Clairemont Emmanuel

We believe…

The Bible is the inspired, inerrant and authoritative Word of God for the Christian faith and living. (The Bible)

That there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (God the Father)

In the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, His sinless life, His miracles, His vicarious and atoning death, His bodily resurrection, His ascension to the right hand of the Father and His personal return in power and glory. (God the Son)

In the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling every Christian is able to live a godly life. (God the Holy Spirit)

That all people are lost sinners and must turn to Christ in saving faith and repentance, through regeneration by the Holy Spirit. (Salvation)

In the resurrection of both those who believe in Jesus and those who do not believe: those believing are promised eternal life in Heaven and those unbelieving are promised eternal separation from God. (Last Things)

Purpose Statement:

To give every individual an accurate picture of God, and to help those who believe become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ

Church Values

When one begins to study the Bible it doesn’t take long to determine what God values the most: he values himself above all else and then his “own image” creation, humans. Jesus Christ summed this truth up by leaving two integral commands for those that choose to follow him, the two great values of loving God with everything that we are and loving people as ourselves (Mark 12:29-31).

Love God: The love of God is to be summed up in our fear and awe of him (Eccl. 12:13) and our passion towards him (Matt. 10:37-38) through obedience (1 John 5:2).

Love People: The best way to sum up love towards people biblically, is to understand it as John did, “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). John also intricately connects this love of people to obedience of God’s commands (5:2). Therefore, it seems that love of others is rooted in the understanding of our love for God.

History

Our pastoral staff shares the passion that we all become dedicated Christ-followers, and in turn impact the community around us. Under their guidance and encouragement, our church strives to capitalize on the wonderful opportunity we have to reach out in love with the good news of Jesus Christ! We continue to discover how God wants to use Clairemont Emmanuel in local communities and around the world. We hope you will join us on this awesome journey.

Clairemont Emmanuel was formed in October 1971 through the merger of Emmanuel Baptist Church (located on Jewel St. in Pacific Beach) and Clairemont Baptist Church (on the Galveston St. site). There were 347 charter members, including many of our current members. The roots of Clairemont Emmanuel reach back to the 1940’s when Claude Cudabec, a postman and lay minister from College Avenue, began church planting efforts in the Women’s Club House in Mission Beach. “Old Emmanuel” remained a small fellowship until 1968, when it relocated to Pacific Beach and Rev. Raymond Hahn was called as pastor. From its beginnings, the church was affiliated with the Baptist General Conference.

In 1962 Pastor Von was appointed full-time minister of youth. under his leadership during the “Jesus Movement” the youth group grew to over 300 in attendance by the close of the sixties. As the Jewel St. facility was outgrown, God opened the opportunity to join with Clairemont Baptist and developed a united ministry. Pastor Von challenged ‘his kids’ to become disciples of Christ and servants of His Kingdom — and as the Lord blessed this vision. From 1977-1981, over thirty young people were commissioned as missionaries from Clairemont Emmanuel. This emphasis on member missionaries going into ministries all over the world remains a vital expression of God’s calling for our church today.

With Pastor Hahn’s retirement in 1984, associate Steve Walker became senior pastor. The beginnings of the Clairemont Emmanuel Schools and the Counseling Center ministries date from these transitional years, offering professional services to the community. Steve was young, enthusiastic and a fine expository teacher of the Scriptures through 1989 when he was invited to pastor a church in Oregon.

In 1991 Jim Smith was called as senior pastor. Posing the question “What would Jesus do — through us?’ led to work projects, ministry initiatives and the building of a strong pastoral staff. Jim stayed through the fall of 2002, and associate Kenny Dodd filled the interim — and was formally hired as senior pastor in December that same year. Kenny has headed our current pastoral staff since.