COTTONWOOD CHRISTIAN CENTER

What COTTONWOOD CHRISTIAN CENTER does

Cottonwood Christian Center (DBA Cottonwood Church) is a non-denominational, multi-ethnic 501(c)(3) Christian church headquartered at 4505 Katella Avenue in Los Alamitos, California, founded in 1983 by Pastors Bayless and Janet Conley and now led by Lead Pastors Harrison and Bethany Conley. The church operates two physical campuses — the main Katella campus in Los Alamitos and a Long Beach Campus at 4130 N Viking Way led by Campus Pastors Ruben and Cindy Diaz — and runs a portfolio of roughly twelve life-stage and situational ministries covering children (birth through 6th grade), youth (grades 6-12), young adults (18-30), young married couples, men's and women's ministries, seniors, Celebrate Recovery (12-step), small groups, Helps Ministry (practical handyman services for vulnerable populations), Hope Initiatives community outreach, and a Spanish-language ministry. Core products include weekend worship services (Sundays 9am & 11am PT, First Wednesdays 6:30pm PT), the three-step online Growth Track discipleship program hosted on Thinkific in English and Spanish, structured fee-based classes such as $150 pre-marital courses, $20 GriefShare/DivorceCare/Restore, and a digital media library (Cottonwood OnDemand livestream, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, plus a Spanish-language TV broadcast reaching 22 Latin American nations).

The technology stack is a typical SaaS-assembled church operations kit rather than proprietary infrastructure: cottonwood.org as the primary web property, cottonwood.online.church for livestream, Pushpay for PCI DSS Level 1 online giving, Engiven for cryptocurrency donations, Overflow for stock and non-traditional asset contributions, Shopify (cottonwood-merch.myshopify.com) for branded merchandise, Formstack for forms and prayer requests, Thinkific for online courses, Zoom for online support groups, and Dropbox for workshop materials. No AI/ML, proprietary platform, or mobile app is disclosed.

The revenue model is donation-driven rather than transaction-priced. The bulk of revenue comes from voluntary tithes and offerings processed through Pushpay (one-time and recurring), supplemented by fee-based structured classes (pre-marital at $150 per couple; GriefShare, DivorceCare, and Restore at $20 per participant; Financial Peace University priced by Ramsey Solutions; book-cost pricing for Single Moms and Special Needs Parents groups). Ancillary revenue streams include merchandise sales via Shopify and stock/cryptocurrency donations routed through Overflow and Engiven. Customer acquisition is community-led (Growth Track, word-of-mouth referrals, pastoral connections) and event-driven (Sunday services, First Wednesdays, small group programs, seasonal campaigns like H4 giving and Hope Initiatives), with multi-channel marketing across YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter/X, Spotify, and email via Formstack. The stated headcount is 13 employees, no funding rounds, parent company, subsidiaries, patents, awards, regulatory actions, or M&A activity are disclosed.

Name

COTTONWOOD CHRISTIAN CENTER

Legal name

Cottonwood Church

Website

https://cottonwood.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Cottonwood Christian Center (Cottonwood Church) is a non-denominational, multi-ethnic 501(c)(3) church operating two Southern California campuses (Los Alamitos and Long Beach) and serving congregants of all ages through life-stage ministries, support groups, digital media, and outreach programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Religious and Faith-Based Community Services

NAICS

Religious Organizations (8131), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

akta.pro primary industry

Local Congregations & Worship Communities (Churches, Mosques, Temples, Synagogues) (BPAGAJAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Faith-Based Missions & Evangelism Organizations (Domestic & International) (BPAGAJAE), Community Centers & Neighborhood Support Services (BPAGAEAL), Christian Broadcasting (TV & Radio) (MPABALAA)

Keywords

• Religious services
• Worship services
• Faith community
• Youth ministry
• Spiritual formation

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Alamitos

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Tithes and Offerings (Online Giving): Members and visitors contribute financially through one-time or recurring donations via Pushpay, the church's primary online giving platform. Pushpay is Level 1 PCI DSS compliant, providing a secure environment for transactions.
2. Cryptocurrency Donations: Cottonwood accepts cryptocurrency donations through the Engiven platform, enabling contributors to give digital assets.
3. Stock and Non-Traditional Contributions: The church accepts stock donations and other non-traditional assets. The Legacy Team assists donors in the process, with contributions managed through Overflow.
4. Merchandise Sales: Cottonwood operates a Shopify-based merchandise storefront (cottonwood-merch.myshopify.com) selling branded apparel and goods.
5. Pre-Marital Classes: Five-week in-person pre-marital classes offered at $150 per couple, including workbooks and an assessment. Completion is a requirement for couples desiring to be married by a Cottonwood pastor.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels9 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Cottonwood Christian Center is a non-denominational, multi-ethnic Christian church that provides weekend worship services, age-specific ministry programs, Christ-centered recovery and support groups, discipleship and pastoral care services, and community outreach initiatives. Its core activity centers on facilitating weekly worship gatherings, small groups, and faith-based community programs across two physical campuses, complemented by online livestream, podcast, and Spanish-language television broadcast distribution.

