Board Members

Ben Montoya 

President & Chairman of the Board

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Ben co-founded the Downtown Fellowship in 2008 when he felt led to collaborate with other churches and ministries to serve Downtown San Diego. He is 

an elder at First Presbyterian Church San Diego and has served as a youth group leader, Sunday school teacher, youth band director, worship team bass player, and outreach elder. He has co-led 30+ house building trips with Amor in Mexico over the last 20 years.

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Ben is on the advisory council for New Gateway Solutions, a DF ministry for homeless prevention. He is board chairman of Life Perspectives, bringing hope and healing to those impacted by reproductive loss including miscarriage and abortion.

Ben is a Principal Resource Planner for San Diego Gas & Electric where he has been employed since 1986. He is a mechanical engineer, US Naval Academy, and an MBA, University of San Diego. Ben married his wife, Susan, in 1994 at First Presbyterian Church and they have two sons, Joshua and Matthew.

Bruce Menser

Board Member

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Bruce grew up attending First Presbyterian Church, was significantly impacted the church's youth ministries, and is a lifetime member there. He holds degrees from Stanford University, San Jose State 

University, and Fuller Theological Seminary. Youth ministry, sports ministry, and studies in religious studies, social sciences, and theology led to a career in emergency relief and community development work, mostly in Africa and the Middle East.

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Bruce is grateful for the faith-based, collaborative emphasis of the Downtown Fellowship as we seek to serve among the most vulnerable in San Diego.

John Townsend

Secretary of the Board

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John is the Senior Pastor of Matthew 25:34-40 Ministries, an international, cross-denominational church association, missions agency, church-planting

organization, and service agency.

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John has served with many Christian ministries, including Church@Work, San Diego County Jail Ministries, Harvest Crusades, Mission San Diego with Billy Graham, Promise Keepers, Mighty Men's Fellowship, and CityFest with Luis Palau. He has volunteered at the San Diego Rescue Mission for 45 years. Since 2011, he has been coordinating volunteers for Church-On-The-Streets in 16 cities, which ministers daily at homeless camps to restore people back into society through local communities of faith.

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He has been involved with the Downtown Fellowship since its beginning.

John Savidge

Board Member

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John is another native San Diegan. His professional career of over 35 years focused on marketing and sales in TV and radio broadcasting. Since 2008, he has operated his own online marketing business.

For the past 10 years, John has shifted his focus toward hospitality and service. He serves as a deacon at New Life Presbyterian Church and is the director of the Ladle Fellowship at First Presbyterian Church San Diego. The Ladle Fellowship serves the homeless and poor of Downtown San Diego in a variety of ways, including meals, clothing, medical intervention, choir, Christian discipleship classes, one-on-one mentoring, connections to social services, and humanizing hospitality.

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John is married to Leslie and they have three daughters, as well as five grandchildren. 

Staff

Russ Lenk

Mentorship Coordinator

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Russ is a graduate of Stanford University with degrees in Communication and Cultural Anthropology. 

He and his wife, Connie, founded Bramblebush Ministries and are affiliated with Teen Challenge, both of which are focused on family addiction reconciliation. 

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Russ has on-site experience in prison ministry, and spend a number of years working with individuals as they transitioned out of prison, and oversees an encouragement group at PATH, called "Life as it Should Be."

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Russ has been the Mentorship Coordinator for Downtown Fellowship since May of 2019.

Rachel Killion

Event and Communications Coordinator

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Rachel is a graduate of Point Loma Nazarene University with a degree in Business Administration, Concentration in International Development. She is involved in ministries throughout the San Diego area, and co-founded THRIVE Tutoring Ministry as a university student. 

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She served as the Tutoring and Mentoring Ministries Director as well as the the Creative and Visiting Ministries Director as part of Community Ministries through the Office of Spiritual Development at PLNU.

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Rachel now serves as the Community Ministries Program Assistant at her Alma Mater. She has been Downtown Fellowship's Event and Communications Coordinator since January of 2019.