Celebrating 1-Year Anniversary

In our Daring Faith commitment to Fill God's house, we’ve launched six new campuses, strengthened all of our existing campuses, strategically relocated four campuses, and found permanent buildings for several of our church homes.

One of the six campuses that launched out of our Daring Faith campaign is Saddleback San Diego. On October 23, 2017, the campus opened its doors at Canyon Crest Academy under the leadership of Campus Pastor Jeff Gonzalez.

To reflect on all that God has done over the past year, 644 people gathered for a one-year anniversary celebration on Sunday, October 22. Held from 9:00 to 1:00 on the campus patio, the event featured food trucks, a photo booth, baptisms, a birthday cake, piñata, raffle drawing, and games for kids. Free Saddleback books and mugs were given to anyone who brought the invitation flyer to the event.  

“Sunday was incredibly special, as it marked our first year at Saddleback San Diego,” says Campus Pastor, Jeff Gonzalez. “What an absolutely blessed year it has been.”

Since the campus launched last October, God has moved in miraculous ways to bring love and hope to the community. In the brief 12 months the campus has been running, they’ve reached over 500 in weekly attendance and have baptized 82 people. There are currently over 100 small groups meeting in homes across Carmel Valley. Through those small groups, relationships are being formed and lives are being transformed.

One couple living near Cal State San Marcos, hosts a small group for foreign exchange students attending the university. Each week, they welcome the students into their home, serve them dinner, and invite them to church. The results have been staggering.

“Many of these students had no faith or were Muslim,” says Saddleback San Diego Campus Administrator, Candy Stokes. “This host couple committedly brought the students to church where they felt loved, accepted, and welcomed into a faith full of hope. Just last week, many of the students were baptized! It was exciting to see how an invitation turned into changed lives.”

That’s just the beginning says Candy. The group of exchange students has drastically grown, resulting in an entire section of the Worship Center being occupied by these college students during the 11:00 AM service.

This ongoing culture of enthusiasm and warmth has led many people to call Saddleback San Diego the friendliest campus they’ve ever experienced. In fact, members are going beyond weekend services to connect and socialize with the community at the newly opened Exchange. Read our recent story about the Grand Opening of San Diego’s mid-week ministry space.

Additional efforts are in place to build deeper connections within the church family including San Diego’s new campus choir that debuted on October 22. In addition to adult small groups, Student Life Groups are now meeting Thursday evenings at 6:30 PM at the Exchange.

In Saddleback San Diego’s efforts to host signature ministries, they offer The Daniel Plan and military outreach programs. Celebrate Recovery will officially launch as general sessions in March, 2018.

“God is doing amazing things at this campus,” says Candy. “I'm excited to see what else he has in store as we continue to reach more people for Christ and fill his house.”

To stay updated on all Saddleback San Diego events, visit saddleback.com/sandiego.