College Baseball:

Pictured L-R: Abel pitching for Cal Baptist, Abel w/wife Jennifer & daughter Joy.

By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor

Abel Galvan wasn’t necessarily a superstar baseball player, but the 50-year old Workman High School graduate is without question a Hall of Fame person. And that’s not a slight at his efforts or success on a pitcher’s mound. In fact, Galvan earned Most Valuable Pitching honors after his junior year at Cal Baptist in 1992.

It’s his impact, though, over the last 33 years in the ministry, including the past 18 as a pastor that has defined his greatness. Galvan pitched at Workman, Mt. SAC and Cal Baptist, and it was this writer’s privilege to play alongside Abel and for legendary Mounties coach, Art Mazmanian. Abel stuck out, because he was a 6-foot-4, mostly sidearm and right-handed pitcher.

Unlike the rest of us that swore like a drunken sailor, Galvan didn’t resort to profanities when the game got frustrating. The only f-bombs that came out of his mouth were ‘family, faith and friends.’ In spite of holding himself to a higher standard of conduct, Abel never tried to play a ‘holier than thou,’ role on our team, he just accepted us as teammates and friends, and did so without judgment.

Even though baseball wasn’t going to be his profession, he got a lot out of the sport.

“I would struggle from time to time with my grades when I was younger, because I went through stretches of being lazy, and I knew if I wanted to continue to play a game I loved, I would need to focus more in the classroom and I did that,” Galvan said. “Baseball taught me how to be a good coach. I see myself in that type role, encouraging people to be their best, helping them discover their gifts and talents and putting them in the right position to help the church succeed.”

The laziness in his studies would subside and he earned a bachelors, masters and his doctorate, with a thesis on using social media to help people grow in their faith.

Galvan has been married to his wife Jennifer since 1997 and they have two kids. Joshua is 20, and Joy is 19. Abel met Jennifer in 1995 in San Diego. Galvan had taken a job as a youth pastor and she was a missionary from Tennessee. Jennifer would go on to graduate from the University of Tennessee-Martin with a focus on social work.

While in San Diego, she worked in 10 churches over 10 weeks and came to Abel’s church in the eighth week.

“We hit it off right away,” he said. “I made a list of everything I was looking for in a woman and I saw everything in her from that list. Part of the list included her having a heart for God, loving to serve other people, and she was also beautiful and had a southern accent.”

They did the long-distance dating thing for a year, and this was before cell phones, emails or texting, so they wrote letters.

“I told her if we can write each other, there is something to our relationship. We would spend four hours on the phone and talked about what’s been going on in our lives, but we also did a bible study together (on the phone).

Jennifer Galvan is not only a huge part of Abel’s church (Faith Fellowship) in La Palma, in her own career, she’s a program director for a company that works for abused children and their families.

Abel described his wife as “the organizer and planner of our family. We’re having the kids cook dinner for us each night this week and she put that together. She is the stern one and I’m the good cop. She gives unconditional love and she’s forgiving. Her support for me personally allows me to do what God has called to me to do. I also appreciate that we work together on what’s best for our kids.”

As mentioned, Galvan is 6-foot-4 and Jennifer is 6-feet tall, which is the reason their son Joshua now stands at 6-foot-7, and before you ask, no, he is not a basketball player.

Galvan also gave a lot of credit to his parents, Dominga and Benjamin.

Dominga died in 2007 at age 73 and four years later, Benjamin joined his wife in Heaven after turning 80.

“My dad taught me the value of working hard for your family and putting in the effort to make your dreams happen. My mom helped me learn how to appreciate little things like the love of music, as well as the importance of taking care of family and working hard.”

For this story, we were able to reach out to one of Abel’s Cal Baptist teammates, Joe Elder, as well as two members of his congregation, Andy Simmons and Daniel Dominguez, to see what kind of an impact Galvan has had on their lives.

“I remember him being a fierce competitor,” Elder said. “He developed a way to get people out. I caught him a lot in the bullpen and he would have a mean look on his face like he was trying to intimidate batters, but off the field, he’s the nicest guy in the world. I remember talking about his future and I told him he would be a great pastor. At that time, he wasn’t sure. He always challenged me to do the right thing. I truly believe that he would walk out of his own sermon if you needed him. That’s the kind of guy he is to me.”

Dominguez and Simmons both described examples of Galvan helping them through some tough moments, as well as challenging them from time to time.

