HAPPY NEW YEAR

Sheep and Goats

El Cajon Wesleyan Church

Published Dec. 30, 2009

Sunday was assistant pastor Dave Holmquist’s last at El Cajon Wesleyan. After the opening worship — a singer/guitarist and a bongo player alone on the vast, spotlit, blue-green stage — he took his place down front ... Read about it here....

El Cajon Wesleyan Church

1500 East Lexington Avenue, El Cajon, 619-440-4452
Denomination: Wesleyan
Founded locally: early 1900s
Senior pastor: Steve Forsyth
Congregation size: 400
Staff size: 11
Sunday school enrollment: 50
Weekly giving: n/a
Annual budget: n/a
Singles program: yes
Dress: casual to semi-formal
Diversity: Caucasian, some Hispanic
Sunday worship: 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m.
Length of reviewed service: 1 hour, 5 minutes
Website: ecwesleyan.com

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Rev. Frederick Joseph Eikerenkoetter II 1935-2009

Reverend Ike’s ministry declined through the ’90s, a fall that was hastened by investigations into his business practices. But his theology has prevailed. His ideas about money and his skillful manipulation of mass media are widely replicated by prosperity-gospel ministers like T. D. Jakes and Creflo Dollar. Read the whole story here…

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La Mesa | Sheep and Goats

St. Lukes Lutheran Church

5150 Wilson Street, La Mesa, 619-463-6633
Denomination: Fellowship of Evangelical Lutheran Churches
Founded locally: 1950
Senior pastor: Mark Menacher
Congregation size: 150
Staff size: 4
Sunday school enrollment: 16–20
Weekly giving: n/a
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Singles program: no
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Length of reviewed service: 1 hour, 10 minutes
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Read the whole story here….

Merry Christmas 2009

Christmas Blessings

from

Mid-City Christian Ministry Network

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
Matthew 28:19

First Presbyterian Church of San Diego

Published Dec. 16, 2009

In my line of work, I see a lot of stained-glass windows depicting either scenes from the life of Christ or various Christian symbols. But until I ventured into the gothic wooden grandeur of First Presbyterian ...

First Presbyterian Church

320 Date Street, Downtown, 619-232-7513
Founded locally: 1869
Senior pastor: Jerry Andrews
Congregation size: 800
Staff size: 40, including school
Sunday school enrollment: 100
Weekly giving: n/a
Annual budget: $1.5 million, not including school
Singles program: no
Dress: semi-formal to formal
Diversity: mostly Caucasian
Length of reviewed service: 1 hour, 5 minutes
Website: fpcsd.org

Read the Sheep & Goats article here…..

Multi-site churches mean pastors reach thousands

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She heard him preach at 10:30 a.m. on the Upper East Side. Now she has brought friends to hear him at the West Side 5 p.m. service. He briefly greets her, then slips into the service just before his sermon.

In 45 minutes, before the final hymn, Keller's gone — off to deliver the same sermon, "The Gospel Changes Everything," on the East Side.

Then, again, Keller, founder and senior pastor of Manhattan's Redeemer Presbyterian Church, will dash back to West 79th Street for his fourth service of the day at three leased locations. Read the whole article here…..

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Evangelicals at a Crossroad: A Dialogue

Three Bethel University professors discuss the historic significance and present health of evangelicalism.

by Chris Armstrong | December 2, 2009

This past summer two professors at Bethel University, St Paul, Minnesota and one at sister institution Bethel Seminary (me!) were invited to participate in a recorded dialogue that would become a printed piece in the schools’ magazine. The three of us, guided by questions posed by a moderator, considered where evangelicalism is today and where it may be headed.

By necessity tentative and partial, our wide-ranging conversation nonetheless raised some important issues. When we were done, we had a meaty article, of which (for reasons of space) only a brief portion ended up being printed in the magazine.

