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

The Neighborhood Church

Yancey Valdez: “My wife and I try to encourage men and women to strengthen marriage in the family.”
Yancey Valdez: “My wife and I try to encourage men and women to strengthen marriage in the family.”
Place

Neighborhood Church

1001 W. Country Club Lane, Escondido




Membership: 100

Denomination: Assembly of God

Pastor: Yancey Valdez

Sponsored
Sponsored

Age: 43

Born: Santa Ana

Formation: Berklee College of Music, Boston, Mass.; Global University, Springfield, Mo.

Years Practicing Ministry: 17

San Diego Reader: How long do you spend writing your sermon?

Pastor Yancey Valdez: Usually, it can take anywhere between a good 8 to 12 hours a week…. If there’s a specific theme or a question that the congregation has that I feel needs to be addressed to the church, then I might have to speak on that. Otherwise, I’m going by a book study or series.

SDR: What topics does your congregation look to have addressed?

PY: If I know there’s times when marriages are struggling and families are hurting, I might talk about something that will help strengthen the marriage. I’ve also talked about the economy, which has been really hard at times. The Bible is full of great economic advice.

SDR: What is your main concern as member of the clergy?

PY: So many kids are without their dads or their moms. The hard part of this is seeing them become adults. Take a young teenaged boy, for instance. If he never had a dad around, when he gets married, he’s going to have no idea what it’s like to be a husband or a father. He’s never seen that truly modeled. The same thing with a girl — she has no idea when she grows up what a husband is supposed to look like. These young people are coming into adulthood ill-equipped. Both my wife [Jill Valdez, associate pastor at Neighborhood Church] and I try to encourage men and women to strengthen marriage in the family.

SDR: What’s it like working in ministry with your wife?

PY: Jill knows me better than anyone else. I’ve had a lot of pastor friends that ask me, “How do you do that? I could never do that with my wife.” I say it’s taken practice, and it hasn’t been without its ups and downs, but we’ve done it for so long, it’s a great blessing. I like the fact that we know each other so well and complement each other in what we do.

SDR: What is the mission of your church?

PY: We are committed to building lives worth living. We have an acronym — we are NC LIFE (Never giving up in prayer, Celebrating Christ, Learning together, Including all who come, Finding others who need to know, and Emerging from ministry). Those six actions are what we do. They are what the New Testament Church did. We believe we are a 1st Century church in the 21st Century.

SDR: Where do we go when we die?

PY: Those people who have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior go to Heaven. Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” There may be others out there saying there are many paths to God, but Christianity is not so much religion as it is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I can’t do anything to add to my salvation except to trust in Jesus. There are consequences for not following Jesus. Those who don’t accept Christ, according to Scriptures, are condemned to Hell.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

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

Jayson Napolitano’s Scarlet Moon releases third Halloween album

Latest effort has the most local vibe
Next Article

Jazz guitarist Alex Ciavarelli pays tribute to pianist Oscar Peterson

“I had to extract the elements that spoke to me and realize them on my instrument”
Yancey Valdez: “My wife and I try to encourage men and women to strengthen marriage in the family.”
Yancey Valdez: “My wife and I try to encourage men and women to strengthen marriage in the family.”
Place

Neighborhood Church

1001 W. Country Club Lane, Escondido




Membership: 100

Denomination: Assembly of God

Pastor: Yancey Valdez

Sponsored
Sponsored

Age: 43

Born: Santa Ana

Formation: Berklee College of Music, Boston, Mass.; Global University, Springfield, Mo.

Years Practicing Ministry: 17

San Diego Reader: How long do you spend writing your sermon?

Pastor Yancey Valdez: Usually, it can take anywhere between a good 8 to 12 hours a week…. If there’s a specific theme or a question that the congregation has that I feel needs to be addressed to the church, then I might have to speak on that. Otherwise, I’m going by a book study or series.

SDR: What topics does your congregation look to have addressed?

PY: If I know there’s times when marriages are struggling and families are hurting, I might talk about something that will help strengthen the marriage. I’ve also talked about the economy, which has been really hard at times. The Bible is full of great economic advice.

SDR: What is your main concern as member of the clergy?

PY: So many kids are without their dads or their moms. The hard part of this is seeing them become adults. Take a young teenaged boy, for instance. If he never had a dad around, when he gets married, he’s going to have no idea what it’s like to be a husband or a father. He’s never seen that truly modeled. The same thing with a girl — she has no idea when she grows up what a husband is supposed to look like. These young people are coming into adulthood ill-equipped. Both my wife [Jill Valdez, associate pastor at Neighborhood Church] and I try to encourage men and women to strengthen marriage in the family.

SDR: What’s it like working in ministry with your wife?

PY: Jill knows me better than anyone else. I’ve had a lot of pastor friends that ask me, “How do you do that? I could never do that with my wife.” I say it’s taken practice, and it hasn’t been without its ups and downs, but we’ve done it for so long, it’s a great blessing. I like the fact that we know each other so well and complement each other in what we do.

SDR: What is the mission of your church?

PY: We are committed to building lives worth living. We have an acronym — we are NC LIFE (Never giving up in prayer, Celebrating Christ, Learning together, Including all who come, Finding others who need to know, and Emerging from ministry). Those six actions are what we do. They are what the New Testament Church did. We believe we are a 1st Century church in the 21st Century.

SDR: Where do we go when we die?

PY: Those people who have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior go to Heaven. Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” There may be others out there saying there are many paths to God, but Christianity is not so much religion as it is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I can’t do anything to add to my salvation except to trust in Jesus. There are consequences for not following Jesus. Those who don’t accept Christ, according to Scriptures, are condemned to Hell.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

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

Big swordfish, big marlin, and big money

Trout opener at Santee Lakes
Next Article

Everything You’ve Ever Wanted To Know About doTERRA

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.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader