Church Review
Theology: 5/5
Mission: 4/5
Community: 4/5
Worship: 3/5

Summary: San Diego Reformed Church is a solid church for people to consider. The service I attended had a guest preacher, who did an excellent job. Their worship style was more hymnal-based singing and traditional in flavor. There seems to be a transition at this church toward a more missional mindset to reach out the the community around them. (Being missional is often a challenge in Reformed churches.) The service had a large number of older (60 to 80 year old) people but there were several families as well.

A good church that teaches the Scripture and desires to reach out to their community. We recommend this church.

Encinitas

Church Review
Theology: 4/5
Mission: 4/5
Community: 4/5
Worship: 3/5

Summary: The service I attended was called a ‘mini-service’ at 8:45am (their main service is at 10am) for people who server. Doug Baker did a great job preaching through the word and tying in the history and context of the passage. Faith Community is in the process of building a church campus and is raising money to do this. At the present time, they meet in a school. There were many things I liked about my experience at the church and based on the interaction and conversations, I would recommend this as a place for people to attend. (Their website is another subject though, clicking on ‘Calendar of Events’ almost shut my computer down.)

A solid church that taught from the scripture and has a heart to reach the community around them. We recommend this church.

Church Review
Scriptural View: 5/5
Missional View: 3/5
Community: 4/5

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

Summary: Escondido United Reformed Church (EURC) is an excellent place to learn about the Christian faith. The church has a high view of scripture and preaches solid, Biblical messages each week. If you seek or currently are in need to find a church that teaches ‘meat’ rather than watered-down messages, this is the place for you. As we find with most Reformed churches is that they often lack in the area of cultural engagement. Many in this church attend because they were raised in a Reformed environment so the learning curve is not always easy for new believers, but I trust they will pour into anyone who decides to attend the church. EURC is a great place for families. They put a strong emphasis on training the children in the Bible as well. (This church is Presbyterian for those concerned about Baby baptism.)

A recommended, Bible-based church.

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

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

Summary: Grace church is a community church in the Mira Mesa area. They are looking to involve the neighborhood in the life of the church and seek to reach out to them. Grace has a great missional heart as well as preaches Bible-based sermons. Their pastor strives to have people live out their faith in an authentic way.

We recommend this church as a great community as well as a people who want to live out their faith.

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

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

Summary: San Diego Church desires to reach the un-churched. Their Sunday format is a coffee-house feel with round tables, coffee, donuts and other beverages. The church tries to keep the format under one-hour to keep the pace moving and not lose people. Their own ad campaign says, “We’re the church for people with A.D.D” Much of what this church holds to is good doctrine, except some people may disagree with the emphasis on ‘missional church services’ at the expense of equipping the saints of your congregation. (Is preaching for the unsaved or the saved?) This is something people will need to think about if they participate in the church. Much of the work for the ‘saved’ is during the week at home groups, where the San Diego Church equips the saints. Other than that, this church is filled with people who have a heart for people coming to Christ and that is a great mission.

A missionally minded church that we recommend if someone is active in the small groups offered during the week.

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

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

Summary: The Salvation Army is a Bible-believing, Evangelical ministry that reaches out to all people with a holistic mission of promoting Jesus Christ. Or as they say on their website:

The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.

The Salvation Army is closely related to the Protestant church, except they do not believe in the public observation of the sacraments. This is the one area we disagree, believing baptism and communion are valuable public demonstrations and traditions to remind us of what Christ has done and our re-birth in Him. The Pastor (they go by military terms) Major Warren Dabis was simple, applicable and straight-forward. The sermon was a topical message, which didn’t go too deep into Biblical text but did focus on Jesus Christ.

The Salvation Army is missional, serving the elderly, the homeless, children and everyone else through shelters, scout programs, exercise, arts & crafts, you name it. The founder is quoted as saying, “How can you talk to a man about his soul, if his stomach is empty?” Many may be familiar with the Salvation Army’s bell-ringing during the Christmas season to raise support for their many ministries. The community at the Church was welcoming and inviting to me. Many greeted me and asked me to stay for a breakfast that was served after service.

A missional, evangelical Church we recommend with our only caveat being, they do not publicly observer the sacraments (baptism, communion).

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.

Church Review
Scriptural View: 4/5
Missional View: 4/5
Community: 3/5

Website Review
Site Usabilility: 4/5
Site Design: 4/5
Site Content: 2/5

3/16/05 – This review has been edited based on a conversation with the Pastor.

Summary: Coastlands is an 8 1/2 year-old Church plant in Pacific Beach. The pastor, Evan Lauer, told me they are a Bible-believing church that typically does expository preaching. He expressed a high view of Scripture and a desire to reach the postmodern generation with the truths of the gospel. The original reviewer wrote:

During this service the pastor opened it up for the audience to share their interpretations on the passage being discussed. At this time leaders (according to the bulletin) started to share thoughts that contradicted the verses. They were examing Scripture in light of their feelings not based on what it was saying.

Pastor Lauer said he does interact with the congregation each week but does not leave the final word to people’s opinions but directs them back to the word of God. (also see below comment from another visitor’s perspective.)

Coastlands has an eye towards being missional. Six times a year they hold a service outdoors in the community to interact with non-believers. Lauer told me “I’m working on getting my people to think missionally. To think about the people in this culture.” Based on this conversation we are changing the rating of the church.

A Bible-believing church that is trying to reach the postmodern generation with the truth of the Gospel.

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

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

Summary: New Life is in the Presbyterian Church of America (PCA) denomination, recently moving from the Orthodox Presbyterian Church denomination. This church holds to sound doctrine, they have a correct view of God and hold His Word as truth. This church would be an excellent church for people to attend who want to grow in their knowledge of Scripture. They have superb Sunday School classes for both adults and children.

I have had a chance to attend this church on a few occassions. I am always impressed with the community being God-centered people. During their monthly meal after service, the children happily went around and cleaned up to help their parents. They were genuinely considerate and interested in showing love toward guests and their family. This is a sight compared to many churches who distract children through entertainment not proper instruction.

Because of their traditions, they have not brought in ‘contemporary worship’ so hymns and liturgy remain un-changed over the last 100 years. This stance can impact the ability for new believers or people who do not know God to come and participate.

A great church to learn the things of God and grow in your understanding of Scripture. A more conservative environment with a tradition of liturgy and hymns.

Church Review
Scriptural View: 5/5
Beliefs: 4/5
Community: 3/5

Website Review
Site Usabilility: 4/5
Site Design: 2/5
Site Content: 2/5

Summary: Grace Bible Church is a solid Bible teaching church. They are from the reformed baptist persuasion. They list their beliefs as well as their churches Constitution, By-Laws and Statement of Faith. Anyone interested can learn exactly what this church believes and how this is administered at their local church. I am glad to see a church so willing to share openly what they believe.

The website is from another era. It uses frames and is very simple, which makes it easy to navigate but there is not that much to see. Without knowing it you switch from html to pdf documents. They also have pictures mostly dating to 2001. All this being said, the church looks like a great place to be taught the things of the Lord. The sermons seem full of meat which would grow all believers.

Grace Bible Church is a sound Biblical church even if they aren’t net savvy.