welcome to christian city church's blog. we're stoked you're here! 'in other words' is the eventful mixture of stories, videos and photographs of whats happening in and around church. stay posted every week for new stuff! you can also follow us on twitter for even more ccc fun!

a few weeks ago, ps. jurgen and andrew bennett (our worship leader) were able to take our very own dr. phil pringle up to snow summit for a few days of fun on the slopes. we were able to grab a few minutes with him and chat about the purpose and heart of volunteering and the importance it is to our church. enjoy!

in the past few months we've added some pretty rad interns into the ccc world of fun!!!! our newest batch of "cool" is laurel copenbarger and ross snyder. laurel is bringing her friendliness and love for people to our connect ministries while ross ups the awesome factor for our worship + creative arts and volunteer teams. we're extremely excited to have them as part of our team and we know that the sky's the limit for these world-changers!!!

would you rather spend the rest of your life in an insanely cold climate or insanely hot climate?

LAUREL: definitely in an insanely cold climate. that way i could go outside and and play in the snow all bundled up and then go inside and drink hot chocolate and read a book by the fire. ah..... that sounds wonderful right now.

ROSS: insanely cold, sounds perfect for someone whos as hot blooded as me!


tell us something that most people wouldn't know about you...

LAUREL: most people would not know that i write poetry, and quite a bit of it! i won some awards (money ~ yay!) for poetry i entered into the king author literary magazine at my high school.

ROSS: i write poetry.


what is your favorite Christmas tradition?

LAUREL: i absolutely love Christmas morning with my family! we sleep in, and I cook breakfast, usually home-made waffles and hot chocolate. then we all make our way to the Christmas tree (still in our pajamas of course) and open presents in order of age, oldest to youngest, one at a time so that we can see what everyone got. (i LOVE my family!)

ROSS: being with the fam, and looking at all the blessings God has provided.


if chipotle had to battle taco bell and del taco in the octagon at the same time, who would emerge victorious?

LAUREL: well, I'd say that chipotle has the dance moves going on! sorry taco bell and el taco, i feel you dudes. i mean, i'm not trying to get all up in your grill, raise your roof or whatever, but you're just not as groovy. (cool lingo compliments of shrek) I'm a litlte biased...chipotle gives me free coupons in the mail...yum!

ROSS: chipotle! nothing in taco bell or del taco's arsenal could handle there 3lb burritos Would be like "fighting a tank with a bb gun!"


what do you do for a living? if you could/had to do something else, what would you do?

LAUREL: i build the church!! That is definitely all that I ever want to do.

ROSS: going to school to be a teacher, If i could/had to do something else id be a pelican.


what are your favorite top three movies of all time?

LAUREL:

1. the matrix
2. iron man
3. the chronicles of narnia

ROSS:

1. iron man
2 . top gun
3. any sean connery james bond movie


what is your favorite thing about interning at CCC?

LAUREL: i love being the church and seeing it grow from the insider's point of view. the best part is spending time with the C3 pastors and leaders and learning from them, they are the most incredible people on the face of the planet!!

ROSS: I would have to say the constant growth that takes place, in our relationships, our selfs, in our abilities, in God's abilities, in faith, in love and as a family.


snowboarding or skiing? surfing or bodyboarding? skateboarding or rollerblading?

LAUREL: i am a skier by nature (i've never snowboarded as of yet...anyone want to take me???) surfing of course...we are in san diego here! rollerblading by far! If I skateboard, I just fall right off...although it's only a couple inches off of the ground, it seems WAY too high for me to be standing on an "uncontrollable" moveable object!

ROSS: snowboarding for sure (sorry skiers, keep your TIPS up :) ), bodyboarding its takes you to such more personal level with the wave, rollerblading because you're not bound to something, so much more open to roam free!

in the past few months we've added some pretty rad interns into the ccc world of fun!!! we'll be profiling them here on the blog and first up are the fantabulous stefanie holmes and katie hairfield! stefanie is bringing her creative flare to the marketing + events team and katie is bringing the happy with the kidz church team...we're so excited to have them as part of the team!!!

would you rather spend the rest of your life in an insanely cold climate or insanely hot climate?

STEFANIE: depends on where the location of this insaneness (is that a word?) takes place, europe, beaches, I may stroll there to frolic on the sand, but to be honest at the end of the day I'd probably go with insanely cold if it involves snowboarding!

KATIE: i see that neither isn't an option. i guess either one would be fine, since i equally dislike them.


tell us something that most people wouldn't know about you...

STEFANIE: i IMPULSIVELY bought a moped 2yrs ago hoping it would inspire me to save for a harley davidson. sadly it didn't, rode it twice then it broke down. It's been sitting in my garage unfixed and I still don't have a harley davidson.

KATIE: i have 3 tattoos and 1 of them is the Jesus fish, with my baptism date inside, in the colors of CCC san diego's current logo. i also have a massive love for broccoli.


what is your favorite Christmas tradition?

STEFANIE: being I live in a different state then my family I get to pick and choose how i want to spend Christmas. It's been tough, but it's grown to be my favorite, and that is going to mammoth for the past 5 years on Christmas to shred snow on my snowboard!

KATIE: when i lived in texas, we had this massive house that I would decorate with lights inside and out. my grandpa gave me a budget and I would design the layout for it every year.


if chipotle had to battle taco bell and del taco in the octagon at the same time, who would emerge victorious?

STEFANIE: chipotle would utterly dominate. period.

KATIE: i'd root for chipotle but taco bell would probably take down both. they just got that processed edge.


what do you do for a living? if you could/had to do something else, what would you do?