Daniel Dominguez, who is now 33, described Galvan this way: “I met Abel when I was 19. I grew up in a church setting and he saw a light in me that no one else seemed to. I went to a youth group event with my cousin, who was 15, and a couple weeks in, I was asked to pray. Until then, I had never been asked to do that. Afterwards, he asked to meet with me and he encouraged me to be a youth pastor, which was something I had never considered. I told him I knew nothing about that and that my parents thought I was kind of young for that, but he told me he would train me and he did. It was such a great and rewarding experience.

And then I also saw the forgiving and yet honest side of Abel. A couple years back I got my girlfriend pregnant and I felt like I had let everyone down. Abel was the first person I called when I found out and I was worried what he was going to say. He told me ‘first of all you’re a dummy because you know right from wrong, but I still love you and that’s never going to change. I can’t tell you how much that meant and continues to mean to me. His wife Jennifer is also a great person, who I love, and she does so much for those of us at Abel’s church.”

Simmons has had some challenges as well.

“My wife deals with being bipolar and I explained to Abel what I was going through, and he asked if I was keeping a journal, which I was not at the time. He told me that you’d see a pattern and it will help you know when episodes will happen, and like clockwork, it did and it’s helped me foresee what what going to happen. But it’s not just that, he continues to follow up and make sure we’re OK. He doesn’t leave the church until everyone is outside the door and that they all feel loved. He doesn’t hear this enough, so thank you, Abel, you are appreciated, and we love you as much as you love us.”

After telling you a number of anecdotes, don’t get the wrong idea that Abel Galvan is a square or can’t have a good time.

He’s well known to take in a concert of many bands, especially those who peaked in the 1980’s.

Abel is also an avid WWE fan, and the only thing that stopped him from going to Tampa, Florida, back in April for Wrestlemania, was COVID-19 shutting the event down.

If there’s one thing this writer hopes you get from this story, it’s that Abel Galvan does hold himself to very high standards as a person, pastor, dad, husband and friend.

But for those of us that don’t reach that level, he’ll never stop loving you.

Thank you, Abel, for teaching us in the most challenging year of our collective lives how to be better people, and to put other’s need in front of our own.

Quotable:

Abel’s wife, Jennifer Galvan: “Abel married a woman who is extroverted, strong willed and opinionated. He has always treated our marriage as a collaboration of equal minds. He is not put off by my strong opinions, he values what I bring to the relationship and he has never tried to reign in my extroverted nature. He encourages my strengths, especially when they are opposite to his strengths, he believes that we make a more dynamic team by lifting each other up in our unique talents.

Being the pastor of a small church afforded Abel the time to be present at the kids school in a way that I was unable to be. I often joked that Abel was the room mom. He would go on school trips and show up for all sporting events. This commitment to our kids gave them the foundation to trust that dad would always be their biggest supporter. It also gave other kids in their class a present father to look up to. He loves his family with his whole heart. As the pastor in the family, he often gets called upon to lead the family through big events; marriages, births, death etc. I have watched him put aside his own personal grief to be strong for the entire family.

Another thing that I admire about him as my pastor- is his ability to carry a vision for the future of the church. He strives to move the church forward and help the church see that they can reach people in new and exciting ways. He never stops learning and applying what he has learned into all areas of the church. His style of preaching is relatable and relevant to what people are going through in their daily lives. In all four churches he has pastored, I continue to hear people of all ages come up to him and say that the message he gave was meant just for them, that it hit right to the heart of where they are in their life.”

Abel’s daughter, Joy: “. I am the proud daughter of Abel Galvan. I am very thankful for this opportunity to answer these questions about my dad. To answer your first question, what have I learned from my dad that I use most in my daily life? The answer is simple, Abel Galvan is a kind, patient, loving, compassionate man. From his great example, I have learned how to treat all people with kindness, compassion, patience and love. He taught me that even if I don’t see eye to eye with a person, I still need to love and respect them. Now, for the second question, what do I appreciate most about him as a dad? Abel Galvan is the best father I could have ever asked for. I thank God that I grew up with his presence in my life. I appreciate everything he has done and does for me daily. I appreciate his unconditional love and support that I get from him, no matter the situation. But, the thing I appreciate about him the most, is the Godly example he holds in my life. He introduced me to God the moment I was born and because of his love, God’s love, and the love of my family, I have become the woman of God that I am today. I would be nowhere without his Godly example and the unconditional love he gives. I love my father, and I thank God everyday for bringing me into the world and giving me the best role model I could ask for.”

Abel’s son, Joshua, kept it short: “What have I learned from my father? I would say the desire to always learn. I admire his commitment to faith and love, that only comes from character.