Chris Chadwick

• Canyon Ridge Baptist Church
• Contact: 6866 Linda Vista Rd, San Diego 858-627-9394 www.canyonridgebaptist.com
• Membership: 250
• Pastor: Chris Chadwick 
• Age: 49
• Born: Tucumcari, NM (raised in San Diego)
• Formation: Spokane Community College, Spokane, WA; Cedarville College, Cedarville, OH; Heritage Baptist University, Indianapolis, IN; Pacific Coast Baptist Bible College, San Dimas (now Heartland Baptist College, Oklahoma City, OK)
• Years Ordained: 20

San Diego Reader: Why Baptist?

Pastor Chris Chadwick: I grew up Baptist. But as I started studying scripture, the basic tenets of Biblical faith are summed up in a basic sense in what some would call the Baptist faith. The Bible is the sole authority for all matters of faith and practice. We lean solely on the Bible. We believe in the atonement of the believers and the priesthood of the believers — I don’t need to go to another man or another priest to talk directly to God. I can go boldly to him. So, the doctrinal positions we have is what drew me to being a Baptist.

SDR: What is the mission of your church?

PC: Our formal mission statement is, “We exist to engage people in a joyful church family to encourage them to develop a passionate love for God, and to equip them to impact San Diego and the world with the gospel of Christ.” Everything we do is filtered through our mission; if it doesn’t fulfill our mission, it doesn’t get done. We added a new program called Trail Life, which is a Christian version of the Boy Scouts, and we also added the American Heritage Girls, which is a Christian version of the Girl Scouts. They’re both charter organizations under our ministry here. We wanted to equip young people — teens and children, and their parents — to have better homes and to be passionate about Jesus Christ, but also to have fun — camping, swimming, all the things the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts do. We have families who are super involved in these organizations, and the point is to engage, equip and encourage people in the work of Christ.

SDR: Where is the strangest place you found God?

PC: I can tell you the strangest place I felt God’s most amazing comfort. I am a little claustrophobic and I was stuck in an elevator once when I was visiting an apartment building to invite people to church. (Residents came to our church because of the visit, and I told them about the elevator getting stuck. “Oh, that happens all the time!” they said.) I began to feel the panic set in — and the overwhelming sense of peace of God came to me. “It’s going to be alright.” And obviously it was — I’m not still there. But when you’re in that moment, there’s a level of irrationality that comes over you. I know I’m not thinking correctly, I said at the time, but this is what I was thinking. I just prayed and God came in and gave me a huge amount of peace and comfort. It was great.

SDR: Where do you go when you die?

PC: The Bible says that it’s appointed to man to die once and that day is set, followed by the judgment. Anyone who recognizes he is a sinner, repents of his sins and asks Jesus Christ to save them, they can have eternal life. All who refuse to do so, unfortunately and tragically, will spend eternity in hell. I and many people at our church have given our lives to keep people out of hell and share the gospel with as many people as we possibly can.