Website: http://www.floodsandiego.com

Church Review
Scriptural View: 3/5
Beliefs: 3/5
Community: 3/5

Website Review
Site Usabilility: 3/5
Site Design: 4/5
Site Content: 3/5

Summary: The Flood is the ‘gen-x’ service at College Avenue Baptist Church. It offers alternative forms of worship, as their website states: “a word of warning about our concert ambiance . . . the music’s loud-very loud-and the lights are off!” I have attended the Flood service and personally I enjoy the worship but if you’re not expecting loud, concert style worship you’ll be in for a shock.

From my visits and from the website, The Flood is a typical ministry seeking to attract young college students. It offers entertaining style worship along with sermons that offer a good basics message. The Flood preaches topical messages that are fitting for young Christians. I spoke to a friend who recently attended a service (August 2004) and she put it well, “it isn’t so much what they say, it’s what they don’t say”. In other words, the messages are true but they leave so much more out that needs to be taught to Christians. The Flood is a good outreach to target students as they attend college but along with other college-aimed ministries/churches each year new students and hopefully converts are blessed by coming to the Flood, but at some point in a person’s faith they may need to move beyond what the Flood can offer. Some of this may be overcome if a person really plugs in to additional small group, personal study and mentoring opportunities at this Church. Also part of what I believe is a lacking at the Flood involves their Theological teaching which is similiar to my concerns with Calvary-style churches.

I just spoke to a friend who visted the 9pm service (Nov 14th) where the had an interpretive dance. Two people danced together to illustrate our relationship with God. Hmmm? Relevance gone too far?

A good church to come and learn the basics and participate in concert-style worship for younger and new Christians.

Website: http://www.newhopesandiego.com

Church Review
Scriptural View: 4/5
Beliefs: 4/5
Community: 4/5

Website Review
Site Usabilility: 4/5
Site Design: 4/5
Site Content: 3/5

NOTE: I heard that New Hope has decided to shut their doors after their pastor left.

Summary: New Hope is a church located in the suburb of Tierrasanta and is part of the PCA. It has been a while but I have attended this church on several occasions. New Hope is from the reformed tradition and as such holds a Biblical principles. The worship is a contemporary style worship that is typical in so many churches today.

They state their vision to be, “that New Hope, as part of Gods new community, would be increasingly transformed by worshipping Jesus Christ and clearly communicating this timeless message of grace to San Diego.” From my experience they are focused on a message of grace. The website has good content regarding their beliefs and resources. Overall, this is a church that I’d recommend for people to attend. There are also some other minor issues I disagree with that Presbyterians believe, including infant baptism but this is not a salvation issue.

A good church for believers to attend and grow in the knowledge of God.

Website: http://www.therocksandiego.org

Church Review
Scriptural View: 3/5 (Fairly solid.)
Beliefs: 3/5 (Solid but light.)
Community: 4/5 (From the website small groups, pictures, events listed, forums, classifieds, etc.)

Website Review
Site Usabilility: 4/5
Site Design: 4/5
Site Content: 4/5

Summary: In addition to looking through the Rock’s website I’ve had the chance to attend the Rock on a couple of occassions. Overall, the Rock is a bible-believing, Christ-centered church who recognize that all people need Jesus in order to be reconciled to God. They are a great church for newbie christians and they seem to have a heart for the lost. This is a good church for a believer to attend.

My only ‘critiques’ would be that their messages/sermons are fairly light. From my visiting and even if you look on the website, there are many biblical truths that are either not communicated or avoided. Being located on a college campus each year new students and hopefully converts are blessed by coming to the Rock, but at some point in a person’s faith they may need to move beyond what the Rock can offer. Secondly, I’m not a big fan that so much attention is centered on Miles McPherson. There is the Miles McPherson Page, the Miles Ahead Ministry, they even have bought google ads and in the space to enter a description they put “Led by Pastor Miles McPherson” as their content. I believe a church should not focus so much on one man, except for Jesus Christ our Lord.

(I’d encourage you to read the comments by the Webmaster from The Rock Church.)

A good bible-believing church that preaches Christ but doesn’t always dig into the deeper issues of faith.

Website: http://www.kaleochurch.com/

(Mission Valley, El Cajon & SDSU)

Church Review
Scriptural View: 5/5
Beliefs: 5/5
Community: 4/5

Website Review
Site Usabilility: 4/5
Site Design: 4/5
Site Content: 5/5 (A lot of content)

Summary: Kaleo derives its name from the Greek word meaning “called”. Pastor David Fairchild preaches through the Bible book-by-book, verse-by-verse bringing out the meaning, context and personal application of each passage. His powerful style is truthful and brutally honest. This is quite a contrast to the majority of churches that I have visited. Before and after the service the community demonstrates loving hospitality and interest in newcomers and visitors. The talented group of musicians that comprise the worship band not only modernize ancient hymns but also write their own original material.

The website is one of the best church sites I have seen. Images rotate each time you visit the home page and the core values and belifs of the church are prominently displayed and clearly communicated. The design is well thought out and easy to navigate. There is a plethora of content and is updated frequently. There are sermon MP3′s and a library of online teachings which include reviews of film, music, television, art and books as well as other cultural commentary. This emphasis on cultural engagement is one of the strongest areas of not only the website but the church itself. There is also an on-line forum in which members and visitors can engage in dialogue on a variety of interesting subjects.

Kaleo holds a strong position in their theological views deeply rooted in historic Christianity. It states on their website, “It is our passion that Kaleo would become a community that is being freed and transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ, that is learning to worship God as His sons and daughters, and that is inviting others to experience the liberating power of the gospel.” From my experience, this church is doing exactly that.

Kaleo is a church that offers a wealth of resources online and clearly communicates a Biblical-centered belief. I highly recommend this church to everyone.

Website: http://www.cbcsandiego.org

Church Review
Scriptural View: 5/5
Beliefs: 5/5
Community: 4/5

Website Review
Site Usabilility: 3/5
Site Design: 3/5
Site Content: 4/5

Summary: Covenant Baptist Church used to go by the name Unchained Christian Church. Their website has mp3′s you can listen to as well as they stream their services so that you can listen online. This church holds to strong doctrine and based upon what they believe, I would recommend this church. I have had a chance to attend a few services and their preacher, Gene Cook is a remarkable preacher and gifted teacher. Their service is a bit more traditional than much of the contemporary worship but this fits well with the community they are building.

Pastor Gene Cook also has a internet-radio program called Unchained Radio. On this program he tackles some of the more challenging issues Christians struggle with, he also hosts debates and other discussions that are beneficial to the believer. The Unchained Radio website has archives of past broadcasts, forums and other resources for people to use.

I would highly recommend this church, they have a solid foundation, a strong community and preach verse-by-verse through the Bible. This is a great church particularly for those who enjoy singing a hymn.