Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Skyline Church pastor: from baseball to the Bible

Blown-out shoulder took Jeremy McGarity from pitching to preaching

Jeremy McGarity
Jeremy McGarity

Skyline Church

  • Contact: 11330 Campo Rd, La Mesa 619-660-5000 www.skylinechurch.org
  • Membership: 5,225
  • Pastor: Jeremy McGarity
  • Age: 51
  • Born: San Diego
  • Formation: Christian Heritage College (now San Diego Christian College); Azusa Pacific University-Haggard Graduate School of Theology; Biola University-Talbot School of Theology, La Mirada
  • Years Ordained: 24

San Diego Reader: Why did you become a pastor?

Sponsored
Sponsored

Pastor Jeremy McGarity: I never wanted to be a pastor, but I got saved through professional baseball. I was drafted with the St. Louis Cardinals, playing baseball, and living in the world. I did not grow up in a Christian home and never went to church or anything like that as a kid. A guy on my team, our third baseman, Mark MacArthur, was a strong Christian and he had a strong testimony. He was never in our face about it. I always thought Christians were weak and wimpy — not really competitive. But I watched Mark, who was a great competitor, and I realized I didn’t have any peace – but he had peace. I thought, “This guy has something I don’t.” I was a pitcher and if I won the game, I was a great guy and I was buying everyone drinks. But if I lost the game, I went into a cave and I was angry, depressed and all those things. So how is this guy so calm? He gets four hits with four at-bats and he’s the same guy when he strikes out four times. That blew me away. I started asking him questions… I said, “Mark, what do I do?” He said, “Why don’t you start reading the Bible?” I started reading in the book of John and I accepted the Lord. I said, “If this is true, Lord, I want to know you.” I believed in Christ from that point forward. My call to ministry came when I was on a different team. A teammate started a Bible study before he was traded to another team. He told me before he left that I had to lead the study. I thought he was crazy. But we opened the Bible – seven guys came to this study – and passed it around the room… The Bible study kept growing – we eventually had 18 of the 21 guys on the team in the Bible study. I realized, that’s the power of the word of God – these guys really wanted to know about the Lord. So, in the off-season, I started attending Bible college. Then finally I blew out my shoulder with the Texas Rangers. I was getting ready for surgery and started getting some calls from churches inviting me to interview to be their youth pastor. After being a youth pastor and young adult pastor, I planted a church out here in San Diego before I took over at Skyline—and that plant is one of our campuses now.

SDR: Where do you go when you die?

PM: You go to be with Jesus if you believe in his death, burial and resurrection. At Skyline, we call it ABC: Admit you’re a sinner—Believe he died for your sins, past, present and future—and you have to Choose to follow him, a one-time decision followed by a daily commitment to follow him. If you do that, absolutely you go to heaven. For those who reject Christ and his free gift, there is a hell. It’s not popular to talk about it, a lot of people don’t want to talk about it, but it’s not love if you don’t tell people the truth.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Change is constant in our fisheries

Yellowfin still biting well
Jeremy McGarity
Jeremy McGarity

Skyline Church

  • Contact: 11330 Campo Rd, La Mesa 619-660-5000 www.skylinechurch.org
  • Membership: 5,225
  • Pastor: Jeremy McGarity
  • Age: 51
  • Born: San Diego
  • Formation: Christian Heritage College (now San Diego Christian College); Azusa Pacific University-Haggard Graduate School of Theology; Biola University-Talbot School of Theology, La Mirada
  • Years Ordained: 24

San Diego Reader: Why did you become a pastor?

Sponsored
Sponsored

Pastor Jeremy McGarity: I never wanted to be a pastor, but I got saved through professional baseball. I was drafted with the St. Louis Cardinals, playing baseball, and living in the world. I did not grow up in a Christian home and never went to church or anything like that as a kid. A guy on my team, our third baseman, Mark MacArthur, was a strong Christian and he had a strong testimony. He was never in our face about it. I always thought Christians were weak and wimpy — not really competitive. But I watched Mark, who was a great competitor, and I realized I didn’t have any peace – but he had peace. I thought, “This guy has something I don’t.” I was a pitcher and if I won the game, I was a great guy and I was buying everyone drinks. But if I lost the game, I went into a cave and I was angry, depressed and all those things. So how is this guy so calm? He gets four hits with four at-bats and he’s the same guy when he strikes out four times. That blew me away. I started asking him questions… I said, “Mark, what do I do?” He said, “Why don’t you start reading the Bible?” I started reading in the book of John and I accepted the Lord. I said, “If this is true, Lord, I want to know you.” I believed in Christ from that point forward. My call to ministry came when I was on a different team. A teammate started a Bible study before he was traded to another team. He told me before he left that I had to lead the study. I thought he was crazy. But we opened the Bible – seven guys came to this study – and passed it around the room… The Bible study kept growing – we eventually had 18 of the 21 guys on the team in the Bible study. I realized, that’s the power of the word of God – these guys really wanted to know about the Lord. So, in the off-season, I started attending Bible college. Then finally I blew out my shoulder with the Texas Rangers. I was getting ready for surgery and started getting some calls from churches inviting me to interview to be their youth pastor. After being a youth pastor and young adult pastor, I planted a church out here in San Diego before I took over at Skyline—and that plant is one of our campuses now.

SDR: Where do you go when you die?

PM: You go to be with Jesus if you believe in his death, burial and resurrection. At Skyline, we call it ABC: Admit you’re a sinner—Believe he died for your sins, past, present and future—and you have to Choose to follow him, a one-time decision followed by a daily commitment to follow him. If you do that, absolutely you go to heaven. For those who reject Christ and his free gift, there is a hell. It’s not popular to talk about it, a lot of people don’t want to talk about it, but it’s not love if you don’t tell people the truth.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Domestic disturbance at the home of Mayor Gloria and partner

Home Sweet Homeless?
Next Article

Gonzo Report: Three nights of Mission Bayfest bring bliss

“This is a top-notch production.”
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader