Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Jam for Jesus

It’s not easy getting on Eastlake’s music team.
It’s not easy getting on Eastlake’s music team.
Place

Eastlake Church

1640 Camino del Rio North, San Diego

It is the rock music echoing off the concrete-and-glass storefronts of Mission Valley mall that draws a reporter to the front doors of the place that used to be Seau’s. There’s a band playing inside on a makeshift stage under the giant flat-screen TV. A couple of hundred people stand with their hands raised in the air. That old mural of Junior, surrounded by a corona of airbrushed lightning bolts, looks down on the assembled masses. But no more football Sunday — this is a sanctuary now, and it has been ever since Eastlake Church took over the venue last September.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Outside, pop-culture references abound: there’s an image of an electric guitar and the Hunter S. Thompson–esque slogan, “Weird, because normal isn’t working.” Later, I ask Kevin McPeak, who is the creative director for Eastlake Church, if the music and such are just a Trojan horse designed to bring young people into the fold.

“I wouldn’t say ‘Trojan horse.’ What we’re trying to do,” he says by phone, “is get the exact response I just heard from you: ‘I haven’t been to church in a long while, the people were nice, and I had a good time.’” He explains that rock and roll helps break down barriers stemming from negative church experiences people may have had in the past. “In all due respect to the tradition of church music, not a lot of people are interested in going to a pipe-organ concert.”

McPeak, 42, is a former music instructor at Southwestern College and plays guitar and bass. Eastlake Church simulcasts their morning sermon to three other satellite locations, including Seau’s. “We have one or two musicians on staff at each location who are pros. They coordinate schedules, make sure everybody has charts, and they lead rehearsals.” The remaining band members are volunteers. But McPeak says Eastlake is particular about who they choose to jam for Jesus. “There’s kind of a high bar to get on the [music] team.”

Junior Seau opened the 15,000-square-foot sports bar in 1996. It closed in May 2012, following the former Charger’s suicide. McPeak says that Eastlake contacted Seau’s family when they learned they would be granted the use of the facility. “We didn’t want them to read about it in the newspaper,” McPeak says. “Junior’s brother came to our first service.” Otherwise, Seau’s remains the property of the mall. “Their interest is in finding a long-term restaurant tenant. In the meantime, we’re there as long as they want us.”

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Croome Brothers Trio, Jack Tempchin, Ricky, Swami & the Bed Of Nails, Kahlil Nash

Acoustic and electric in Del Mar, La Jolla, Little Italy, and City Heights
Next Article

SDSU pres gets highest pay raise in state over last 15 years

Union-Tribune still stiffing downtown San Diego landlord?
It’s not easy getting on Eastlake’s music team.
It’s not easy getting on Eastlake’s music team.
Place

Eastlake Church

1640 Camino del Rio North, San Diego

It is the rock music echoing off the concrete-and-glass storefronts of Mission Valley mall that draws a reporter to the front doors of the place that used to be Seau’s. There’s a band playing inside on a makeshift stage under the giant flat-screen TV. A couple of hundred people stand with their hands raised in the air. That old mural of Junior, surrounded by a corona of airbrushed lightning bolts, looks down on the assembled masses. But no more football Sunday — this is a sanctuary now, and it has been ever since Eastlake Church took over the venue last September.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Outside, pop-culture references abound: there’s an image of an electric guitar and the Hunter S. Thompson–esque slogan, “Weird, because normal isn’t working.” Later, I ask Kevin McPeak, who is the creative director for Eastlake Church, if the music and such are just a Trojan horse designed to bring young people into the fold.

“I wouldn’t say ‘Trojan horse.’ What we’re trying to do,” he says by phone, “is get the exact response I just heard from you: ‘I haven’t been to church in a long while, the people were nice, and I had a good time.’” He explains that rock and roll helps break down barriers stemming from negative church experiences people may have had in the past. “In all due respect to the tradition of church music, not a lot of people are interested in going to a pipe-organ concert.”

McPeak, 42, is a former music instructor at Southwestern College and plays guitar and bass. Eastlake Church simulcasts their morning sermon to three other satellite locations, including Seau’s. “We have one or two musicians on staff at each location who are pros. They coordinate schedules, make sure everybody has charts, and they lead rehearsals.” The remaining band members are volunteers. But McPeak says Eastlake is particular about who they choose to jam for Jesus. “There’s kind of a high bar to get on the [music] team.”

Junior Seau opened the 15,000-square-foot sports bar in 1996. It closed in May 2012, following the former Charger’s suicide. McPeak says that Eastlake contacted Seau’s family when they learned they would be granted the use of the facility. “We didn’t want them to read about it in the newspaper,” McPeak says. “Junior’s brother came to our first service.” Otherwise, Seau’s remains the property of the mall. “Their interest is in finding a long-term restaurant tenant. In the meantime, we’re there as long as they want us.”

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Reader 1st place writing contest winner gets kudos

2nd place winner not so much
Next Article

2024 continues to impress with yellowfin much closer to San Diego than they should be

New rockfish regulations coming this week as opener approaches
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.