Which church service do you attend?

I’ve always attended the 10 o’clock service [in Escondido] until recently when I started going to the San Marcos service. My sister is in the praise band, so I thought I’d check it out. My mom, Mona, still worships at the Escondido campus, but my sister and I are at the San Marcos campus.

How did you start playing the Cajon (drum) at the San Marcos campus?

I don’t really have an answer to that. I think Pastor Joel asked if I wanted to a while back, and then months later I thought I’d try something new, so I was like, “Sure, I’ll do it. I just hit a box? Okay, how hard can it be?”

How long have you been attending Community?

My family has been going to Community for 12 or 13 years (since I was five years old). Before we started going to Community, I remember going to another church in the area, and the cry room had cobwebs in it, the door creaked, and everyone was looking at me because I was the only child in the service. We were told about Community by a neighbor and thought we’d check it out.

Where do you go to school?

I am a college freshman at Mira Costa in Oceanside. I’m currently studying accounting, but I’m two weeks in so far, so I really don’t know what my path will be. I’m looking at studying entertainment law so it doesn’t really matter what my undergrad is. It’s kind of fusing music with a career because performance majors are usually not good money making careers. I’m looking at transferring to UCLA after two years, but I’m very open and my path is not set yet.

What are your hobbies?

School takes up a pretty big chuck of my time, but I really enjoy singing. I got into a vocal jazz group at my college, so I am really excited for that. I also really enjoy driving, which is good since the drive from Valley Center to Mira Costa is a big commute. With a full tank of gas I like to just get lost where ever I am, either intentionally or unintentionally. More recently I’ve been working on a 1994 Acura Integra that I bought from my neighbor for $500. It runs, but it has a lot of things to be fixed. It is a good project for me to learn how to fix future cars. I’m not a car guy, but I am trying to become more of a car guy. I’m kind of the typical nerd that prefers to work on computers.

Are you involved in any ministries at church?

I went to Sunday school and all that jazz for many years. I was part of the youth group until I very recently got too old for that, so I am looking into getting plugged into the young adult ministry. I am in the praise band at the San Marcos campus. For a while I was working behind the scenes of the service, clicking a space bar, for the projection screens in Escondido.

You recently spoke at church about the Youth mission trips you attended. What would you say was the biggest thing you took away from those trips?

God is everywhere. As Christians, we all worship the same God, but in many different languages in many different ways. There are a lot of differences in culture, but in the end we are able to communicate with each other because we share the same faith. And seeing how good we have it here in the United States has been really influential to me. We have so many privileges that so many others do not have. I was so happy to have clean drinking water when we came back to the US.

WHAT IS THE COMMUNITY TREE PROJECT? 

Community Lutheran Church is a growing congregation worshiping 550 people between two campuses each week. As we continue grow, it is important that our relationships with one another continue to grow as well.  Over the coming months, our church website and Facebook page will be introducing you to a member of Community that you may or may not know yet. You’ll have the opportunity to learn a little about each member and delight in the different personalities and lifestyles that come together each week to worship our Savior.

When you join us for worship on Sunday mornings or events throughout the week, we encourage you to reach out and connect with someone you don’t normally talk to. As Pastor Vogelsang so eloquently reminds us, we are all “dear Christian friends.” We just don’t know each other yet! I’d like to change that one photo at a time.

"So that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it." - 1 Corinthians 12:25-27