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

Church for the religious and irreligious alike

The doors of hell are locked from the inside

Pastor Patrick King, his son Micah, and his wife Kennerly
Pastor Patrick King, his son Micah, and his wife Kennerly

Covenant Presbyterian Church of San Diego

Membership: 150
Pastor: Patrick King
Age: 34
Born: Chicago
Formation: Wheaton College, Chicago; Beeson Divinity School, Birmingham, AL
Years Ordained: 4

Sponsored
Sponsored

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

Place

Covenant Presbyterian Church

2930 Howard Avenue, San Diego

Pastor Patrick King: The main message of the Bible is that God created the world and humanity as a whole turned its back on God. The whole Bible is this redemptive story of God’s rescue mission to bring humanity back into [a] relationship with God. You see that culminating in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It’s this good-news announcement that God has come to put the wrongs of this world right. Whether it’s preaching to people who are irreligious or secular or those who are religious, I want to communicate the fact that we all have this fundamental problem: we are worse off than we think but we’re also more loved by God than we imagine. No matter who walks into the church doors, we try to preach that good news to them — that there is hope.

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

PK: My concern is that we would never be a church just for those who look right on the outside and seem to have their act together from a religious standpoint — but that we would be a church for the secular and irreligious. That seems to be modeling Jesus’s life.

SDR: Why did you become a minister?

PK: I was at lunch at Starbucks one day, processing what God was doing in my life and my wife’s life. It became this decisive moment that I realized the direction we were heading wasn’t what God wanted for us. So, this Starbucks lunch led to this journey…and we moved out to Covenant.

SDR: What is the mission of your church?

PK: Living out the gospel in word and deed has an impact culturally, socially, and spiritually. In living out the gospel and proclaiming it, we’ll be a church for the neighborhood in North Park and for San Diego. We can be that church for the religious and irreligious alike.

SDR: Where is the strangest place you found God?

PK: I think about a lady in our church right now who, prior to being diagnosed with a serious form of cancer, was an executive and worked hard to get a great job. The cancer has in a way taken away that position. Culturally, people might respond to that situation by saying God can’t be good or he can’t be real. Or they might be angry. But this woman has shown incredible faith in Jesus — and wants to tell doctors and nurses and others who interact with her that she has a peace that surpasses this situation. Whether she lives or dies, she trusts in the gospel.

SDR: Where do you go when you die?

PK: C.S. Lewis wrote that the doors of hell are locked from the inside. If we don’t want to be with God, he’s going to let us have that choice. If we want to not be rescued by Jesus, God lets us have our way. The answer to the question of the afterlife is what we do with Jesus. If we believe the story of why he came…then that answers the question for us as to whether we’re with God or not — that is, whether we’re going to be in heaven or in 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

Everything You’ve Ever Wanted To Know About doTERRA

Pastor Patrick King, his son Micah, and his wife Kennerly
Pastor Patrick King, his son Micah, and his wife Kennerly

Covenant Presbyterian Church of San Diego

Membership: 150
Pastor: Patrick King
Age: 34
Born: Chicago
Formation: Wheaton College, Chicago; Beeson Divinity School, Birmingham, AL
Years Ordained: 4

Sponsored
Sponsored

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

Place

Covenant Presbyterian Church

2930 Howard Avenue, San Diego

Pastor Patrick King: The main message of the Bible is that God created the world and humanity as a whole turned its back on God. The whole Bible is this redemptive story of God’s rescue mission to bring humanity back into [a] relationship with God. You see that culminating in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It’s this good-news announcement that God has come to put the wrongs of this world right. Whether it’s preaching to people who are irreligious or secular or those who are religious, I want to communicate the fact that we all have this fundamental problem: we are worse off than we think but we’re also more loved by God than we imagine. No matter who walks into the church doors, we try to preach that good news to them — that there is hope.

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

PK: My concern is that we would never be a church just for those who look right on the outside and seem to have their act together from a religious standpoint — but that we would be a church for the secular and irreligious. That seems to be modeling Jesus’s life.

SDR: Why did you become a minister?

PK: I was at lunch at Starbucks one day, processing what God was doing in my life and my wife’s life. It became this decisive moment that I realized the direction we were heading wasn’t what God wanted for us. So, this Starbucks lunch led to this journey…and we moved out to Covenant.

SDR: What is the mission of your church?

PK: Living out the gospel in word and deed has an impact culturally, socially, and spiritually. In living out the gospel and proclaiming it, we’ll be a church for the neighborhood in North Park and for San Diego. We can be that church for the religious and irreligious alike.

SDR: Where is the strangest place you found God?

PK: I think about a lady in our church right now who, prior to being diagnosed with a serious form of cancer, was an executive and worked hard to get a great job. The cancer has in a way taken away that position. Culturally, people might respond to that situation by saying God can’t be good or he can’t be real. Or they might be angry. But this woman has shown incredible faith in Jesus — and wants to tell doctors and nurses and others who interact with her that she has a peace that surpasses this situation. Whether she lives or dies, she trusts in the gospel.

SDR: Where do you go when you die?

PK: C.S. Lewis wrote that the doors of hell are locked from the inside. If we don’t want to be with God, he’s going to let us have that choice. If we want to not be rescued by Jesus, God lets us have our way. The answer to the question of the afterlife is what we do with Jesus. If we believe the story of why he came…then that answers the question for us as to whether we’re with God or not — that is, whether we’re going to be in heaven or in 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

Gonzo Report: Goose may have indie vibes, but they’re still a jam band

Fans turn out in force for show at SDSU
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