Coastal Vineyard: building a community of love

• Coastal Vineyard
• Contact: 5663 Balboa Ave. #605, San Diego ( Sunday gatherings: 10 am at Kavod Charter School, 6991 Balboa Ave.) 858-456-5045 www.coastvineyard.org
• Membership: 70
• Pastor: Michelle Wilson  
• Age: 53
• Born: Lawrence, KS
• Formation: University of California-San Diego; Bethel College, San Diego; Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena
• Years Ordained: 26

San Diego Reader: Why did you become a minister?

Pastor Michelle Wilson: It was a long, convoluted path. I grew up as an atheist and was severely depressed as a young person. I had a lot of trouble finding meaning in life. I was not doing OK, and I was not safe being around myself by the time I was part-way through college at UCSD. A friend of mine had introduced me to Jesus at that time, and my life completely turned around over the course of the next couple years… I felt like I was not alone inside my own head, and later came to understand that was the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. From that moment on, it was my understanding that my life was forfeit. I had agreed that I was going to give up my old life and my new life was going to be entirely for him. So, I would do whatever God would have for me to do… But it was a gradual process of one step at a time, doing the next thing that the Holy Spirit seemed to be inviting me to be a part of. I think of my job as trying to help other people follow Jesus, and I love it. I love trying to follow Jesus. I’m not always good at it, but I love trying, and I love helping others follow Jesus.

SDR: What is the mission of your church?

PW: We call ourselves a community of love, and talk about building a community of love — loving God, loving each other and loving the world. We’re highly relational, and want to build strong relationships with one another and bless the world around us.

SDR: Where do you go when you die?

PW: I don’t really think of heaven and hell as places that people go to. In the Bible, we see this picture of heaven coming down to earth and of a reuniting of heaven and earth. So, I think of eternal destiny more in terms of time rather than place. There is a time coming when God will make his home with humanity, and our union with God — those who are in Jesus — will be complete, and all things will be restored. I look forward to that time. There’s a question about who gets to participate in that time, and I don’t know the answer to that. Only God gets to decide who will be there. But I don’t think we go to a place; the kingdom of God becomes fully established, and we enter into a future state of eternal life and unity with God. Where do we go in the meantime? That’s a hard question. In the Bible, there is a reference to sleep. People are asleep and are going to be woken up later; but you also see in some other places references to immediate entry into paradise. Jesus tells the thief on the cross that we’re going to be in paradise today. So that’s a question I don’t know the answer to. Are we waiting? It seems to me that God must not experience time the way I do. For those that pass away, does it seem instantaneous? I don’t know the answers to all the questions.