Our Pastors 

Chris Lambert
Chris is someone who had spent years of his life pursuing pleasure that never led to the satisfaction he was searching for, especially while in his fraternity at Indiana University. Eventually, he understood that satisfaction is found in God alone. Chris vividly remembers his radical, life-changing encounter with God at age 22 in Australia, where he made his way to the front, responding to God during a church service. He knew God was speaking to Him, and he answered back, "From this day forward I'll stop doing whatever You want me to stop doing, and I'll start doing whatever You want me to start doing." He made a choice to trust in Christ... to put his faith in Him, and Him alone... No life experience during his pre-Jesus quest for pleasure ever compared to the satisfaction He has found in God since the day he submitted himself entirely to Him.

Andrea Lambert
At age 17, Andrea was absolutely disgusted with the seemingly endless depth of her emptiness, largely produced by the deceptive powers of religiousity. She didn't experience God as the supreme source of her satisfaction. God didn't seem loving to her. If anything, He seemed like an angry old man obsessed with stalking her every move, eagerly anticipating her next failure. In fact, she wasn't even sure if God existed. She thought, "Why am I still so broken and empty after pursuing God with such intensity for so many years?"

She just wanted to be happy. One night she was ready to throw in the towel on religion and pursue happiness through a quest for money, power, and respect offered to her through an engineering scholarship. She audibly spoke into the atmosphere, not sure if there even was a God who could possibly hear her, saying, "God if You are real, I need to know!" Shockingly, God responded to her in an audible voice... His audible voice. He called her by name saying, "Andrea, I have called you." Full of reverent fear and peace beyond understanding, she listened and responded to everything God had to say to her that night.

After receiving Master of Divinity degrees from Fuller Theological Seminary in California, Chris and Andrea spent nine months of their lives serving in hands on community development and social work in Africa, all for the purposes of modeling and teaching the meaning of life, and the way to embrace it. Chris is currently working on a Doctorate in Preaching at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and Andrea is completing a Doctorate in Psychotherapy and Pastoral Counseling. Chris and Andrea love their son, Levi, who is the first of multimple chuldren to come, God willing :)

John Pop
John was born in Romania, but in 1979, at the age of 16, he moved to Detroit with his parents. He married Tammy at the age of 23, and they now have three children: Crystal, Alicia and Christian.



John grew up in a very conservative, traditional church, but he felt that he and his family were not growing in Christ as they should. The Holy Spirit put a hunger in his heart for more of God, and the Pop family decided to make Brightmoor Christian Church in Southfield their new home for the next 13 years. John was also part of a men's group from the Romanian church that met for over 16 years. God used this group of men to plant and build a new church in Romania. God also put it on their hearts to pray for a new church in Metro Detroit that would meet the needs of many young Romanians who were no longer living for Christ.

It was through Brightmoor and the men's group that God revealed Himself to John. In 1995 God called him to Bible school. After two years of wrestling with God about this call he started to attend Central Bible College in Novi, not knowing why God was asking him to do that. In 2005 God brought David Okai, a missionary from Ghana, and John together. John became a ministry partner and worked with David on a new church plant in Berkley. In October of 2007, John joined Chris and Andrea Lambert in planting Ekklesia, which held its first meeting in John's house. John believes Ekklesia is an answer to many years of prayers from faithful men of God. John is also the co-owner of Quality Design Services Inc, an international engineering firm he and his partner started in 1990.

Dave Pop
Dave considers himself blessed to have a rich Christian heritage that traces back to his great grandparents in Romania. Being the son of a pastor, Dave grew up in the church. Although he was active in many different ministries during this time, he was unsure about what God wanted to do with his life. Over the years, the words of Jesus, "Go and make disciples...", began to weigh heavily upon him. God was birthing a great desire within him to reach out to those outside the church.



In 2007, Dave and Ekklesia crossed paths. While meeting the people and learning the vision of Ekklesia, it didn't take long for him to understand that this was the church where God wanted him to serve. Since that decision, God continues to take him on a journey that although challenging, has been extremely rewarding. Nothing has been more satisfying than following and living out the teachings of Jesus.

Joining Dave on this journey are his wife Dana and their son Joshua. Together they are a team that is committed to following Christ and making a difference in the lives they touch.

Contact UsPlease contact us any time.

Name Email Phone
Chris Lambert (pastor) chris@ekklesiadetroit.com 313.949.3261
Andrea Lambert (pastor) andrea@ekklesiadetroit.com 313.949.3066
John Pop (pastor) john@ekklesiadetroit.com 313.574.7378
Dave Pop (pastor) dave@ekklesiadetroit.com 734.904.0873