STEFANIE: i'm a waitress at a restaurant on the beach. there's never a dull moment in my "if I could/would/do" vocabulary. i've given up on wanting to be super women & a pro snowboarder. so at this point of my life I would love to be molded by God, taught by the amazing leaders at C3 san diego, and then be released into the communities locally and internationally to bring hope, love, and teachings of Jesus to people.

KATIE: i work for starbucks and a children's dance studio. it's not meant to be a career just a stepping stone.


what are your favorite top three movies of all time?

STEFANIE: To be honest I can't remember what I did yesterday let alone remember what my favorite movies are...hmmmm...

1. Avatar
2. Good Fellas
3. Role Models

KATIE: i don't really like to watch movies. i do, however, prefer to watch Hitch or Beauty and the Beast, if given the choice.


what is your favorite thing about interning at CCC?

STEFANIE:
1. hands down, homework
2. building relationships with and learning from the remarkable staff and pastors of C3 san diego
3. getting to learn the operations of what goes into building a church, and being part of pastor jurgen and pastor leanne's vision!

KATIE: the challenges. i'm always up for a good challenge.


snowboarding or skiing? surfing or bodyboarding? skateboarding or rollerblading?

STEFANIE: ha, skiing?, when pigs fly, SNOWBOARDING.. Surfing if it involves a kite, let the kite do most of the work, skateboarding if I don't break my arm again.

KATIE: snowboarding. surfing. skateboarding.

this christmas, as a church, we wanted to do something really special to help people internationally as well as those in our own city of san diego. we decided to throw a huge party for the orphanage we sponsor in ecuador...we raised $1730 and bought food, decorations and presents for every kid. paola, who runs the orphanage, said, "the kids couldn't believe it when they saw the food, and they were so excited to see the tree with sooo many presents! all the kids dressed up, most of them had never eaten turkey or those kinds of desserts, they were extremely happy! from me and the kids, thank you christian city church, we had an incredible christmas!"

we also wanted to do something to help those in our own city. there is a crisis center in downtown san diego that was in need of clothing, blankets, toiletries, etc. to fill their supply room. over three weeks the church donated two carloads PACKED full of things they needed. the people running the crisis house said they had never received brand new towels, clothes and blankets and were extremely overwhelmed and grateful.

thanks so much for getting involved! it was amazing to see people changed and impacted by our church's generosity and love!

from the merry and slighty crazy kids over at DETONATE youth!

being a church and all, when it's our main man Jesus's birthday, we go all out!!! a couple weeks ago we put on our fourth annual chrissie bash to celebrate Christmas in true aussie fashion! the music was off the hook, the kids production was adorable, and the snacks and goodies were scrumptious :) a very special thanks to the dozens of volunteers who put in hundreds of hours to make the night so special for our church!

thomas rocked out a performance of "the little drummer boy" with an amazing drum solo by taylor, josiah, and jessie!

the Christmas production this year brought everything to a whole new level! the message, the acting, the props, the sets, the costume, the cute kids...it was all stepped up to a new level of awesome!

matt stack...working hard for his oscar nod :)

charlize, the little bumblebee who stole the whole show :) :) :)

santa even stopped by for pictures and brought along a huge sack filled with presents for all the kids!

our carolers team...working it out.

back in november we had this crazy idea to have an a+ volunteer dinner....on a boat....in the san diego harbor! everyone came dressed to the nines and ready to party! this whole night was all about honoring all the superb volunteers who serve every single sunday. church really wouldn't be "church" without the almost 300 volunteers that make everything happen week in and week out and this was our way of saying "thank you"!!

special thanks to our event photographer john mediana!

back in october, detonate threw a little thing called a HALLOWEEN PARTY!!! no harvest fests or trunk-or-treat for us, this was an all out halloween bash-o-rama. the theme was michael jackson's "thriller" and the place was packed with tons of kids dressed to impress! lots of candy, prizes, games, and even a surf simulator machine to test even the gnarliest of surfers.

the night was also made up of rippin' worship from the detonate worship team (including james grissom leading the charge in a full "thriller" red jumpsuit) and a fantastic message from david chiddick about God's power and the fact the we shouldn't be afraid or fearful of anything with God on our side. thanks to the detonate team and everyone that made the night possible!!!

james grissom rockin' the jumpsuit and the les paul

who loves candy?

a few weeks back we had a "journey day" with jim crumbley from c3 atlanta. our staff, team, and key leaders in our church all showed up at sunny mission bay park for a day that they will soon not forget! the mantra for this day was "one vision, one focus, one heart" and every single person played a key role in every activity and role-playing scenario. from moving a massive pile of cinder blocks to passing tires from person to person in a race pitting one team against the other, every exercise and activity instilled a stronger sense of leadership, team-building, and passion for God's house!

we were so thankful to have jim with us and we can't wait until he comes again for our next "journey day" in 2010! for all you men out there, jim will be with us for our emerge conference EMPOWER at pali mountian coming up in march. check out the online promo video for it, and stay tuned for more info and when to register!!!

the "amazing andeeno" getting his flex on and powering up for a massive day!

this little exercise was all about communication and strategy....or as some called it, "how-many-people-can-touch-john-day's-butt"

moving cinder blocks is HARD!!!

...making a cinder block bridge is even harder!!!

BOOM!!! mission accomplished

we ended the day a little soggier than usual, but everyone that came out had a blast and learned more about themselves, each other, and the vision of our church!!! OOOOHRAAAAHHH!!!