53 years. They have six children, Dennis II, Chelsea, Brandon, Adam, Eran, and Becca; three daughters-in-law; Priscilla, Daniela, and Rosie; one son-in-law; CJ; three granddaughters; Charissa, Kaliya and Jordyn; and three grandsons Kris, Keanu, and Zhi.