San Diego Reader

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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 them was anything but. Inside was high and wide and cool ...

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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 the 67 at Shadow Hills Park. “One time,” said Pastor ...

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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 20 article at sdnews.com, the departure of the aging Irish ...

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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

Highland Avenue Baptist Church

Highland Avenue Baptist Church

The Sunday service in the well-used sanctuary at Highland Baptist ran the gamut of the Christian experience. Well, maybe not the gamut — the gamut ... More Comment (1)

Crossroads Church

Crossroads Church

“You don’t argue with a calling,” said Pastor Matt Ortiz before the service in the refurbished school auditorium. “We started out in west Chula Vista, ... More Comment (1)

St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church

St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church

“Today is the Solemnity of the Epiphany,” declared the reader before the beginning of Mass. “The focus of today’s liturgy is: ‘We need to proclaim ... More Post a comment

Congregation Dor Hadash

Congregation Dor Hadash

Shabbat was over; the spare, clean-lined synagogue at Dor Hadash was empty. Instead, the community gathered in the adjacent room, decorated for a party. Tinfoil ... More Post a comment

First Congregational Church of Ramona

First Congregational Church of Ramona

Ramona held its annual Christmas-tree lighting on the evening of December 13. At nine the next morning, the bell in the brown wood steeple above ... More Post a comment

Green Valley Church

Green Valley Church

The wall of windows looking into Green Valley’s vestibule was frosted around the transparent words: “Believe, Belong, Become...self-control, kindness, faithfulness, goodness, patience, peace, love.” Inside ... More Post a comment

Mission Hills United Methodist Church

Mission Hills United Methodist Church

“The church was built in 1913, before there was even a street here,” said a congregant at Mission Hills United Methodist. “People love it for ... More Post a comment

Midway Baptist Church

Midway Baptist Church

“Going up!” said a man as I passed by on my way to the Wednesday night Men’s Bible Study at Midway Baptist. His speech suggested ... More Post a comment

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Sunday’s service at Westminster Presbyterian was shot through with music. The folksy opening songs, full of strumming and tambourines and tentative harmonies, matched the ’60s ... More Post a comment

Christian Compassion Center

Christian Compassion Center

“It’s a family thing we got going,” said the man in the long, gray plaid jacket, the silver of his rings matching that of the ... More Post a comment

St. Mary, Star of the Sea

St. Mary, Star of the Sea

November 2 was the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed at St. Mary, Star of the Sea — All Souls’ Day, the Day of the ... More Post a comment

San Diego Christian Worship Center

San Diego Christian Worship Center

“Yes on 8,” read the sign held by the man across the street from San Diego Christian Worship Center. Pastor Art Evans did mention Proposition ... More Comments (2)

The Mystery School

The Mystery School

“Mystery School” (westernmysticism.org) ran a full-page ad in the Reader: “Stars transform into great explosions of light, scattering particles across the universe. We are all ... More Post a comment

Tifereth Israel

Tifereth Israel

Two armed security guards stood at the ticket-check tent outside the synagogue before the Yom Kippur evening service. Inside, things were more jovial: a man ... More Post a comment

The Chapel

The Chapel

The pale-blue elementary school auditorium that houses the Chapel was a little more full than usual on Sunday. The extra attendees were there to witness ... More Post a comment

Christian Church of Lemon Grove

Christian Church of Lemon Grove

“New Eyes for New Hearts” was the theme of the service at Christian Church of Lemon Grove. On the stage, four tall boxes wrapped to ... More Post a comment

Mother Antonia Speaks

Mother Antonia Speaks

“For more than 30 years,” said Vision pastor Patti Paris in her introduction, “Mother Antonia has lived in a small, cold cell in Tijuana’s La ... More Post a comment

Christ Church Unity

Christ Church Unity

The psychedelic stained-glass window over the altar (and even above the electric sanctuary lamp) caught the feel of Christ Church Unity pretty well: psychedelic, but ... More Post a comment

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

“Do you know we go up to the altar today?” asked the friendly woman seated in front of me. “We go up and receive bread ... More Post a comment

North Park Baptist Church

North Park Baptist Church

“Hurting people loved here,” read the tall, black letters on the sign outside North Park Baptist Church. “I think that’s started getting us in contact ... More Post a comment

Abundant Grace Christian Center

Abundant Grace Christian Center

“God, You inhabit the praise of Your people,” said associate pastor Tony Inyang during the prayers before the service began, and the praise team started ... More Post a comment

Christ Lutheran Church

Christ Lutheran Church

Traces of the old tile pattern still darken the stained concrete floor at Christ Lutheran, but they don’t distract much from the surface’s overall look ... More Post a comment

Marriage Protection Act

Marriage Protection Act

The website for the California Marriage Protection Act (protectmarriagesd) features a “Protect Marriage” timeline, one which incorporates both spiritual and political efforts. (The act seeks ... More Comments (38)

Coronado Community Church

Coronado Community Church

“Give me that old-time religion/ It’s good enough for me,” sang the Chancel Choir from their section of seats at the Lamb’s Players Theatre. And ... More Post a comment

New Life Church

New Life Church

“I wish I’d known you were coming,” said Pastor Dan Slagle when I spoke with him after the service. If he had known, he could ... More Post a comment

Coastland Church

Coastland Church

Toddlers sprawled quietly on the patch of thick carpet at the back of the dim auditorium, filling in their coloring books. Behind them stood a ... More Post a comment

United Church of Christ

United Church of Christ

“Never place a period where God has put a comma.” — Gracie Allen, quoted in UCC pamphlet. "God is Still Speaking” read the caption on ... More Comment (1)

St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church

St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church

There were in St. Elizabeth’s all the accoutrements you might expect to find in a grand-scale Catholic church; it was just that the statues of ... More Post a comment

Word of Life Pentacostal Church

Word of Life Pentacostal Church

Among the posters and banners lining the long wall behind the pulpit in the storefront church was one that collected the names ascribed to Jesus ... More Post a comment

Bayview Baptist Church

Bayview Baptist Church

It was Father’s Day on Sunday, and fathers got at least three rounds of shouts and applause at Bayview Baptist Church — grandfathers and great-grandfathers, ... More Post a comment

North Coast Calvary Chapel

North Coast Calvary Chapel

Portrait of a church on the cusp: North Coast Calvary Chapel, founded as a home Bible study in Encinitas, was housed five years in a ... More Post a comment

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Casey Beldon (Odette Yustman) hated her mother for leaving her as a child. But when inexplicable things start to happen, ... More