Vision for Harbor Golden Hill

We sent this letter in December 2009 to share in some detail the vision for a new church in the neighborhoods surrounding Golden Hill, in the city of San Diego.

Dear Friends,

Praise God for his work in San Diego. In this city known for perpetual sunshine there is much brokenness and need for the good news of Jesus’ salvation. Yet we drive through the city and see the Lord working powerfully in many areas. And we are thankful, during this season of Thanksgiving and Christmas, that the Lord uses broken people like us to bring the healing of the gospel to mend some of the brokenness around us (Heb. 5:1-2). Thank you for holding us up by your prayers and words of encouragement.

We have been in touch with some of you with updates, but we are now writing to a larger group with some exciting news on how the gospel is advancing in San Diego. Please bear with us if we cover some familiar ground for some of you.

Where the Urban Poor and the Urban Professional Intersect
Mandy and I feel called to minister in an area “where the urban poor and urban professional intersect”. We started using this phrase four years ago to describe how we believed the Lord wanted to use our passions and life experience to serve in His kingdom. Both Mandy and I had worked and ministered with many successful professionals – Mandy during her time as Women’s Ministry Director at First Pres. Jackson and me during my time with Accenture and at Westminster Pres. in Atlanta. But we both also had a passion for the poor, and valuable related experience – Mandy during her time as a counselor for families under investigation for abuse and neglect and me during my seven years coaching inner-city youth basketball and related ministries.

So as we considered where the Lord was calling us to serve after seminary, the obvious answer was a place where these communities, the urban poor and urban professional, intersect. These are the “gentrifying” communities where urban revitalization is dramatically changing the landscape of entire neighborhoods. Wealth is flowing into neighborhoods where poverty has reigned for a generation and a half. But even as appearances and crimes rates improve in these communities, the divide between rich and poor is still great. Even though rich and poor often live, literally, next door to one another, the communities rarely interact. What reason do they have to interact?

Our conviction is that they have one very important reason to interact. Jesus. What do we mean by this? First, the message of God’s salvation puts rich and poor on a level playing field. Both are utterly dependent on God for salvation. Second, without both rich and poor the body of Christ is incomplete. Each of these communities has a valuable contribution to make in the body of Christ. How do the poor contribute? James gives us a glimpse, saying “has not God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith…” (James 2:5). Without the message of the gospel and the gathering point of the local church, the rich and poor have little reason to interact. This is why we are so passionate about planting a church where the urban poor and urban professional communities intersect, where the contributions of both rich and poor are valued, and where the light of the gospel can transform the community as it transforms individuals in the community.

A Season of Preparation
Communities of this kind exist in every urban center in America. Environments designed to sustain a young and inexperienced church planter and his family, however, are not as common. Harbor Church in San Diego is one of the best in the country at providing coaching from seasoned pastors coupled with a close community of other nearby church planters. So when Harbor called us for a one year church-planting internship to prepare to plant, we had to wrestle hard with the difficulties of moving so far from family and friends. But the Lord, our family, and our friends gently led us through the decision making process. The decision became very clear, and the Lord has affirmed it time and again since we arrived in San Diego four months ago. How? Through some specific places for practice and some amazing doors of opportunity.

It is a lot easier to talk about bringing wealthy and poor together than to actually do it. Even with our experience in both rich and poor environments, rarely did those communities intersect. We wondered what would happen when the rubber met the road. The Lord is giving us some windows of insight during our internship year. One of my roles this year is to serve as an assistant pastor at our Downtown site (www.harborpc.org has a map of Harbor sites). Two months ago an opportunity fell in [Mike’s] lap to lead a Bible study at one of the low income monthly rental hotels right in the center of downtown. It is literally across the street from where our downtown site meets for worship. I said “Sure, I’d love to lead it. But can we invite some non-residents also? Some of them are homeless, and others are professionals who work and/or live downtown.” So for the past nine weeks we have been meeting for an “income diverse” study of Hebrews at the Dustin Arms. 12-16 people come each week. And I (Mike) learn something each week about how to lead the discussion or about how the Lord teaches his people. Here’s an example.

