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About Likewise Worship

41% of worship leaders considered leaving ministry last year. We’re here to reduce that number.

Our Vision

Healthy Leaders

Humble Worship

One Church

We SERVE and PRESERVE worship leaders by providing COMMUNITY, CARE and COMPETENCY.

What We Believe

Throughout Scripture, the people of God are commanded to worship in Spirit in Truth (John 4:24), to be unified (Eph. 4:1-3), to encourage one another by singing together (Col. 3:15-16), and to bring a sacrifice of praise (Heb. 13:15). We are to do all of these things with a spirit of humility, with the interests of others in mind (Phil. 2:3-4).

Our Team

Executive Team

Justin Unger

Pastor, Founder & Executive Director
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Justin has been committed to the local church for over 17 years as a worship pastor.  Passionate about unifying the Body of Christ with the gift of music, he has learned to stand firm amidst the cultural and traditional challenges that many churches face in regards to worship and the Sunday gathering.  He is a pastor of pastors and has a heart to disciple, equip and encourage both young and seasoned worship leaders  that are called to serve the local church.

Justin serves primarily as the Executive Director with Likewise Worship and also as a Speaker & Consultant for churches that are struggling to bring all generations together in worship.

He is married to his wife Falon, and together they have 4 beautiful children.  Visit www.justinunger.com to learn more about Justin’s music ministry.

Josh James

Pastor & Executive Financial Director
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Josh has been leading worship and growing as a pastor since 2009. A graduate of Grand Canyon University with a BA in Christian Studies, he has a heart for discipleship, particularly for investing in young worship leaders.

Josh serves primarily as the Executive  Director of Academy & Finance. He helps oversee the operations of the ministry, the ministry vision, Academy curriculum development, and serves as Retreat Director.

Josh and his wife, Brynne, live in Phoenix, Arizona with their two children, Ezra and Emery.

James Parker

Pastor & Executive Area Director
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James was raised in Prescott, Arizona, where he met his wife, Maren. He and Maren have two little boys: Henley and Benson.

James grew up around the Church, but discovered a relationship with God later in Highschool. Times of corporate worship played a huge part in James understanding God’s grace and truth. James’ restored relationship with his dad is a big piece of his testimony to God’s healing and freeing forgiveness.

Studying music in college, James finished an internship and got connected to Cornerstone Church, where he served nine years as the full-time worship pastor. James was licensed as a pastor in 2019 through the EFCA. James is now the Area Director for Likewise San Diego, and loves seeing leaders from different Bible-believing Churches strengthen each other in community. A part of the Area Director role includes leading worship locally, and the Parkers are grateful to be connected to Venture Church, where James is the worship pastor.

James and Maren were married in March of 2012 and are both passionate about listening to and caring for those in worship ministry as well as their spouses. They desire to be a safe place for leaders to connect, relate, and be encouraged.

The Parkers felt God’s call to the San Diego area in 2020 and they are excited to join what God is doing in and through Likewise Worship!

Directors

Scott Cunningham

Pastor & Area Director - Orange County
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Scott Cunningham grew up in Orange County and is a worship leader, pastor, and songwriter by vocation. He and Megan have been married for 27 years and they have five beautiful daughters, Madison, Rileigh, Emaline, Sabella, and Analise.

He served as the worship pastor at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa for almost 22 years and also directed the School of Worship that he started in 2002. Through the years, the Lord has opened doors for Scott to record a number of albums and also be involved in international missions and various church plants and conferences hosted around the world.

Brad Stretar

Pastor & Area Director - St. Louis, MO
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Brad and Courtney Stretar have been married for almost 8 years, and have 2 beautiful children, Evelyn (4.5) and Finnley (1). Brad has been leading worship for almost 15 years and currently serves as the worship pastor at Harvester Christian Church in St. Charles, Missouri.

Brad has a deep desire to help facilitate a restorative and encouraging environment for area worship leaders.

Terry Foss

Pastor & Area Director - Twin Cities, MN
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Terry has spent the last 17+ years in vocational ministry serving as a Worship Pastor. His desire is to see followers of Jesus wholeheartedly engage in worship that proclaims the truth of the Gospel, expectant that the Holy Spirit is moving through their worship to encourage and equip the church body.

He loves everything at the beach, from the waves, to the volleyball, the siting around and the fishing. Terry loves all things culinary (but mostly Italian American food, Fuhgedaboudit!), and spending time with family and friends. He and Christa have been married since 1998. They have two kids, Aidan and Sydney.

