New Church, Familiar Faces

By Misty Cryer

Curiosity recently boosted word-of-mouth exposure for 10 Ten Life Church with a question about what is being built on Church and Lamont streets. The nondenominational church officially launched on December 7, 2025. While somewhat new, the church was planted by local families who wish to help spread the gospel throughout the community.

Confirming that the church plans to build a building on the property next to Carlsbad Prep Academy, Braden Ryan, Lead Pastor of 10 Ten Life Church, said, “It used to be St. Edwards’ softball fields; we own three acres right there.” He added, “Hopefully, when the building is done, that will be our full-time home.”

Currently, the church meets on Sunday mornings at 10:10 a.m. at Walter Gerrells Performing Arts and Exhibition Center, 4012 National Parks Hwy.

With a unique setup, Ryan said that groups meet in people’s homes. These include a youth group that meets on Sunday nights, a young adult group that meets every other Wednesday, and a small adult group that meets every Wednesday. “We also have a new women’s ministry that will start meeting twice a week at a location once we find one,” he said.

“Our team was 100% volunteer until just recently,” said Ryan. He said Natalie Rose was hired as the children’s director, with Justin Amyx as the worship director, specifying that they are part-time, with the rest of the team volunteers. “There are several families in our community that came together and said, ‘Hey, let’s do this together.’”

Braden Ryan and his wife, Stormi, were both born and raised in Carlsbad. They have two little boys with a third on the way. Ryan said that when he was growing up, his dad, Jimmy Ryan, was the youth pastor at Otis Baptist Church, Blodgett Street Baptist Church, and Hillcrest Baptist Church, before becoming the lead pastor of Loving Baptist Church, where he served for several years.

After graduating from high school, Ryan began pursuing a degree in Carlsbad, attending what was then New Mexico State University. “I hated college, so I dropped out and started working for Devon Energy,” he said.

During that time, Ryan said his dad retired from pastoring, and he found a church home at First Methodist in Carlsbad. “I was volunteering there, with Youth Pastor Scott Keener.”

When Keener decided to move to Plainview, Ryan applied for and obtained the youth pastor position at the Methodist church, where he served for several years.

He said he also coached baseball with Cody May and football with Coach Arrington. “I even coached a little basketball with Coach Zimbrun while I was youth pastor at First Methodist Church.”

In 2024, they moved to Hereford, TX, to pastor First Methodist Hereford. During the year that they were there, the couple decided that they really wanted to be home. “Unsure of what that would look like, I was talking to my dad and several other people in our community; we decided to pray about planting a church here in Carlsbad,” said Ryan.

“There are a lot of wonderful churches here and a lot of really good pastors,” said Ryan. Recognizing the reality, he estimated that a very small percentage of people in the community of Carlsbad are actually in church.

Growing up here, knowing a lot of people, and seeing how many people weren’t in a church, Ryan said, “We decided to plant this. The heart behind it was not to be in competition with any church or anything like that, but to just open another opportunity for someone to feel welcome, accepted, and known, and to come to know Jesus—maybe for the first time—or to rekindle their relationship with him.”

The name “10 Ten Life Church” comes from scripture, Ryan said. Paraphrasing, he said, “John 10:10 says the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I’ve come to give you life and life more abundantly,” explaining that the abundant life is literally found through Jesus himself.

“I have this deep conviction that not everybody truly understands what being in a relationship with Christ is,” said Ryan. “We live with a hope for eternity, with a peace in this world even though there will be troubles, and a joy that can only be found in Christ,” he said.

“One thing that I am excited about for the future of our church is just seeing what God uses us to do in this community, how we can partner with other churches and other believers to spread the gospel,” said Ryan.