![Skyline Wesleyan Church](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Skyline_Wesleyan_Church.JPG)
Skyline Church is an
evangelical Christian
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual exper ...
megachurch
A megachurch is a church with an unusually large membership that also offers a variety of educational and social activities, usually Protestant or Evangelical. The Hartford Institute for Religion Research defines a megachurch as any Protestant C ...
located in
La Mesa, California
La Mesa () is a city in San Diego County, located east of Downtown San Diego in Southern California. The population was 61,121 at the 2020 census, up from 57,065 at the 2010 census. Its civic motto is "the Jewel of the Hills."
History
La Me ...
, a suburb of
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
, affiliated with the
Wesleyan Church
The Wesleyan Church, also known as the Wesleyan Methodist Church and Wesleyan Holiness Church depending on the region, is a Methodist Christian denomination in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Namibia, Sierra Leone, L ...
denomination. The church currently averages 2,500 in attendance per week.
History
In 1954,
Orval Butcher
Orval Butcher (December 1, 1917 Valton, Wisconsin –October 5, 2010) was the founding pastor of Skyline Church located in Lemon Grove, California, a suburb of San Diego. He was senior pastor of the church for 27 years and grew the regular att ...
founded Skyline Wesleyan Church in
Lemon Grove, California
Lemon Grove is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. The population was 27,627 at the 2020 census, up from 25,320 at the 2010 census.
History
The area that eventually became Lemon Grove was part of Mission San Diego de Alcal ...
and served as senior pastor for 27 years. In 1974, because the church had outgrown its original 350-seat sanctuary, a 1,000-seat auditorium was completed. Weekly attendance had grown to about 1,100 when he retired in 1981.
In 1981,
John C. Maxwell
John Calvin Maxwell (born February 20, 1947) is an American author, speaker, and pastor who has written many books, primarily focusing on leadership. Titles include ''The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership'' and ''The 21 Indispensable Qualities of ...
succeeded Butcher as the church's second senior pastor. Under Maxwell's leadership, Skyline nearly tripled its average attendance, from 1,100 to 3,000. In 1995, Maxwell stepped down to focus on his international ministry, ''Injoy'', which provides leadership tools and materials to pastors and lay leaders. Maxwell went on to success as an author and "leadership guru."
Jim Garlow
Jim Garlow is the former Senior Pastor of Skyline Church located in La Mesa, California, a suburb of San Diego. Garlow is often cited as an evangelical leader in the political arena, quoted on issues such as the 2012 Republican presidential prima ...
became Skyline's third pastor in 1995. Garlow is often cited as an evangelical leader in the political arena, quoted on issues such as the
2012 Republican presidential primary. In 2008, Garlow and the church were noted for their leading role in organizing conservative religious groups to support
California Proposition 8
Proposition 8, known informally as Prop 8, was a California ballot proposition and a state constitutional amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage; it passed in the November 2008 California state elections and was later overturned in court ...
, which banned
same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...
in California prior to the
U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
's holding in ''
Obergfell v. Hodges'' . He is a leader in the "
pulpit freedom" movement, which insists that pastors should be free to carry out political advocacy from the pulpit, which currently is in defiance of federal law and
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...
regulations for "
double tax-exempt organizations", that is organizations such as churches which not only operate tax-free but which also receive contributions which are deductible from the donor's federal income tax.
In 2000, the church moved to a new facility in La Mesa. (Although the church's address is in La Mesa, it is often described as being in adjacent
Rancho San Diego, California
Rancho San Diego is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Diego County, California. The population was 21,208 at the 2010 census, up from 20,155 at the 2000 census. The area was developed as subdivisions beginning in the 1970s.
Geography
Rancho ...
). The move was plagued by difficulties, resulting in nearly $27 million being spent preparing the site infrastructure for a building that should have cost only $6 million. Up until 2012, Skyline had one three-story building, called the "Family Center," which was Phase I of the church's master plan. Four weekend services were held in a 1,000-seat auditorium in the Family Center. Ground was broken in November 2010 for a worship center to include a 2,500-seat auditorium, a multipurpose room/gymnasium, a 200-seat traditional chapel, and a café. The new 60,000 square foot sanctuary opened in March 2012.
In November 2018, Jeremy McGarity became the Senior Pastor of Skyline Church. Pastor Jeremy merged his church, Seven, with Skyline Church. This was the first satellite campus Skyline Church has launched and would be marked as the start of many campuses!
In Dr. Jeremy McGarity's third year of being Senior Pastor, he was called to launch our 10/10/10 campaign
in October 2021. We want to see 10 churches reaching 10,000 people within 10 years. Jeremy McGarity has a passion to reach lost people, meet them where they are, and bring them to Christ to light up the scoreboard in Heaven!
References and notes
External links
www.skylinechurch.org– Official web site
{{Megachurches
Churches in San Diego County, California
La Mesa, California
Methodist churches in California
Methodist megachurches in the United States
Megachurches in California
Christian organizations established in 1954
Christian denominations established in the 20th century