As the Minneapolis Director of Likewise Worship, he is excited to cultivate a culture of good fellowship and community among the worship leaders in the Twin Cities area, while investing in, encouraging and equipping the heart and motivation of these important local ministry leaders.

Zach Bloom

Pastor & Area Directors - Phoenix
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Zach Bloom has his roots in AZ and comes from a generational family of Worshippers. A pastors kid with his own prodigal story, Zach was discipled and mentored by many great leaders, including his Dad, Bryan Bloom, having been a Worship Pastor for 35 years. Growing up in the church Zach has seen both beauty and tragedy, but through it all has seen what an incredible gift the Local Church is to a broken world.

Zach & Kendra have been faithfully serving the Lord together through Worship since 2011, building & pastoring teams, and leading out creative projects. Zach served as the Worship Pastor at Pure Heart Church for 10 years. He & Kendra have been married since 2014 and have 3 beautiful children, Ezekiel, Adelynn, & Harlow.

Landon Bailey

Pastor & Area Director - Likewise Fort Wayne, IN
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A native of Fort Wayne, Landon grew up in the church and sensed a call to serve the Lord in worship at a young age. He has led worship and written songs since his teenage years, and has had the opportunity to lead and serve in churches, ministries, and conferences all around the world. As a musician, songwriter, composer, and producer, he has worked with many different artists, creating everything from worship, pop, hip hop, and cinematic tv/film music.

While living in Southern California, Landon met Kellie, a San Diego native, and together they have led worship and written songs under the appropriately titled band name, “the Baileys”. Landon had the privilege of serving in Orange County at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa and the School of Worship, as well as several other churches in the area. After moving back to Fort Wayne, Landon served as Worship Pastor at Pine Hills Church for nearly a decade. He holds dearly the purity and simplicity of worship, and has a strong desire to see worship leaders built up, strengthened, and unified. His prayer is to see one united heart of worship in Fort Wayne through community, care, competency, and creativity.

Landon and Kellie have been married since 2009, and they have three blonde haired, blue eyed children: Fair Lynn, Maig Sea, and King. They also have a golden doodle named Bailey (it’s a long story).

Josh Starks

Pastor & Area Director - Little Rock, AR
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Josh was born and raised in the central Arkansas region and began leading worship over twenty years ago. He and his wife, Leah, have been married since 2007 and have three incredible kids: Hosea, Everett, and India.

Josh currently serves as the Worship Pastor at Fellowship Bible Church in Searcy, AR. He also had the honor of leading in volunteer roles at various churches and ministries over the years while working in the tech and business world. He and Leah love to lead and minister together when they have the opportunity to do so.

In his free time, Josh would like to be found either on a date with Leah, with a really good cup of specialty coffee and a book, or on a run with a podcast in his ears.

Dom Nuncio

Pastor & Area Director - San Diego, CA
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Dominic Nuncio, a native of San Diego, has dedicated over 25 years to serving the local church in various pastoral roles, including worship, teaching, and executive leadership. In addition to his church ministry, he has also worked as a studio musician, recording artist, and music educator. He has had the privilege of leading musical worship for numerous churches, camps, and conferences both locally and internationally. One particular partnership that holds a special place in his heart is his ongoing 19-year collaboration with Hume Lake Christian Camps.

He holds a BA in Music and Biblical Studies from San Diego Christian College, as well as an MA in Executive Leadership from Azusa Pacific University. Drawing from his ministry experience and education, Dominic has a passion for leveraging creativity and leadership to guide and support fellow shepherds towards wholeness, healing and Gospel clarity for greater Kingdom impact.

Dominic is happily married to Tara since 2003, and they are blessed with two wonderful children, Asher and Amalya.

Martha Irvine

Vocal Coach & Women in Ministry Mentor
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Martha is an Arizona native and Pastor’s Kid who grew up serving in the church and leading worship alongside her family. She loves the local church community and a passion for worship through singing.

Martha earned her Master’s degree in Contemporary and Commercial Voice Training in 2015. She has been coaching worship leaders and teams as well as teaching private voice lessons at the college level.

Martha serves as the Likewise Voice Development Coach and Women In Ministry Mentor. She is excited to equip and encourage Likewise worship leaders to find vocal freedom and establish sustainable, functional based techniques that give them the tools they need to maintain vocal health and joy in singing. She is also grateful to mentor and support other Likewise women who are also serving in worship leading roles.

She has been leading worship for over 20 years and is currently serving as the worship leader at Pinnacle Community Church in Phoenix, AZ.  When she is not singing or teaching you can find her hiking, hanging out with her 11 nieces and nephews, or sitting in a quiet corner with a good book, her Bible, and a cup o’ joe.

