Fletcher Hills Presbyterian Church

Membership: 310

Pastor: Kevin Womack

Born: Melbourne, Florida

Age: 40

Formation: Bethel Seminary, San Diego; Talbot School of Theology, La Mirada

Ordained: 11 years

San Diego Reader: What is your favorite subject on which to preach?

Pastor Kevin Womack: That’s a great question because a lot of times we’re tempted to go out into our favorite areas to the neglect of other things. But honestly, if it’s not too predictable an answer — my favorite subject is Jesus, the Incarnation — the centerpiece of the Christian faith. Without God having sent his son to redeem us, there really is no Christianity.

SDR: What drew you to the Presbyterian Church?

PK: I was raised in a Lutheran Church as a child and in college I spent time in non-denominational churches, Calvary chapels, and Baptist churches…before I landed in the Presbyterian Church of America, PC(USA). Some of the reformed tradition having to do with God’s sovereignty and the covenant God makes with his people and the members of the church make with one another — those issues I see as very biblical and also attractive in community life. So, I wouldn’t say the PC(USA) is the only church [at which] I could be a minister, but those particular highlights are what make it a great fit to be a minister in this denomination.

SDR: What is the mission of your church?

PK: We have broken our mission down into simple pieces… “Gather in worship, Grow in faith, and Go in mission.” We really try to keep all this simple in terms of the church. We don’t want to over-program people’s lives by telling them they have to be here every night of the week. We’d rather leave space in their lives so they can meet and know their neighbors and have relationships outside the church. We’re trying to find a way to build a church community that blesses the world around it and doesn’t find itself creating a Christian subculture…. So, for example, we don’t want to hold a Christian version of an aerobics class at church — just go join a gym and do aerobics.

SDR: Where do you go when you die?

PK: The Bible states that everyone, all human beings, will live for eternity, not in our physical bodies, but that our souls will live for eternity. It’s pretty clear from Scripture that those who have allowed Jesus to be their savior will wind up spending eternity in his presence. That’s the promise Jesus spoke of throughout his earthly ministry. The Bible is also pretty clear that those who haven’t allowed Jesus to be their savior will wind up spending that eternity someplace else. There are some descriptions of what that other place is like in Scripture, and it’s not a good place, not a place you’d want to spend eternity. While I wrestle with thinking about anybody spending eternity in that place, in the end it makes some sense, because folks who wanted to do nothing with Jesus here and now probably wouldn’t want to spend eternity in his presence either. But I think the key is we don’t know who will and won’t be in God’s presence, and we’re not expected to know this. We’re told throughout Scripture that…rather than trying to determine all those things ourselves, we are to focus on showing Jesus to the world and sharing his message with the world.