Pastor Nate Watkins and his wife, Rocio
Valerie Spiegel
PebbleCreek Community Church is thriving under the leadership of Pastor Nate Watkins. Nate hails from central California, the small farming community of Turlock. He and his wife, Rocio, met in the music department of Azusa Pacific University. She was an international student from Ecuador with a full-ride voice scholarship. They started making music together, fell in love, and have been married for 33 years. The couple has three sons, all of whom are presently in the military. Both agreed it would be a good first step in life for their sons to serve their country, receive great training, and let Uncle Sam pay for their college education! Two graduated from the Air Force Academy and one from West Point, who is currently serving in South Korea.
Oddly enough, Pastor Nate has not always been a full-time minister. While in his 20s, all he wanted to do was be in a rock ’n’ roll band, go on tour, and travel the world. In fact, Nate fell in love with Rocio because she was interested in making music a career as well. But they quickly learned how difficult it was to make ends meet as musicians, especially if you are good, but not great. So once their 30s hit, they fashioned Plan B, which for Nate was graduate school in hopes of teaching music at the university level, while Rocio got her graduate degree in education. Rocio became an elementary school teacher who enjoyed music on the side, and Pastor Nate split his time between teaching music at a few universities while leading music in local area churches. Becoming a pastor was actually Plan C for Nate—he never expected it.
Pastor Nate loves learning and the academic environment. He holds a double B.A. in Music Theory and Global Studies, two M.A. degrees in World Music and Intercultural Studies, and a PhD in Missiology from Fuller Theological Seminary.
When asked about the best and worst parts of his ministry at PebbleCreek, Pastor Nate responds, “it’s the same…the demographic.” Serving a congregation of mostly retired people is unique. There’s no youth program to organize and, since the church leases the Eagle’s Nest ballroom for services, no fundraising for maintenance or new buildings is necessary. That allows him to focus solely on the people in this community. He chooses to prepare for Sundays during his evenings, which frees Nate to spend most of his daytime enjoying PebbleCreek: visiting members, teaching Bible study, hosting committee meetings, playing softball, rehearsing with musicians, and going out to lunch with new friends. On the down side, almost half the congregation leaves from summer to autumn and leading a transient congregation is a challenge.
Pastor Nate’s unique approach to teaching the truths of the Bible and the musical talent he has assembled for church services makes it a joy to attend every Sunday. PebbleCreek Community Church’s increasing attendance attests to the fact he is humbly using his God-given gifts to serve our community with excellence.