Small signs lined the driveway leading up the drive to the first gathering of Vision: A Center for Spiritual Living. "Love," "Grow," "Prosper," "Embrace," "Live," "Share." Green and gold balloons bearing the Vision logo ringed …
February 15, 2007
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Stories by Matthew Lickona
Vision: A Center for Spiritual Living, Tierrasanta
A Community Of Tasters
"Wines that sell for $65 to $90 off the mailing list routinely fetch $400 to $500 a bottle on the secondary market."
February 15, 2007
Horizon Christian Fellowship, Clairemont
"Come, now is the time to worship," crooned the praise leader to the congregation. Then he turned his call to heaven: "Come, Lord Jesus, come." Then back to the people: "Let the pain and the …
February 8, 2007
Welcome to the Neighborhood
"If people are this generous and this willing to teach others about wine, it can't be a bad hobby."
February 8, 2007
Plane rides and finances require trust in God
"We have a new song today," announced worship director Janet Werdowatz. "It's a new song by Chris Tomlin called, 'Made to Worship.' We were made to worship Him -- that is our first purpose of …
February 1, 2007
Strangers in Wine Land
"But they're Mexican wines, which most people haven't heard of, and that gives them a bit of cachet."
New Godfather In Town
"My goal is to make California-class wines in Ramona."
East Clairemont Southern Baptist Church
Nearly everything about East Clairemont Southern Baptist's church was unabashedly midcentury Modern, from the rust-orange carpet and pew cushions to the rough-face concrete block to the space-age chandeliers to the quarter-circle shape of the place, …
January 25, 2007
Mexico's Tuscan Spirit
"It's kind of a geographical expression of how I'd love my life to be!"
St. Mark's United Methodist Church, Clairemont
Glass, stained in various shades of smoky watercolor blue -- indigo, teal, cornflower -- covers nearly all of the church's side and back walls. Here and there, slashes of red and orange catch the light, …
January 18, 2007
Wine Online
"What I want to sell people on is the concept of discovering."
Reformation Evangelical Lutheran Church, Clairemont
"A prayer before worship," read the screen at the front of the tidy church, its oak-and-white simplicity spruced up with poinsettias, garland, wreaths, and Christmas trees outfitted with gold and white ornaments fashioned along Christian …
January 11, 2007
Mexico's Secret Vineyards
"It's easy to believe that there are a lot of unaccounted-for vineyards in the region."
Total Deliverance Worship Center, Spring Valley
"He hath sent me to proclaim liberty to captives," read the Scripture verse painted on the side wall. The Lucite lectern bore the church's logo: a crown imposed over a tilted cross, itself imposed over …
January 4, 2007
Gen X Grown Up
"When it's your goal to educate folks about wine, entry-level will take you only so far."
Skyline Church, La Mesa
The craft show was housed in the building right at the top of the entrance steps, so that's where I ended up first, my oldest son towing me along. He admired the $8 handmade, one-of-a-kind …
December 28, 2006
Congregation Beth Israel, La Jolla
"I'm not Jewish," I said to a man near the basket of skullcaps just outside the sanctuary. "Should I wear one anyway?" "Either way. Don't worry about it," he shrugged, a little amused by my …
December 21, 2006
A Grape's Progress
"You could do a liberal arts degree with wine as the organizing principle."
Choir launches into funksome gospel-pop tunes
"You look like you're shopped out," said Worship Arts pastor Brad Hansen. "Have you been hitting those malls like I have? Putting up those house lights? It's a good thing to be in the house …
December 14, 2006
Up Front and Visible
"I believe in putting everything on the floor... Stack it high and watch it fly."
December 14, 2006
Hillcrest church engages the senses
From the first, Saint Spyridon seemed to me a blend of traditions. The sky-blue ceiling showed an enormous Christ bursting through the clouds, rendered in a quasi-iconic style, his huge eyes gazing down on the …
December 7, 2006
Wine from the Neighborhood
'He started posting black-and-white photos of loyal customers on the inside walls.'
