If there is one thing that has characterized the presence of City View Church since it joined the San Diego scene in 1922, it is influence. Jesus said His followers were to be the light of the world. You don’t put a flame under a basket. You don’t hide its light from those who need it most. You let it shine.

Which exactly what this community of faith has been doing since the day it was conceived. While our name has changed over the years, there has been one continuous, Spirit-filled church family serving San Diego, always with the singular theme of being the hands, heart and hope of Jesus Christ to the world in which He has planted us.

When the charismatic evangelist Aimee Sembple MacPherson brought her dramatic gospel style to San Diego, it produced unexpected results. Then then known in the press as Sister Aimee, her crusade drew 30,000 people to the city’s largest venue at the time, Balboa Park’s outdoor Organ Pavilion. Two local residents were so moved by the meetings that they established a church where gifts of the Holy Spirit such as miracles and healing could be experienced by all. That church community has been known by many names, including Gospel Tabernacle and San Diego First Assembly. It is now known as City View Church.

Over the years, that vision of a power-infused gospel would be expressed in a language the people could understand – the language of God who listens and is compassionate to human need.

• 1920s – Reeling from the aftershocks of the Great War, many sought relief from new levels of spiritual and physical healing provided in a Spirit-infused faith environment.

• 1930s – The Great Depression stoked a desire to lean more fully on the provision of God for all life’s needs, rather than trust in the human institutions of commerce and government.

• 1940s – During WWII San Diego became a military hub and training center for Navy recruits signing up to serve on the Pacific fronts. The very real awareness of human mortality created a void that only faith could fill.

• 1950s – Even during a time of relative peace and prosperity, the church was a necessary source of sound Bible teaching and Spirit-filled equipping to counterbalance the often superficial nature of earthly securities.

• 1960s – During the Jesus Movement, a new generation of believers with non-conformist expectations challenged the status quo, but ultimately found a place of acceptance in the change-ready church.

• 1970s-on – Restricted by the limitations of its downtown complex, the congregation relocated to a lot overlooking Mission Valley. There they built a 1,200 seat auditorium, children’s and youth buildings, and a 56-unit retirement center.

Since the beginning of the 21 st century, City View has continued to remain responsive to the needs of each new generation. City View now has services in English, Spanish, Swahili and two Ethiopian languages. We also reach out to neighbors in the nearby Lincoln housing for military families, as well as incoming residents in the Civita community and throughout Mission Valley. And always forefront in the formula is the never-changing need of human souls to discover a new, purposeful and restored connection to the One who created them.

Moving the legacy forward, Pastor Troy Singleterry fixes his sights on the horizons of our city, ready to respond to each shift and emerging need with unflinching enthusiasm. As the lead pastor since 2015, it has been his vision to serve a congregation comprising people both within and outside the walls of the church. Not content to rely on people coming to the church, it is Pastor Troy’s conviction that today the church must go into the world.

It’s our desire that each who visits will sense a culture that communicates these words: “Welcome. You’re home.”