Saddleback Church San Diego - San Diego (CA)

5 /5 Carol Walker: This church is truly about being in relationship with members and the community. Attend services, sign up for a small group so you will have friends to do life with you. Authentic biblical teaching and worship. Children, teen, and college/career programs are excellent. Online community is vibrant and engaged. Need a blessing or healing or encouragement? Start here to find your way. They will show you the way, and walk the path with you.

2 /5 Claire Mallett: Very boring. We had to watch the sermon on a screen from their main church in Orange County. I might as well have just stayed home.

5 /5 Ryan DeBok: I was in San Diego on vacation and looked forward to experiencing Saddleback Church. Warm people, talented worship leaders, a welcome environment for you to experience God and worship him without obstacles. It was easy to find a parking place, great signage and direction from the parking lot crew. “Welcome Back” statements by several people when walking in was a little strange, as I was a new visitor, but maybe I look like someone who’s been there before. *shrug* It appears that the church is new and growing (or maybe it’s a summer vacancy) as there were quite a few empty seats. Welcome team was genuine and not invasive. A lot of the message today was, “You can’t allow your feelings to…”. Best two moments were scriptures read from Malachi about God hating divorce but not divorcees. And experiencing God’s forgiveness as a means of forgiving others. There is freedom in admitting that we fall short, that we don’t have it all together, and that God is forgiving us daily. Book-study message today communicated forgiving the faults of others, which is hard to do when we don’t soak in God’s grace over our own shortcomings. Thanks, Church, for providing me a place to worship and experience the presence of God today. Warmly, Ryan

5 /5 April Schleier: Pastor Rick Warren is the head pastor based out of Lake Forest, CA in Orange county. There are 20 campuses in southern California and internationally. This is a satellite campus that projects the message on a screen. There is a local campus pastor who welcomes, prays, and gives guidance at the end of each sermon. The worship team is live and unique to each campus. This is the only location in San Diego so far, and has about 400 people each week. Services are 9am and 11am every Sunday. Great for all walks of life. They have childrens care and student ministries for the teens. They provide TV screen outside with seating for those who choose to participate there instead of inside. There is usually something fun and extra after the service like kettle corn, bounce house, baptisms, and anything else to encourage people to hang out and fellowship. They encourage everyone to get involved in a small group so that as the church grows bigger, everyone can stay intimately connected.

5 /5 Mary Ann Buggs: We became familiar with Saddleback after attending a Celebrate Recovery Summit at their main Lake Forest campus years ago. We love everything about Saddleback, their love, and focus on serving God and the community. The sermons are always SOO instructional and inspirational. And we always meet someone who genuinely seems to care (this time it was Joseph, his son Grant and two young visiting Asian women who were there for the 1st time and delighted us by asking LOTS of questions.)