Chris & Carrie Herrington

Directors of Care & Coaching
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Chris and Carrie Herrington are Midwest natives who moved to Arizona 13 years ago.  They met 25 years ago in music theory class during their freshman year of college.

Chris has over 20 years of full-time ministry experience, serving primarily in worship, college, and camp ministries.

Carrie has previously worked in church administration and office management before deciding to homeschool their children.

Currently, Chris is the worship pastor at Illuminate Community Church in Scottsdale, Arizona. Chris and Carrie have been married over 20 years and have three children, Colin, Charis, and Cuyler. They love traveling and building memories as a family, especially in the mountains of Arizona and in Southern California.

Chris and Carrie have a passion for worship and discipleship that has led them to become the Directors of Care & Coaching.

Admin & Communication

Nina Waters

Administration & Accounting
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Nina has been serving in various ministries in the local church for over 30 years.  She has a heart to serve the body of Christ and loves helping others.

Nina worked as a legal secretary and in the recruiting department of a large Dallas, TX law firm for 10 years. She and her husband, Tommy, have owned their own business for 18 years.The organizational skills, attention to detail, financial and administrative experience she has gained over the years bring a much needed asset to the Likewise team.

Nina and Tommy have been married for 39 years and enjoy spending time with their daughter, son in law and four beautiful grandchildren.

James Caggegi

Development Administration
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James is the Development Administrator for Likewise Worship.  Married since 1994, he and his wife Rebekah met while in their teens serving in youth ministry.

As worship leaders, they’ve been deeply involved with discipleship, church planting and as missionaries in London, England. Writing and recording music is also something they love to do!

They have two grown children and currently serve in worship ministry for churches around southern California.

Cat Reaves

Social Media Host & Communication
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Despite growing up without church community, Cat’s passion to serve God and His people began at a young age. In her mid-twenties Cat finally found a church to call home and quit her full-time job to pursue her calling into ministry.

Apart from being wife to Rob and full-time mommy to her beautiful daughter Nai’a, Cat now serves on the Creative Communications team to help grow and nurture Likwise’s social media community.

David Merdick

Tech & Accounting Administration
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David is a native of Phoenix, Arizona, having lived in the west valley his entire life. He accepted Christ at an early age, and shortly after became involved in Technical Arts ministry.

After serving as a tech director in the same church for over 20 years, David continues to utilize those skills to bless congregations all over the valley. David now serves as the Connection Assistant as the ministry continues to expand in cities across the nation.

David has been happily married to his wife Claudia since 1999. David and Claudia have no children except those that God has blessed them with by bringing them into their lives over the years.

Dakota Sumner

Creative Director
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Having been the son of a professional skateboarder turned evangelist, Dakota has grown up in ministry traveling around the world.

After spending 5 years as a UX designer in a corporate environment, he now works freelance, helping ministries and start-up companies. He serves to help guide all things creative for Likewise, as well as handle the web development of Likewise's websites.

Dakota is happily married to his high school sweet-heart Camryn, and both of them serve at their local church's youth ministry.

Likewise Music Group

Brian Albright

Director of A&R and Music Production
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Brian Albright is a songwriter, producer, & worship pastor serving at Branches HB in Huntington Beach, CA. Albright has been a lifelong Orange County resident, where he has dedicated to building a vibrant and thriving worship culture in the area. Brian is married to his wife Kelsey and together they have two awesome children, Billie and Abner!

Josh Wathen

Artist in Residence
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Josh has been leading in worship ministry since 2015. He and his wife Hannah moved to Orange County, CA in 2017 to expand their ministry within the local church. He is the Worship Pastor at Calvary Church of Santa Ana and is also an accomplished producer and songwriter.

Board of Directors

Mark Snyder

Board Chairman

Jeffrey Cantin

Board Member

Ed Shinoda

Board Member

Justin Unger

Board Member
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Justin has been committed to the local church for over 17 years as a worship pastor.  Passionate about unifying the Body of Christ with the gift of music, he has learned to stand firm amidst the cultural and traditional challenges that many churches face in regards to worship and the Sunday gathering.  He is a pastor of pastors and has a heart to disciple, equip and encourage both young and seasoned worship leaders  that are called to serve the local church.

Justin serves primarily as the Executive Director with Likewise Worship and also as a Speaker & Consultant for churches that are struggling to bring all generations together in worship.

He is married to his wife Falon, and together they have 4 beautiful children.  Visit www.justinunger.com to learn more about Justin’s music ministry.