Though somewhat longer than our typical blog posting, we offer the full edited article (“never before published,” as the marketing wallahs might say) in hopes that it will spark some conversation among our readers who care about the historical movement called evangelicalism: Read on here……

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Sheep and Goats

Urban Church

By Matthew Lickona | Published Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009

Urban Church

1789 State Street, San Diego, 619-231-7745
Denomination: nondenominational
Founded: February 2009
Senior pastor: Ben Brinkman
Congregation size: 120
Staff size: 2
Sunday school enrollment: 15
Annual budget: $126,000
Weekly giving: $1900
Singles program: no
Dress: mostly casual
Diversity: diverse, skewing young
Sunday worship: 10:30 a.m., 6 p.m.
Length of reviewed service: 1 hour, 10 minutes
Website: lifeaturban.com

Read the story here…..

San Diego (LGBTqi) Pride relocates to North Park

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San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride moved from its existing Hillcrest office on Robinson Street to a larger, modern space in North Park’s cabaret and arts district on Nov. 11.

The new offices, located three blocks south of University Avenue at 3620 30th St., features conference and training rooms, plus a patio, coffeehouse and ample street parking. It is also easily accessible by public transport. The P.O. Box mailing address and telephone numbers for the organization are unchanged.

“Pride has experienced an explosive growth in the number of activism and awareness programs since we moved into our previous office 12 years ago,” says Executive Director Ron deHarte. “These new offices will provide us with adequate space for the legions of volunteers required to produce programs such as the Equality Torch Relay, Rainbow Flag Project, Walk for Equality as well as the annual parade and festival.”

San Diego Pride recently announced its 2010 theme: “One Heart, One World, One Pride,” adopted from InterPride’s global theme. For 35 years, San Diego Pride has been a tireless advocate for equality and diversity. Core programs focus on activism and awareness, community services, youth, the environment and HIV/AIDS supportive services. The organization also produces the annual parade and festival, which have grown from a small grass roots march for equal rights, into the largest equal rights events in San Diego County.

Next year’s Pride weekend is scheduled for July 17 and 18.

San Diegans discuss how to combat homelessness

Dec 02, 2009

A United Effort from San Diegans to address the local homeless crisis.  The group Humane Exposures organized Tuesday night's Call to Action event.
A panel of experts, from downtown business owners to elected officials, answered questions and discussed the best ways to handle homelessness.
"It's a rampant issue. We're not dealing with it efficiently or effectively. We can do it.  We have the tools, and we have the manpower, and we have the brains," said Susan Lankford with Humane Exposures.  "We have a lot of people who are impatient that they don't know how to go about it and this is a good chance for us to come together and try."
Click here for more information on Humane Exposures.

Start-Up Nation: Israel's Economic Miracle

JERUSALEM, Israel - How does Israel - one of the world's smallest countries - produce more startup companies than many of the world's most developed nations?

It's a trillion dollar question and the answer can be found in a new book investigating this modern phenomenon.

With a population of slightly more than seven million people, Israel leads the world per capita in technology startup companies.

One reason for Israel's leading role is its military and the kind of innovative leaders it produces.

"Veterans of the Israeli military, once they retire, join the commercial market and they apply the different cutting edge technologies in the medical market, telecommunications, cellular market, etc.," Israeli economic analyst Yoram Ettinger told CBN News.

As a result, Israel is credited with developing technologies like the cell phone, voice technology, and even the Intel Pentium chip.

Israel also puts a premium on research and development, with many more people per capita in this field than any other country in the world.

For example, in the Jewish state, 140 people per 10,000 work in research and development. The U.S. is number two in the world, with 85 people per 10,000.

"It just shows you how robust the human factor is here in Israel, and the outcome has produced per capita more cutting edge technologies than any other country in the world," Ettinger said.

A new book called Startup Nation, the Story of Israel's Economic Miracle, by author Dan Senor, examines how tiny Israel is a technological giant in today's global economy.

It argues that Israel is not just a nation but a state of mind, and its old fashioned chutzpa goes a long way toward economic prosperity.

It also shows how other nations - and individuals - can learn from Israel's example.