Leadership
Meet our Pastor
Pastor Terry L. Coon, Jr. (TJ) is the son of Christian parents (one of whom is a former Pastor) as well as a son of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ or DOC). Born and raised in the Los Angeles area, he has been a “Church Boy” his entire life and came to know the saving power of Jesus at the age of 9 at the East 105th Street Christian Church (DOC), which was his home church the first 26 years of his life. It was there he acknowledged the call to gospel ministry and preached his first sermon in September of 2006.
In 2010 he was licensed and ordained as a minister of the Gospel and commissioned to join Citylights Church in Long Beach, Ca where he served as Worship/Teaching Pastor from January 2011 to July 2023. As of August 1, 2023, he became the second Senior Pastor of ALCC after the retirement of founding Pastor (Emeritus) John E. Tunstall IV.
Pastor TJ attended Biola University, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration (emphasis in Accounting) in 2010 and received a Master of Arts in Theology from Biola's Talbot School of Theology in 2020.
He has been married to his wife, Rhea (Ree-uh) since July 2015 and the two currently reside with their two fur babies, Kobe and Mambacita. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, watching sports (Go Lakers, Dodgers, Rams, Sparks), playing golf, eating good food, traveling the world with Rhea, and spending quality time with family and friends. He also serves as Finance Manager for a local public transportation agency.
Pastor TJ’s greatest desire is for all people to experience the saving, transforming power of Jesus and the abundant life He promised. This is his desire not only because of what Scripture commands, but also because he has experienced it firsthand, clinging to the promise found in Ephesians 5:8 (his favorite verse): “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.” (CSB)
Pastor Emeritus/Founding Pastor
John E. Tunstall IV, a native of Indianapolis, Indiana, earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Indiana University in 1972. After college he became a high school Art teacher and then went on to earn his Master of Divinity from Christian Theological Seminary.
Upon graduation he became both the associate pastor and youth pastor at the Second Christian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana under the leadership of the now Bishop T. Garrett Benjamin. In 1978, he became Pastor of First United Christian Church in Xenia, Ohio. On January 1, 1981, Pastor Tunstall was called to Los Angeles, California to Pastor United Christian Church. After a season of discernment and prayer, he was led to resign and to organize a new church. In 1983, John Tunstall became founder and senior pastor of Abundant Life Christian Church where he has served for thirty-nine and a half years. Under God’s anointing and Pastor Tunstall’s leadership, Abundant Life has remained committed to worship and service. Over twenty-six members of Abundant Life Christian Church have announced their call to ministry and are active throughout the country in various forms of ministry. More than twenty-five hundred people have come through Abundant Life over the years.
Pastor Tunstall has served in organizations, boards, and committees throughout the nation. He served on the board of Project Impact and for twenty years he served as Chairman of the Board and as a professor at the Southern California School of Ministry where he received his honorary Doctor of Divinity degree. Pastor Tunstall also served on the regional board of the Pacific Southwest Region of the Christian Church. He was the founder and first president of the African American Convocation of the PSWR and president of the Christian Ministers’ Alliance. He served as Director and Vice-President of The Eagle Wings Evangelistic Ministries and the Christian Ecumenical Covenant Fellowship wherein he was appointed Overseer/Bishop.
Pastor Tunstall is the proud parent of two dynamic educators, Dr. Jonli Tunstall and Dr. Jonathan Tunstall.