Product overview

Cottonwood Christian Center (Cottonwood Church) is a non-denominational, multi-ethnic Christian church offering a comprehensive portfolio of ministry programs and digital services. The core offering consists of weekend worship services (Sundays 9am & 11am, First Wednesdays monthly) supplemented by age-specific ministry programs including Cottonwood Kids (birth-6th grade), Cottonwood Youth (grades 6-12), Young Adults/CYA (18-30), Young Marrieds, Men's Ministry, Women's Ministry, and Seniors (60+). The church provides support through Celebrate Recovery (12-step program), Support Groups (GriefShare, DivorceCare, etc.), and Helps Ministry (practical handyman assistance). Discipleship resources include Growth Track (3-step online program via Thinkific), Cottonwood Grow (workshops, podcasts, books), and Cottonwood OnDemand/Podcast for digital media. Outreach is conducted through Hope Team/Hope Initiatives serving local communities. The church operates two campuses (Katella in Los Alamitos and Long Beach Campus) and maintains Spanish-language ministry including international television broadcast reaching 22 nations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sunday Worship Services
• First Wednesdays Worship Gatherings
• Long Beach Campus (LBC) Worship Services
• Cottonwood Kids Ministry
• Cottonwood Youth Ministry
• Young Adults (CYA) Ministry
• Young Marrieds Ministry
• Men's Ministry
• Women's Ministry
• Seniors Ministry
• Celebrate Recovery
• Small Groups
• Helps Ministry
• Hope Team / Hope Initiatives
• Growth Track
• Cottonwood Grow Discipleship Resources
• Cottonwood OnDemand
• Cottonwood Podcast
• Cottonwood Merch Store
• Baptism Services
• Pastoral Care Services
• Pre-Marital Classes
• Support Groups
• Restore Program

Quantifiable outcome

• Spanish-language television outreach reaching 22 nations with the potential to reach over 175 million Spanish-speaking people across Latin America.

Named customers1 record

Segments11 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Olive CrestcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThrough the H4 initiative, Cottonwood partners with Olive Crest on the Transitional Aged Youth (TAY) Program, which offers housing, education, job support, and trusted relationships for foster youth aging out of the system throughout Southern California. H4 giving funds gatherings, mentorship, and resources for these vulnerable young adults.
• Convoy of HopecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConvoy of Hope partners with Cottonwood for their summer feeding program, which provides nutritious meals for food-insecure children across the U.S. Cottonwood's H4 initiative supports this program to feed thousands of children. Hope Initiatives also include volunteer days packaging grocery items for local families (August 16th event packaging 4,500 bags).
• Baptize AmericaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCottonwood Church participates in Baptize America, a nationwide day of public faith and celebration where churches across the country join together for simultaneous baptism events. Cottonwood's Baptize America event is scheduled for May 24th.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Life.Church: Edmond, OK-based multi-site church and creator of the Church Online Platform / YouVersion Bible App. Comparable in digital ministry innovation and multi-platform content distribution.
• Elevation Church: Large multi-site Charlotte, NC-based church led by Steven Furtick with strong online content distribution. Comparable in multi-site scale and digital media reach, though operating in a different region.
• North Point Community Church: Atlanta-area multi-campus church founded by Andy Stanley with extensive small-groups and online content ecosystem. Comparable in ministry breadth and digital-first outreach strategy.

Direct peers

• Harvest Christian Fellowship: Multi-site Riverside, CA-based Bible-teaching non-denominational church with national media broadcast (Greg Laurie). Closely matches Cottonwood's SoCal footprint, Bible-focused teaching, and broadcast distribution model.
• Saddleback Church: Multi-campus Southern California non-denominational church headquartered in Lake Forest with global missions and PEACE Plan outreach. Highly comparable geographic, denominational, and ministry-mix positioning to Cottonwood.
• Bayside Church: Sacramento-area multi-campus non-denominational church with extensive life-stage ministries, small groups, and online streaming. Mirrors Cottonwood's full-portfolio ministry approach and digital infrastructure.
• Mariners Church: Irvine, CA-based multi-campus non-denominational church with comparable programming (children, youth, recovery, marriage) and SoCal demographic reach similar to Cottonwood's Katella and Long Beach campuses.
• Rock Church: San Diego-based multi-campus non-denominational church with strong broadcast media presence (Pastor Miles McPherson). Comparable in multi-site, multi-ethnic, broadcast-driven SoCal model to Cottonwood.
• Mosaic Church: Los Angeles-based multi-ethnic, multi-site church with similar demographic positioning to Cottonwood and overlapping ministry areas (kids, youth, recovery, marriage). Comparable SoCal urban-suburban footprint.

Others

• Pushpay: Faith-sector digital giving platform used by Cottonwood and thousands of US churches. Functions as an enabling technology provider rather than a direct competitor, but is a critical infrastructure dependency.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cottonwoodchrch
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UClx3qYZRLSK5shZr-DIZYMw
• Facebookfacebook.com/cottonwoodchurch
• Instagraminstagram.com/cottonwoodchurch
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cottonwood-christian-center

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about COTTONWOOD CHRISTIAN CENTER