Lead Pastor

Steve came to San Diego from Carlsbad (NM, not CA) when he was 18 years old to attend Point Loma Nazarene University. He earned an undergraduate degree in Journalism and wrote for many of San Diego's local newspapers and magazines as a student -- and even won a city-wide college journalism contest with an article about homelessness.

Steve was able to start a very small public relations and web development shop, which freed his time to accept a position as the first Outreach Director for the Discovery Center in Ocean Beach, California (which was way more fun than PR work anyway!) During that time, Steve was able to attend Seminary and begin work on a Master's degree in Theology and Biblical Studies.

When Pastor Steve finished studies at Bethel Seminary in 2003, he and his wife Tammie joined with a group of dedicated friends to establish Spring Valley Community Church in south Spring Valley. They did so with the intention of establishing a community church -- one that is dedicated solely to bringing people from Spring Valley to a personal and transformational experience with Jesus Christ. Steve and Tammie have three school-age children and find great joy serving among their friends and family at SVCC.

All of our Pastors are bi-vocational -- that is, they work outside jobs to support their families, freeing up church resources for ministry.

• Pastor Steve is a freelance web developer and public relations consultant for companies throughout San Diego.
• Pastor Javier Rodriguez is the Dean of the Seminario Theologico de Baja California in Tecate, México.
• Pastor Alan is the Business Developer for ARC of San Diego.
• Pastor Mel works part-time at The Home Depot, and is also semi-retired.

While bi-vocational ministry has been common from the earliest days of the Christian church (even Paul the Apostle did a stint as a tent maker -- see Acts chapter 18), most people wonder how it works. How do the pastors balance work and ministry?

While there are no easy answers, we interviewed Pastor Steve Babbitt for some insight.

Associate Pastor - Hispanic Ministries

Pastor Javier Rodriguez D. was called to Spring Valley Community Church in early 2006 to establish much needed ministries to Spanish speaking families in Spring Valley and the immediate vicinity of SVCC. Javier rose the meet the challenege, and has worked steadily, building a congregation from the ground up. He has gone to great lengths to get to know the people of Spring Valley and to serve them with all his heart. 2008 was an exciting year of obedience and growth for the ministries Javier oversees, and the future holds new, exciting challenges for this burgeoning group.