The first week we met we spent the majority of time sharing testimonies and praying for one another. At the end I gave a 10 minute devotional to set the stage for our group discussion the following week. After I finished, one of the men, who is homeless, began to make again one of the points I had made just a minute earlier. I was annoyed, but didn’t say anything. As I was walking out of the building talking with one of the professionals, she said, “You know that point Mark made at the end, I have never realized that before.” I bit my lip to keep from saying, “But I said that!” Two days later I realized that I had witnessed the wealth of this poor man’s faith being poured out to this wealthy woman.

[Mike’s] internship year has many other components, not the least of which is the opportunity to preach twice per month. First I preach to a suburban congregation. Then I preach the same sermon to about 110 people who are homeless. Talk about great practice in making my sermons connect with both wealthy and poor.

A Door of Opportunity in Greater Golden Hill
Pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ… (Col. 4:3) Many of you have already been praying this for us and for Greater Golden Hill. Thank you. Greater Golden Hill is the area due east of Downtown San Diego. It consists of a few neighborhoods that are in various stages of change driven by the explosive revitalization of downtown San Diego pushing eastward. This is our target area where we want to plant a new Harbor site. And the Lord has affirmed this direction through many doors of opportunity in the community. Here are just a couple.

First, he provided a house for us to rent that couldn’t be any more centrally located for the purpose of planting a church in Golden Hill. Our house is nestled in a spot where we have walking access to all of the major gathering places in our community - dog park, coffee shops, business district, local urban ministry, playground, etc. We spent our first three months learning our way around, peoples' names, and some of their stories. Come October, we were ready to make a more concerted outreach to our neighbors. It is my (Mandy) favorite time of year and Olivia's birthday so we planned "A Pie Stop-by" in celebration of both. We invited all of our neighbors at our end of the block, folks we knew from the dog park, and a couple of families from church. I (Mandy) was nervous no one would come except the church people. It was a pretty vulnerable feeling. EVERY person we invited came. They showered Olivia with generous gifts (such a blessing to her mother who was so sad for her to be away from everyone she really knew on her birthday). And they stayed...for a long time. One neighbor commented that they had lived on the street for 15 years and never been in anyone's home. One couple we had been getting to know at the dog park came with their 10 day old baby. They are both navy doctors. Short story is, having a baby has rekindled their interest in spirituality. The Sunday following our Friday Pie Stop-by he showed up at church. And they have been there as a family the past three weeks.

Just a few weeks earlier, I (Mike) spent a Friday at Starbucks prepping for my licensure exam and sermon the following day. On my walk there, I casually said to God, “I feel pretty ready for tomorrow; if you want to give me some people to talk to today, I am up for it.” I talked with 12 people I had never met that day in Starbucks. That’s not counting the workers, except the one whose mother I met and then she joined us on her break. Most of the conversations were initiated by others when they saw me reading the Bible. I passed my licensure exam too!
These are two of the most exciting stories, but they are not the only ones. The Lord keeps opening doors for us to meet people and even find favor in the eyes of others. Explanations escape us. The Lord’s orchestration of it all is exciting to watch and be a part of. And the Lord’s call for us to church plant in Greater Golden Hill has come into clearer focus even in the few months since we arrived in July.

We Need Your Prayers and Financial Support To come out to San Diego for the one year internship we had to raise a portion of our salary. We went to a very small number of people who responded with great generosity. Thank you. As the Lord continues to affirm his call for us to plant a new church in San Diego, we are now going to a much larger group of people and asking you to consider supporting us in one or more of the following ways.

• Will you contribute a year-end gift toward our internship? (Two gifts of $3000 will cover the rest of our internship.)
• Will you commit to pray for Greater Golden Hill and for us at least once a week for the next year? We need at least 100 people holding us up in prayer each week.
• Will you consider including us in your 2010 budget, either with a monthly gift or a one-time gift to get the Greater Golden Hill church plant up and running? We will need to raise between $300,000 and $500,000 over three years.
• Will you contribute a year-end gift this year to the Greater Golden Hill church plant?

All gifts are tax-deductible. The page below is a printable prayer and pledge card.

Thank you for partnering with us in the work of the Gospel. Will you please pray that the Lord will raise up workers for the harvest here in San Diego, particularly in Greater Golden Hill? Will you pray for our family as we enter into the difficult endeavor of planting a new church? And please know that we pray for you. Not everyone all the time, but we have lists that hang on our refrigerator and a book of many of your pictures by our dining table. Thank you for all the ways you have already been supportive of us.

Yours Sincerely in Christ,
Mike and Mandy McBride