San Diego Church Reviews & Guide

Select one of the following Highly Recommended San Diego Churches:
The Fields Church (Carlsbad)
Kaleo Church (Mission Valley, SDSU, El Cajon)
Crossroads Church (National City)
Ethnos Church (La Jolla)
Faith Bible Church (Murrieta)
Harbor Presbyterian (Multiple)

Are we missing other highly recommended churches? Please let us know by adding a comment to this post. Our desire is to highly recommend churches that have a passion for Jesus Christ, worship God in spirit and truth, desire to live out the gospel and live a life of mission to the community around them. You can learn more about how we rank using the menu on the side.

Website: http://www.xroads.cc/

(National City)

Church Review
Theology: 5/5
Mission: 5/5
Community: 5/5
Worship: 2/5

Summary:Crossroads Church is located in National City just south of downtown. This church is a true reflection of the community around them. Here you will find a diverse mix of race, age and financial status. With a mission to “lead people to and through a life changing relationship with Jesus and his family”, this church places a high emphasis on God’s grace and living in response to that. Adamantly rejecting moralism, Crossroads goal is to be Christ-centered and Gospel-centered in everything.

Pastor Matt Ortiz preaches verse-by-verse through both Old and New Testaments. There are also a variety of community groups that meet throughout the week. Impacting the community of the South Bay with the gospel of grace is the mission of everything the church does.

For those looking for a church in the South Bay that is strong both in doctrine and practice, this church is highly recommended..

Website: http://www.ethnos.us/

(University Town Center)

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

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

Summary: Ethnos is a new church (2 years old) in the University Town Center area. Ethnos (like the name implies) is a community that reflects a vast cultural diversity. Ethnos has made an identity for itself as a place of multi-cultural worship, mult-language service, and a broader reflection of diversity, something most churches lack today. Read the rest of this entry »

Website: http://www.theresolved.com

(Pacific Beach)

Church Review
Scriptural View: 5/5
Missional View: 5/5
Community: 5/5

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

Summary: The Resolved is a recent church start in Pacific Beach. The Resolved is a perfect fit for Pacific Beach. The Pastors have a heart for this community and look PB. (Tattoos, surfers, riding cruisers around town) The Resolved mixes strong Biblical preaching with this heart for evangelism. After the service, many non-Christian co-workers, friends and neighbors join a BBQ they host and the Resolved community does a great job being the light to those who are lost. Theologically, The Resolved is rock solid. They currently are preaching through the book of Romans and go verse-by-verse to really draw out the meaning and application of the text. The Resolved is a church that is being started by Kaleo Church (read Kaleo’s church review) and there are many similarities between these churches.

A highly recommended church that holds to excellent theological and missiological positions.

Website: http://www.faith-bible.net

(Located in Murrieta)

Church Review
Scriptural View: 5/5
Beliefs: 5/5
Community: 4/5
Preaching: Expository
Service Times: 10:00 am

Website Review
Site Usability: 3/5
Site Design: 3/5
Site Content: 3/5

Review: There is much to like about Faith Bible Church. They adhere to Scripture by living out a lot of the things most modern churches have lost. For example, they hold to a plurality of elder model of church government with deacons helping run the administration. In addition they have done a great job laying out much of what they believe (doctrine), their philosophy of ministry and how this implicates our life as believers. As I’ve reviewed Churches and their websites I’m finding a connection between how much a Church communicates what they believe with their desire to honor God by living scripturally.

I have not attended a service at Faith Bible Church. I do have a friend who knows their college ministry leader and based on his comments, I believe this is a solid church for people to attend. From reading through their website beliefs, book recommendations and other materials I would encourage someone in the Murrieta area to check out this church. My only observation is their comments on missions being ‘elsewhere’ (Afghanistan) and not next door. (I say this because often churches that are ‘reformed’ can miss the mark on missiology.) But they do speak about their belief that evangelism is what the Church is about so this may be a non-point.

A church with a strong biblical position and a desire to live this out as a community. I recommend this church.

Website: http://www.thefieldschurch.org/

(Located in Carlsbad)

Church Review
Scriptural View: 5/5
Beliefs: 5/5
Community: 4/5
Preaching: Exegetical
Worship: 10am Contemporary

Website Review
Site Usabilility: 3/5
Site Design: 3/5
Site Content: 2/5

Summary: The Fields is a newer church plant in Carlsbad. You can always tell a recent church plant because they typically use non-traditional names. From their website: We have named our new church “The Fields” because Jesus once told his followers, “Open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” (John 4:35) At The Fields our desire is to see people grow into passionate followers of Jesus Christ.

I had a chance to visit this church (September 2004) and enjoyed Pastor Dave Fandey’s preaching through the 3rd chapter of Philippians. He dug deeper than most preachers do and did a great job in bringing application to those who attended. The community is primarily younger (20-30 somethings) with a mix of a handful of families. On my visit, the community did a great job of greeting me and welcoming me to their church.

The church is new so their website does not have much information other than the story of their church, the values they hold to and information about when/where they meet. I’m sure more information will be coming shortly…I did have a chance to speak more with Pastor Dave Fandey and was encouraged with his passion and desire to be faithful to God’s Word.

The Fields is a church that does a great job in preaching God’s Word and desires to live this out missionally. I strongly recommend this church.

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

(Mission Valley & 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.

Website: http://www.harborpc.org

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

Website Review
Site Usabilility: 4/5 (easy to use)
Site Design: 3/5
Site Content: 2/5

Summary: Harbor Presbyterian is a church that made a decision to not abandon the cities core and planted an inner-city church. Harbor has a strong desire to be a missional church to reach the lost with the good news of Jesus Christ. They have a solid and orthodox statement of faith. In addition I am really impressed with their missional desire to serve those in need. (homeless, prison ministry, Mexico poor, etc.) They also have a wide number of community groups. This is essential for growing in fellowship and your knowledge of who God is.

Since planting the downtown location, Harbor has become a multi-site church with church locations ranging from Chula Vista to Carmel Valley and every where in between.

This is a great church for you to attend, particularly if you are from the Presbyterian tradition.