Staff
Meet the Team
At Sierra Baptist
Randal Pollard
Senior Pastor
Pastor Randy was appointed to serve as Sierra Baptist Church’s Senior Pastor in July of 2009. He and his wife, Joan, served for 20 years as missionaries with Baptist Mid-Missions in Brazil—planting churches, starting and leading a seminary, and changing the lives of countless Brazilians.
As a pastor, Randy excels at strong expository preaching, leadership development, and in-depth Bible teaching. He feels privileged to shepherd Sierra Baptist Church, where biblical views are embraced and encouraged, with members who care about the needs of those around them and who want to connect others to the body of Christ. Randy takes worship and preaching very seriously, spending hours of each day focused on Bible study and prayer.
He graduated from Western Baptist Bible College in 1978, and from Western Conservative Baptist Seminary in 1984 with an M.Div.
Randy has been happily married to his wife, Joan (who is a Junior High teacher at a private Christian school), since 1984. They have four grown children, and thirteen grandchildren.
Paul Varenkamp
Associate Pastor
Paul was appointed to serve as Sierra Baptist Church’s Associate Pastor in November 2021. Prior to his appointment at Sierra Baptist, he served as a full-time Pastor/Elder at Grace Bible Chapel in San Jose, CA; Worship Pastor at Evergreen Valley Church in San Jose, CA before that; and Local Outreach Pastor, and Worship Leader, at Los Gatos Christian Church.
He graduated from San Jose Christian College (now William Jessup University) in 2000 with a BA in Bible and Theology, and a BA in Music.
Paul has been happily married to his wife, LeAnne, since 2000, and are partners in life and ministry. LeAnne also graduated from San Jose Christian College (BA, Bible and Theology) and has served alongside Paul in many roles, including Women’s and Children’s Ministry, and as a speaker and blogger. They are parents to 8 children: Jacob, Josiah, Evie, Katelyn, Laurelyn, Joshua, Jordan, and Millie.
Paul Sanftner
Pastor/Elder
Paul serves as the public information officer for a city government in the San Francisco Bay Area. A supercommuter, Paul travels 116 miles on the Capitol Corridor (via Amtrak) to work, 2-3 days per week. He earned his second bachelor’s degree from TMU, where courses emphasized biblical leadership and organizational efficiency.
Inspired by the principles of gospel outreach, Paul is dedicated to mass communication efforts, utilizing traditional and digital media platforms for civic updates and supporting the challenging national landscape of police department recruitment. You can view the work of Paul’s communication team on its YouTube channel, “City of San Leandro.”
Paul is happily married to Serom for 10 years, and they have three wonderful children.
Want to know more?
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