Park Hill Church - San Diego (CA)

1 /5 L B: I strongly disagree with the positive reviews. As someone who has had personal interactions with the leadership and specifically Evan, it is not a welcoming place or one of good community. There are many challenges behind the scenes and a lot of turnover in attendance. The cliques are strong and leadership is a mess. The Sunday sermons are fine, but the church itself is one to avoid due to the organizational trouble and failure to provide access to community.

5 /5 Ché: TL;DR this church saved my faith. In 2020, discouraged by the lack of pastors preaching unity from the pulpit in the midst of racial tensions, I left the church altogether. I spent 2021 deconstructing a faith I’d been born into. After realizing that life without God in community is no better, I decided to dip my toe in church life again, and was led to Park Hill. By the grace of God, I entered a community group where the topics I was struggling with were directly addressed, and was even invited into the racial reconciliation cohort. Here, I had a safe space to wrestle through the issues that pushed me away from church in the first place. The lead pastors were even part of that cohort, not to speak and be heard but simply hear what the vulnerable members of their congregation had to say. I can tell you from experience, that this willingness to hear how the Church had done the vulnerable, wrong, is not a commitment I have seen at other places. The leadership leaning in and making change from the pulpit, preaching against division in this country and emphasizing God’s heart for unity through sound scripture, helped heal my heart for the church. I got to know the lead pastors from a few interactions over the years, and I can tell you that their heart is truly burdened for their flock and for sound biblical teaching in an increasingly divided landscape. To those who put down leadership behind the scenes: it’s true, they’re not perfect, and running any size church is hard. To the person who said the pastors walked right past you: have grace. New people come in all the time, and if you introduce yourself they will welcome you warmly. From my experience and that of many I had met there — genuine Christ followers trying to grow and learn and do better — Park Hill fosters environments that challenges us to put our flesh aside and grow as a body. We need more of this now, Christians unafraid to stand on scripture FOR people, not against them, than ever.

1 /5 Laney McDowell: Poorly run leadership. The church does not make others feel welcome. From my first hand experience this church is more concerned with image than the way they facilitate loving others like Christ. I witnessed a huge lack of integrity in the way the leadership has handled multiple situation’s. They are divisive. I do not recommend.

5 /5 andrew v.: I’ve been at this church multiple years, it has solid biblical teaching and worship with a great community of those seeking to know God in a deeper way. Many of the less than 5 star reviews here are from people who like the idea of Christianity but don’t believe all of the teachings of the Bible are relevant. This church teaches directly from the Bible without skirting past controversial topics.

1 /5 S Nest: Not a good experience. The children’s ministry is disorganized and not well run, the community is impossible to join and there is a sense of exclusivity, and after a few sermons the pastor seems disingenuous. I’d recommend finding a different church that more resembles the Bride of Christ and demonstrates a welcoming community.