The Center: multilingual and multicultural

The Center

• Contact: 1305 Deodar Road, Escondido 760-707-6681 www.centernc.com
• Membership: 70
• Neighborhood: Escondido
• Pastor: Mike Mieritz
• Age: 52
• Born: West Allis, WI
• Formation: Community College of the Air Force, Birmingham, AL; Vision International University, Ramona
• Years Ordained: 20

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

Pastor Mike Mieritz: I recently gave a message, basically asking, “Why does God care about us and about us getting along with one another? Why does he care about helping his children come back to him?” So that was an important message to share with the people; it’s probably near the top of the most important topics to preach. If we have a better understanding of what we’re called to do, we operate better in our day-to-day life.

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

PM: Culturally, there is a division within our society right now. One of the things that we’ve tried to focus on is our ministry — and this is what makes The Center unique — we’re multilingual and multicultural. We found that in Escondido, over half the people speak another language, even if not as their first language… So we’ve provided a multilingual church with combined-language youth groups, worship, teaching at Sunday school and that sort of thing, so all three groups can attend these services in English, Vietnamese or Spanish.

SDR: Why did you become a minster?

PM: Someone shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with me when I was serving in the Air Force and it got me thinking about my life and that I didn’t have a personal relationship with God. So when I was 18 years old I gave my life to the Lord and he touched my life in giving me peace and turning my life around in a positive way. That got me growing, seeking God in my life and following him. My wife Karen and I founded The Center about ten years ago because we have a real concern for people and their spiritual health; we’ve been married 32 years. So a huge part of our life has always been the care and concern we have for people, to help them be healthy and whole spiritually. Together, my wife and I and our four children really made the determination to make ministry part of our lives.

SDR: What is the mission of your church?

PM: Our mission is to have people encounter Jesus so that through that encounter, the Lord can begin to reach their community. Part of what we base the mission on is the story in the Bible about the woman at the well (John 4:4-42). In that story, she has such an encounter with Jesus that she has to tell everyone about it. It had such an impact on her life and radically changed who she was and what she was focused on. Her concern for natural things dropped off and she became focused on the community and the love that Jesus showed toward here. That’s the main overriding sense of our mission.

SDR: Where do you go when you die?

PM: I hold to a traditional heaven and hell, and that Jesus truly is the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through him. So we believe our hope is in Jesus Christ, who died for us and paid the penalty for our sins so we don’t have to die. By not dying, we will eternally be with God, which is heaven. To be eternally separated from God is what we call hell.