San Diego Reader

Stories | Sheep and Goats

Maranatha Chapel

Maranatha Chapel

Maranatha Chapel is a big church. The kind with a proper campus. The kind with a lot going on outside the Sunday service, including weekday small-group discussion of the previous Sunday’s sermon. (Sunday’s sermon notes offered ...

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St. Anne's Roman Catholic Church

St. Anne's Roman Catholic Church

A statue of the Infant Christ wearing a king’s crown stands to the left of the altar at St. Anne’s. Today, the statue also wears a purple robe trimmed with pearls over his usual finery because ...

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The Dharma Bum Temple

The Dharma Bum Temple

An old "B.C." comic strip holds down one corner of the picture window that looks in on the Dharma Bum temple — a whimsical accent tacked onto an otherwise serene and tasteful tableau: “Whatcha doing today?” ...

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Alpine Christian Fellowship

Alpine Christian Fellowship

As I entered the church, a girl handed me a golf ball. It was yellow; the one atop the mic stand next to the pulpit ... More Post a comment

South Bay Baptist Church

South Bay Baptist Church

“2010: A New Beginning” reads the label on the binder in the ministry booth set up in the church hall. The table surrounding the decorated ... More Post a comment

St. Ephrem Maronite Church

St. Ephrem Maronite Church

The circular interior of St. Ephrem’s church might serve as an eclectic museum of Catholic devotional art. So many styles, drawn from so many traditions: ... More Post a comment

Tierrasanta Baptist Church

Tierrasanta Baptist Church

I don’t usually talk theology while I’m working. But last Sunday, as I took in the broad, airy, blue-tinged church interior before the service, executive ... More Post a comment

Paseo del Rey Church

Paseo del Rey Church

A cheerful, creamy glow filled the broad church; it matched the cheerful, happy buzz of the congregation. A timer warned that the service was about ... More Post a comment

Good Shepherd Roman Catholic Parish

Good Shepherd Roman Catholic Parish

“Do you know about this priest?” asked the man next to me in the pew, referring to Father Phien Van Pham, the Vietnamese celebrant. “He ... More Post a comment

El Cajon Wesleyan Church

El Cajon Wesleyan Church

Sunday was assistant pastor Dave Holmquist’s last at El Cajon Wesleyan. After the opening worship — a singer/guitarist and a bongo player alone on the ... More Post a comment

St. Luke's Lutheran Church

St. Luke's Lutheran Church

Got an unusual press release last week. It began: “On Sunday, December 13, 2009, St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in La Mesa, Calif., held a legally ... More Post a comment

First Presbyterian Church of San Diego

First Presbyterian Church of San Diego

In my line of work, I see a lot of stained-glass windows depicting either scenes from the life of Christ or various Christian symbols. But ... More Post a comment

The Christmas Sweater

The Christmas Sweater

On December 3, Fox News personality Glenn Beck broadcast a live performance of The Christmas Sweater: A Return to Redemption to movie theaters nationwide. (Tickets ... More Comments (2)

Urban Church

Urban Church

“Fourteen years ago, when my wife and I were engaged,” said pastor Ben Brinkman, “we had the exact same experience at the exact same moment ... More Post a comment

San Diego Coalition of Reason

San Diego Coalition of Reason

Ah, swine flu. Or, maybe not. Maybe just regular flu. Either way, I’m not going to church today. It’s as good a time as any ... More Comments (257)

Kroc Church

Kroc Church

“My wife and I have been here for four years now,” said Captain John Van Cleef, senior pastor at the Salvation Army Ray and Joan ... More Post a comment

Mission San Luis Rey Roman Catholic Parish

Mission San Luis Rey Roman Catholic Parish

This year, the City of Oceanside couldn’t afford to host its downtown celebration of Día de los Muertos, but the festival found a new (if ... More Post a comment

Bethel Baptist Church

Bethel Baptist Church

The lights dimmed in the purple quarter-circle church, and Pastor Hitchcock appeared behind the baptismal pool situated high in the back of the Sanctuary. New ... More Post a comment

First Baptist Church of San Diego

First Baptist Church of San Diego

On October 31, 1869, the First Baptist Church of San Diego dedicated its church bell, a prize awarded by city father Alonzo Horton for being ... More Post a comment

The Church at Rancho Bernardo

The Church at Rancho Bernardo

As my eyes adjusted to the half-light of the church and my ears absorbed the happy boom of the band, I thought, is that the ... More Post a comment

Church of God (Seventh Day)

Church of God (Seventh Day)

A couple of weeks ago, I learned about the way that Plymouth Congregational Church in North Park has reinvented itself to fit with the changing ... More Post a comment

United Church of Christ La Mesa

United Church of Christ La Mesa

“I didn’t stay for 30 years,” says pastor Felix Villanueva of his career as a Navy chaplain. “I only stayed for 21.” Because of Iraq. ... More Comments (3)

Plymouth Congregational Church

Plymouth Congregational Church

Wayne Riggs served as a Navy chaplain from 1957 to 1988. Two years later, he put his collar back on and took over at Plymouth ... More Comment (1)

Central Congregational Church

Central Congregational Church

Last week, I attended services at a church that broke away from the United Church of Christ in 1994. This week, without meaning to, I ... More Post a comment

Mission Village Christian Fellowship

Mission Village Christian Fellowship

Last week I visited Gethsemane Lutheran Church in the wake of the Evangelical Lutheran Conference of America’s decision to allow partnered homosexuals to serve as ... More Comment (1)