La Mesa Church of Christ, La Mesa
Denomination: Church of Christ Address: 5150 Jackson Drive, La Mesa, 619-465-5157 Founded locally: 1941; in current location since 1962 Senior pastor: Jim Hinton Congregation size: 150--175 Staff size: 3 Sunday school enrollment: about 80 Annual …
November 30, 2006
Wine and the Novel
I think there's this kind of Puritan streak in wine writing.
Ohr Shalom Synagogue
"You should have been here last night," said Rabbi Scott Meltzer to me before the service. Last night, the Shabbat Kehilati Service & Dinner had started at 6:15 and lasted until 10 p.m. Still, the …
November 22, 2006
Deconstructing Spain
'I smell red fruit - red plums, red cherries, a little cranberry.'
First Church of Christ, Scientist
"In atmosphere of love divine/ We live and move and breathe/ Though mortal eyes may see it not/ 'Tis sense that would deceive./ The mortal sense we must destroy/ If we would bring to light/ …
November 16, 2006
Exams for Sommeliers
'If you're not here, if you're not following the format, you're sort of holding everybody up.'
November 16, 2006
All Saints Episcopal Church, Hillcrest
It wasn't so much the 22 candles being lit for the High Mass celebrating All Saints' Day at All Saints' Episcopal Church; it was the guys lighting them: two strapping young Polynesians in floor-length black …
November 9, 2006
Calvary San Diego, Chula Vista
From the second song on, the band at Calvary San Diego -- drums and guitars and pop synthesizers -- had the congregation's pulse. (They had the congregation's look as well: a mix of young and …
November 2, 2006
St. Peter Chaldean Catholic Cathedral
At the Mass's opening, Father Felix Shabi's voice sounded from behind the red curtain concealing the Sanctuary. "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..." The curtain hung …
October 26, 2006
Mira Mesa Bible Baptist Church, Scripps Ranch
"Each one win one" and "Go ye therefore..." read the raised foam letters on the back wall of Mira Mesa Bible Baptist Church. Below these exhortations hung rows of framed, typewritten missives from Baptist missionaries, …
October 19, 2006
Boosting Baja's Image
'I'm overjoyed whenever I see references to Mexican wine in the literature.'
The Rock Church
Polished pop filled the vast, low, pale-gray box that housed The Rock Church. On stage behind the band stood mock highway signs, highlighting the book of Numbers as a road trip: a caution triangle warning …
October 12, 2006
The Professor Gets an Education
'Premium wine grapes don't thrive where ice plants and salty sea foam happily commingle.'
Lighthouse Bible Church
Pastor John Kim was finishing up the hour of Sunday school that preceded the service: "Why do people turn to drugs and other things? They need something to help them deal with the realities of …
October 5, 2006
Buyer First, Salesman Second
'I'm representing wineries that make only 200 cases for the world, [maybe] 50 for Southern California.'
October 5, 2006
Saint Gregory the Great Catholic Church
Saint Gregory the Great might be an Arts & Crafts arboretum, with its huge slatted dome of a ceiling, its preponderance of windows framed by great beams of wood, its gray-green tile floor, its trickling …
September 28, 2006
LifePoint Christian Community
"NEXT Church," read the painted sign running along one wall of the converted industrial space: poured concrete floors, concrete-block walls painted in muted red and yellow, a canopied stage in one corner, and a '60s-era …
September 21, 2006
A Tour of Baja Vines
Meet me at Mustafa's. I'll jump in your car and show you the valley.
The New San Pasqual
'It's daunting if you're a young businessman. You take everything so personally.'
September 14, 2006
First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego
"We are an inclusive community that encourages free thinking and compassionate living," said church board member Susan Weaver. "We have gathered here to consider the most significant issues in life and to make manifest in …
September 14, 2006
Success Is in the Tinkering
'People just went ballistic over that combination.'
Baptist General Conference
In the teen section of Scripps Mesa Bible Church's library/snack room, Douglas Coupland's novel Generation X gets face-out treatment. Someone has taken a highlighter to certain passages. One such: "I wonder that all things seem …
September 7, 2006
Mount Moriah Christian Church
"We're going to make some noise today!" proclaimed one of the choristers from the stage of the auditorium. "Oh, bless the Lord with the fruit of your lips! We serve an awesome God!" The drums …
August 31, 2006