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Church of God's mission: Win. Build. Send.
“The harvest is plenty but the workers are few.”
Jeff McCoy chose ministry “because there are not a lot of people doing it.”
Contact: 4955 Conrad Ave, Clairemont; 858-278-6802; http://clairemontch…">clairemontchurchofg…
Membership: 175
Pastor: Jeff McCoy
Age: 38
Born: Portland, OR
Formation: Mid-America Christian University, Oklahoma City, OK
Years Ordained: 10
San Diego Reader: What is your favorite subject on which to preach?
Pastor Jeff McCoy: Jesus — his resurrection, his power, his name, his work, his ministry. The centrality of Jesus would be the one subject I’d preach forever. Jesus is God’s ultimate expression of love, so that you can pick any topic — love, grace, forgiveness, compassion, how to live life, boundaries, any other topic, such as judging, how to treat your neighbor, how to live in this world — it all centers on Jesus.
SDR: What’s your main concern as a member of the clergy?
PM: Keeping the main thing the main thing. The mission of the church is to make disciples, and I think when pastors lose sight of that… And yes, our objective is to reach out to the community, to evangelize, but we are called to make disciples making other disciples. I see a lot of pastors wander away from that objective, and if we’re not making disciples, the gospel will not be spread.
SDR: Why did you become a minister?
PM: It was a calling and a decision. When I was really young, 12–13 years old, I remember sitting in a sanctuary and asking God to send me into ministry. I looked up to my youth pastor at the time and saw the impact he was making in my life. I remember asking God to send me into ministry at a very young age. I’ve had opportunities to do several other things — play football, run a restaurant, go into business, teaching — so I’ve had the opportunity to go and pursue so many other different avenues, but I made the decision to stick with ministry in 1999. One of the reasons is because there are not a lot of people doing it — it’s not a popular job. More are leaving than signing up for ministry. Christ said, “The harvest is plenty but the workers are few.” That resonates with me.
SDR: What’s the mission of your church?
PM: Three words: Win. Build. Send. We took the Great Commission in Matthew 28, where Jesus says, “Go therefore and make disciples, and baptize and teach them to obey all I have commanded you.” We took that Great Commission and we basically summarized it in modern words, easy to understand, that people can gravitate toward.
SDR: Where’s the strangest place you found God?
PM: Downtown San Diego…where people live without shelter or home. We’re not shoving the gospel down their throats but asking how we can help. There’s something pure and holy about those streets downtown. Those homeless people are not in the church buildings or upper-class neighborhoods, but God is definitely down there walking the streets as well.
SDR: Where do you go when you die?
PM: I believe scripture does support the idea that the believer does go to heaven. Every person stands before God whether as Christians who place their faith in Jesus or those who live their entire life as a non-believer. The unbeliever either goes to a resting place, which scripture supports, or straight to hell, and the believer goes to heaven. I want to be very clear here, though: no one among us has seen the afterlife as far as a verbatim detailed view of what the afterlife looks like.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Church of God's mission: Win. Build. Send.
“The harvest is plenty but the workers are few.”
Church of God's mission: Win. Build. Send.
“The harvest is plenty but the workers are few.”
Jeff McCoy chose ministry “because there are not a lot of people doing it.”
Contact: 4955 Conrad Ave, Clairemont; 858-278-6802; http://clairemontch…">clairemontchurchofg…
Membership: 175
Pastor: Jeff McCoy
Age: 38
Born: Portland, OR
Formation: Mid-America Christian University, Oklahoma City, OK
Years Ordained: 10
San Diego Reader: What is your favorite subject on which to preach?
Pastor Jeff McCoy: Jesus — his resurrection, his power, his name, his work, his ministry. The centrality of Jesus would be the one subject I’d preach forever. Jesus is God’s ultimate expression of love, so that you can pick any topic — love, grace, forgiveness, compassion, how to live life, boundaries, any other topic, such as judging, how to treat your neighbor, how to live in this world — it all centers on Jesus.
SDR: What’s your main concern as a member of the clergy?
PM: Keeping the main thing the main thing. The mission of the church is to make disciples, and I think when pastors lose sight of that… And yes, our objective is to reach out to the community, to evangelize, but we are called to make disciples making other disciples. I see a lot of pastors wander away from that objective, and if we’re not making disciples, the gospel will not be spread.
SDR: Why did you become a minister?
PM: It was a calling and a decision. When I was really young, 12–13 years old, I remember sitting in a sanctuary and asking God to send me into ministry. I looked up to my youth pastor at the time and saw the impact he was making in my life. I remember asking God to send me into ministry at a very young age. I’ve had opportunities to do several other things — play football, run a restaurant, go into business, teaching — so I’ve had the opportunity to go and pursue so many other different avenues, but I made the decision to stick with ministry in 1999. One of the reasons is because there are not a lot of people doing it — it’s not a popular job. More are leaving than signing up for ministry. Christ said, “The harvest is plenty but the workers are few.” That resonates with me.
SDR: What’s the mission of your church?
PM: Three words: Win. Build. Send. We took the Great Commission in Matthew 28, where Jesus says, “Go therefore and make disciples, and baptize and teach them to obey all I have commanded you.” We took that Great Commission and we basically summarized it in modern words, easy to understand, that people can gravitate toward.
SDR: Where’s the strangest place you found God?
PM: Downtown San Diego…where people live without shelter or home. We’re not shoving the gospel down their throats but asking how we can help. There’s something pure and holy about those streets downtown. Those homeless people are not in the church buildings or upper-class neighborhoods, but God is definitely down there walking the streets as well.
SDR: Where do you go when you die?
PM: I believe scripture does support the idea that the believer does go to heaven. Every person stands before God whether as Christians who place their faith in Jesus or those who live their entire life as a non-believer. The unbeliever either goes to a resting place, which scripture supports, or straight to hell, and the believer goes to heaven. I want to be very clear here, though: no one among us has seen the afterlife as far as a verbatim detailed view of what the afterlife looks like.
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