Gethsemane Lutheran Church

Gethsemane Lutheran Church

On Friday, August 21, the Church Council for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted to “commit itself to finding a way for people in...publicly ... More Post a comment

La Jolla Lutheran Church

La Jolla Lutheran Church

A message was pinned to the bulletin board standing in the cozy courtyard off to the side of the trim yellow church with the red-tile ... More Post a comment

Mission San Diego Church of Christ

Mission San Diego Church of Christ

“We don’t preach a particular culture,” said Paul Chacon, explaining Mission San Diego Church of Christ’s diversity — of race, of age, even of dress. ... More Post a comment

St. Therese Roman Catholic Church

St. Therese Roman Catholic Church

“Good morning,” said the woman at the marble lectern before the beginning of Sunday Mass at St. Therese. “Today and for the next four weeks, ... More Post a comment

Cloudbreak Church

Cloudbreak Church

“Begin County Maintained Road,” read the sign as I headed out Bernardo Center Drive away from the center of Rancho Bernardo. A right on Dove ... More Post a comment

Horizon Coast Chapel

Horizon Coast Chapel

The front of Horizon Coast Chapel’s worship booklet doesn’t read “Horizon Coast Chapel”; it reads “Church in Mission Beach.” Yes, yes, this allows them to ... More Post a comment

Mountain View Community Church

Mountain View Community Church

The white church buses parked in the dirt lot outside Mountain View Community Church looked downright old-timey. The huge white church building rising up behind ... More Post a comment

Friends Christian Fellowship

Friends Christian Fellowship

Friends Christian Fellowship meets in a Santee office park suite artfully converted into a cozy chapel. Several times a year, they set up outreaches across ... More Post a comment

St. Agnes Point Loma

St. Agnes Point Loma

On June 28, St. Agnes church in Point Loma will hold a farewell luncheon in honor of Father Joseph Mel Collier. According to a May ... More Post a comment

Interfaith Service of Consolation and Determination

Interfaith Service of Consolation and Determination

“If you are visiting for just a few moments or a few hours, please know that you are granted immunity from the painful ravages of ... More Comment (1)

New Life Church

New Life Church

Add Michael and Michele Kole to the list of pastors — The Rock’s Miles McPherson, New Venture’s Shawn Mitchell, et al. — to come out ... More Post a comment

Momentum Christian Church

Momentum Christian Church

“Service?” asked the smiling man at the entrance to the AMC Theatres in the Otay Ranch Town Center. I was a little surprised — it’s ... More Post a comment

The Methodist Movement

The Methodist Movement

It’s Easter morning and I’m driving home from the sunrise service at The Fields Church in Carlsbad and listening to NPR’s Weekend Edition because it’s ... More Comments (2)

Foothills United Methodist Church

Foothills United Methodist Church

“Welcome home!” read the handpainted banner in the vestibule of the half-saucer church. Inside, homemade signs rose up on coat-hanger posts from the pews: “Where ... More Post a comment

Northminster Presbyterian Church

Northminster Presbyterian Church

A loaf of bread and a pitcher (presumably of wine) flanked the oversized open Bible on the long stone altar at Northminster Presbyterian on Sunday, ... More Post a comment

Barabbas Road Church

Barabbas Road Church

“I met my wife in a bar in New York City,” said Barabbas Road pastor Matt Smith. “I was a rower, training for the Olympics, ... More Post a comment

The Fields Church of Carlsbad

The Fields Church of Carlsbad

A chill clung to the air as the service began; it would be 11 minutes before the sun crested the hill to reveal the ranunculus ... More Post a comment

St. George Serbian Orthodox Church

St. George Serbian Orthodox Church

The service was scheduled to start at 6 p.m. At a quarter to six, the doors of the domed white church were still locked, but ... More Post a comment

St. Therese of Carmel

St. Therese of Carmel

I was just thinking that this particular stretch of Del Mar Trails Road reminded me of some ancient Italian village (only with more yard space ... More Post a comment

New Life Assembly

New Life Assembly

There are times when the music at the opening of a service feels a little like a warm-up — something to get the blood flowing, ... More Comment (1)

Icon Church

Icon Church

Say Lula Salon occupies the ground floor of a resuscitated Art Deco box in the East Village; on Sunday mornings, Icon Church occupies Say Lula. ... More Post a comment

Bethlehem Lutheran Church

Bethlehem Lutheran Church

“Last Sunday, we worshipped in an ordinary, Lutheran way,” said pastor Laura Ziehl at the beginning of the service. “This Sunday we are blessed: Teen ... More Post a comment

Downtown God Group

Downtown God Group

“Our roots are downtown,” said Bob Buschman, pastor of First Assembly, now located on a nine-acre campus in Mission Valley. “In 1921, they brought an ... More Post a comment

Sheep and Goats: Unity Center

Sheep and Goats: Unity Center

Many churches of a certain age feature, at the back of the Sanctuary, a full-body baptistery — some sort of tank into which the believer ... More Comments (2)

The Gathering Place Church

The Gathering Place Church

Pastor John Ettore crouched down by my seat to welcome me, his hand heavy upon my shoulder, granite intensity in his face as he told ... More Comments (42)

Rancho Vista Church

Rancho Vista Church

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord,” read Dwain Bostic at the outset. “‘Plans to prosper you and not harm ... More Post a comment

Cornerstone Church of San Diego

Cornerstone Church of San Diego

Sunday at Cornerstone Church of San Diego was bright with promise. It was also bright with spotlights and searchlights, glowing now white, now green, now ... More Post a comment

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