Our team desires to know, love and pour into our students, leaders and parents from all three groups. We really see ourselves as pastors to our whole ministry. So always feel free to contact either of us with any questions you may have or to get together! That said, we also have some specific areas of emphasis detailed below.

Mandy Dupar – ⅚ and Junior High Pastor

Mandy grew up just down the 101 in Ventura. She received her BA in Liberal Studies and Multiple Subject Teaching Credential from Azusa Pacific University. She moved to Seattle, WA in 2014 and quickly fell in love with youth ministry when she began working at Bellevue Presbyterian Church. After 3 years in Washington, she moved here to begin working with the youth ministry at Santa Barbara Community Church. When she’s not hanging out with students, you can most likely find her at a coffee shop or enjoying the outdoors with her dog, Lila.

Email Mandy with Questions about ⅚ or Junior High Ministry.

Caleb Bagdanov – High School Pastor 

Caleb graduated from Westmont College and more recently completed his MA in Theology from Fuller Seminary in 2019. He met members of SB Community’s youth group while working at Forest Home and got involved with our youth ministry from there. Since 2012 Caleb has gifted our ministry with a deep sense of empathy and has strived to make it a place where teens feel like they belong. A few things Caleb loves are being a youth pastor, his wife Marie, his son Simon, cycling, trail running, fly-fishing, and the Dodgers.

Email Caleb with Questions about High School Ministry.

Katie Shara – High School Associate     

Katie received her BA in English from Westmont in 2013. She taught at Trinity Preschool for four years, helping develop their Bible curriculum and concurrently studying child development. Katie came on staff in 2018 after leading a small group for 8 years and has enjoyed helping oversee the high school ministry as well as the college ministry. You can find her practicing yoga, running or surfing when she’s not planning youth group or grabbing coffee with students.

Andy White – 5th/6th Associate     

Andy White serves alongside Mandy to minister to our 5^th/6^th students. Andy has served as a worship leader at SBCC for the last 20 years and has been an elementary school teacher for the same length of time. His combination of experience and expertise in music, tech, and teaching elementary-aged students makes him uniquely suited to this combined role.

Email Katie with questions about High School Ministry.

Our youth ministry exists to cultivate in young people a love for God, for His word, for His church, and for His world in order that they might be conformed into the image of Christ.

We pursue our mission by:

Committing

• To the consistent teaching of God’s word in youth group and small groups
• To the intentional pursuit of long-term discipleship relationships

Connecting

• 5th-12th graders to one another through small groups with peers that are led by a mature believer
• Young people to God’s church, both local and global

Equipping

• Our youth for a life of evangelism and servant leadership
• Young people to seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God

Starting in 7th grade, we put together groups of 4-8 kids with a leader who will walk with them through high school. In junior high, small groups meet every other week and then move to meeting weekly in high school. Small groups are the cornerstone of our youth ministry, providing opportunity for long-term discipleship with a leader, fellowship with other students and the experience of pursuing a Christian life in community.

“Small group is one of the best things in my life. It is a space I feel safe and heard, an important touchpoint in my week, not to mention it’s a lot of fun. The relationships I’ve made in small group are important to me and my leader has inspired me to be an intentional, devoted, and God-loving person. I look up to him and to the guys in my group. Meeting weekly is something I look forward to and I am very thankful for it.”

–A sophomore boy reflecting on his small group experience.

For more information about small groups, please contact Mandy for Junior High and ">Caleb for High School.

SB Community Church Youth Ministries go to Forest Home for a weekend in the winter, and a week in the summer. We’ve been going to Forest Home as a church since 1995. We LOVE it there!

Summer Camp – 2022

Watch for details in early 2022.

The easiest way to get more information about how to get your son or daughter involved with our youth group is to get on our email lists.

We send regular updates and communication for each of our age groups via Community Connect.

To be added to one of our email groups, first, follow the instructions on this page to create a login for Community Connect, our online community.

Then, email Mandy Dupar for ⅚ and Junior High and/or Caleb Bagdanov for High School requesting to be added to these email groups.