Sharon Ackerman

Lemon Grove Community Church

• Contact: 3122 Main Street, Lemon Grove 619-466-0503 www.lemongrovecommunitychurch.com
• Membership: 25-30 (pre-covid 70-80)
• Pastor: Sharon Ackerman (currently on indeterminate leave of absence due to illness in family; Pastor Dane Lindsay of Ezekiel Mountain Ministries is serving in her stead until her return).  
• Age: 72
• Born: San Diego
• Formation: Southern California Bible College (now Vanguard University), Costa Mesa; Indiana University, Bloomington, IN; Cornell Law School-Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
• Years Ordained: 12

San Diego Reader: How long do you take to prepare your sermons?

Pastor Sharon Ackerman: I tend to use a lot of scripture in my sermons because I love the word of God. Reading scripture itself is ministry. I stick to scripture and pick a topic everybody will benefit from. I take an approach that we are all in this together — not one in which I know something and you don’t, and I’m going to pour it into you and you’re going to remember it. Rather, I see it as, “No, folks, we’re in a predicament in the state of the world and we have to help each other get through it.” I’m always thinking about what I want to say; I’m always working on it in my mind. I’d say 20 hours and up it takes me to prepare a sermon.

SDR: What’s your main concern as a member of the clergy?

PA: We have a millennial generation with a 15-minute attention span and the church has gotten involved in entertainment to try to capture their attention. The thirst for truth is not what it used to be. People are looking many places for pleasure, for self-fulfillment. We have an “I am God” culture — “Look out for Number 1!” There’s not a whole lot of honesty in the search for truth, in the search for God. People are too apt to settle for excuses rather than hold God to his word, try him out, and see if he will let you down. There’s not a lot of fortitude in people today.

SDR: What is the mission of your church?

PA: To serve the community of Lemon Grove, those who want a comfortable place to seek God and worship the Lord and apply the word of God to their lives. We want to be helpful to any and every seeking soul who is hurting and searching for God in their lives.

SDR: Where do you go when you die?

PA: We don’t die. We cease to breathe in these earthly carcasses we’re living in, at which point we will be taken by the hand by someone we know and love and trust, if not Jesus himself, and we will be with him for evermore. I don’t believe in purgatory, a waiting place, a dark uncertainty. As the Book of Hebrews says, the past saints who died and went on ahead are cheering for us now to run the race as Paul did and join them on the other side… Jesus does address hellfire; he does talk about it. I don’t know what that might look like, but I hope no one has to go there. God is not limited to human logic and philosophy. So, I don’t plan to know all the answers, but I pray to God that people don’t go to hell, if there is such a horrible thing. But the Bible does address it. Sill, every Christian should have on their heart to spread the good news of salvation, not so people won’t go to hell, but so we can be in heaven.