‘Because church should not suck’
Don’t look for a steeple when looking for San Diego Life Church. In fact, when you get to the corner of 13th and L streets, you won’t even find a sign for the new downtown congregation. They meet in an old warehouse that’s soon to be torn down to make way for a parking structure for the new Downtown Ballpark.
And if you arrive Sunday morning, there won’t be anyone there. This is a church for young people and their services are on Saturday night. When you arrive Saturday evening and make your way into the entrance, the first thing you notice is that it’s dark and it’s loud. It’s darker inside that outside and there’s a steady buzz of life.
Once your eyes get adjusted, you’ll find an atmosphere that’s a cross between a nightclub and a Boys and Girls Club. There are young people — the average age is 19 — and they’re in clusters. Some are relaxing on the sofas, just talking. Others play ping-pong or foosball. Someone’s playing a guitar in the corner and others are eating. In an adjacent room people are lifting weights and shooting hoops. It’s very casual.
This is church? Well, this is actually the downstairs area — known as “The AfterLife” — before church. People also hang out after the service, sometimes into the early morning. In the far corner there’s a staircase, with lights (dim, of course) leading to the sanctuary. When you enter, there are two things you notice. Just like downstairs, it’s dark. And there are large, white screens - 12 feet by 15 feet - on each side of the stage. Chairs are in clusters and there’s an open area in front of the stage where people will stand during the music.
Ah, the music. It’s not your typical church music. In fact, it’s not even Christian music. The band plays the latest music from Incubus, Staind, Linkin Park, Radio Head, Joan Osborne, Santana, Everlast, Bad Religion, etc. The band is loud and it rocks. They also play as a club band to reach out to other young people.
Multi-media graphics flash on the screens and during the preaching by Jeremiah Zimmerman, 21, whose style is an interactive message using graphics and props. For example, one week he pulled a large trunk onto the stage and said that it contained three of the deadliest weapons of man. First was a sword that he waved. Then he pulled out a (starter’s) gun that he fired into the air. He then prompted the young people to guess the third item. Finally, he revealed a large, bloody cow’s tongue, holding it out as he taught a message on gossip.
The entire service lasts less than an hour before everyone heads back to the downstairs area.
So, why is this church so different? One of San Diego Life Church’s popular flyers says it all: “Because Church Should Not SUCK.”
Jeremiah Zimmerman is the person doing the preaching, but the ministry is a total team effort led by his parents, John and Paula Zimmerman, who have previous missionary experience with the unchurched in Spain, Nepal, Thailand and Mexico. John also serves with Chuck Colson’s Prison Fellowship ministry.
The Zimmerman’s other son, Joshua, 17, is also in the band and is the ministry’s visual arts director.
“We like to do a lot of new, cutting edge things,” said Jeremiah. “After all, God is the author of creativity.
Some of the other visual sermons he’s delivered included placing iodine in a fish tank during the service the night before Easter, then putting a solution in the water to erase the red - representing Jesus taking away our sins. Another Saturday he had people placing weights on his shoulders until he was so heavy from the burden that he fell. Others on the ministry team supported him and removed the chains.
San Diego Life Church has been meeting since early March. It’s a plant from EastLake Community Church in Chula Vista and nearly 100 young people attend weekly.
“We use a missionary approach,” said Paula. “Just like we would use the language and heritage in an undeveloped country, we’re using the language and heritage of inner-city young people. It’s important to show respect to the generation in order to win their hearts. It’s all about friendship and relationship.
“This is a different generation. Young people are so visually oriented with TV, computer and movies - they really need the experience.”
The Zimmermans noted that there is a sense of expectation the young church members have about what’s going to happen next week.
“‘Wow, what’s next?” is what I hear,” said Jeremiah. “They’re excited about what we’re doing and they’re learning about the Lord at the same time. These visual, interactive images are something they’ll remember. It’s like the parables that Jesus used.”
The focus of the ministry is to the unchurched, but a lot of young Christians hear about the church and visit.
“You have to experience it,” said Paula. “We really want non-Christians, but we welcome believers to come for the experience - but we don’t need to ‘borrow’ Christians from other churches unless they’re really called to serve.”
John said that the theme of the church is E.P.I.C — Experiential, Participatory, Image driven (visual), and Connected.
“We’re excited about reaching this generation,” John said. “There hasn’t been many new concepts in church growth for some time. The Hybels-Warren prototype of a seeker sensitive church is 20 years old and this generation is so different. They’re really very spiritually minded, but it needs to be presented in a visual manner.”
Lives are being changed weekly as new people accept Christ into their lives.
The Zimmermans said they would like to further develop the property they’re in now with food carts and possibly interactive voting machines like on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,’ but their focus now is finding a new downtown location. They thought they would be able to use the current 15,000 square foot building for another year, but were recently told they had to be out by July 1. They’re continuing to reach out where they’re at — in fact there is a large concert outreach on June 21 — but securing a new facility in the downtown area is a priority.
The Zimmermans are also forming a new non-profit organization, San Diego Youth Development Services, to mentor at-risk kids in music, arts and computers.
San Diego Life Church is intended for high school and college age people. They offer no child care. Located at 1300 L St., the doors open Saturday at 6:30 p.m., with the service upstairs at 7:15. They also offer a Tuesday evening service for believers called Base Camp. It’s closer to “traditional church” with teaching and corporate worship. The worship band, Abandon, has played at about a dozen churches in last six months.
For more information call (619) 628-8333 or visit www.sandiegolifechurch.com.