Stay on Mission: How Skyline Is Experiencing Growth Through Evangelism and Discipleship

SKYLINE CHURCH

La Mesa, California

Website: SkylineChurch.org

Denomination: Wesleyan

Founded: 1954

Fastest-Growing: 31

 

When Pastor Jeremy McGarity began leading a Bible study for his minor league baseball teammates, he had a Gideon’s Bible and zero training. Years later, as lead pastor of Skyline Church (Fastest-Growing, No. 31) with multiple advanced degrees in theology and ministry, McGarity continues to focus on explaining evangelism and the Bible in practical terms while his church experiences growth.. 

McGarity sat down with Outreach to discuss his experiences as a former professional baseball player turned pastor, how his church plant merged with Skyline Church, his heart for evangelism and discipleship, and how he has led a growing church while navigating deep personal loss. 

 

You were a professional baseball player when an injury changed everything. Was there a specific moment when you realized God was redirecting your life into ministry rather than simply closing a door?

It really was through baseball that I came to Christ. I was in my third year with the St. Louis Cardinals. There was a guy on our team who was a strong Christian, and he led me to the Lord over the course of that season. I didn’t grow up in the church or anything like that. As a matter of fact, I thought Christians were pretty soft. I’m hypercompetitive, and I didn’t think they were competitive at all. And so, when I found out this guy on the team was a Christian, I really gave him a hard time. And his reaction to me and his demeanor, they spoke to me. He didn’t fight back. 

I attacked his character, I called him names, and he just had a great testimony. Over the course of the season, it really had me asking him questions. Because if I had a good game as a pitcher, then I’m a good guy. If I had a bad game, I don’t want to talk to anybody. I went into isolation, a kind of depression. This guy, he was our third baseman, and he was the same guy whether he went 4-for-4 or 0-for-4. And I thought, Man, this is unbelievable. What is this guy’s deal? I asked him about it one time, because you could tell he had something that I didn’t have. He replied, “Jesus.” 

That started a journey with him to where he led me to the Lord. And it’s a funny story—that guy is the son of John MacArthur, Mark. That [connection] struck up a relationship over the years with John MacArthur as well. But [it’s] crazy that Mark was the one who led me to the Lord, and that led the journey of trying to figure out what being a Christian means.

Years later, I’m on a different team. And this guy starts a Bible study on the team, then he gets traded to the Florida Marlins the next day—not because of the Bible study, but because that’s just baseball. 

He goes, “You got to do [the Bible study].” 

And I’m like, “I can’t do it. I don’t know anything about the Bible.” 

“Doesn’t matter. You gotta do the Bible study.” 

What we did that season was, we had the little Gideon Bible that was in the hotel drawer. When we were on the road, I would pull it out, and I’d tell the guys, “All right, we’re going to do this Bible study. I don’t know what I’m talking about, so let’s start in the book of Matthew. 

“We’ll read part of it. I’ll pass [the Bible] to the next guy … We’ll pass it around. I have a yellow pad. If you guys have questions, I’ll write them down, and I’ll call somebody in the Yellow Pages … I’ll just ask whatever pastor I find in the Yellow Pages, whatever town we’re in.” 

And that’s what we did. That Bible study grew from seven guys to 18 out of the 21 guys on the team. All we were doing was passing around the Word. That told me the power of the Word of God. It’s just the Word of God. No one’s translating. Nobody’s a scholar here.

These guys had pretty deep questions, and I thought, How cool would it be if I knew some of this, and I could help these guys? So, in the offseason, I started going to Bible college. I didn’t even know there was a thing called Bible college. I just wanted to learn the Bible. 

I blew out my shoulder in my 10th season—I was with the Texas Rangers at that point. The doctor said, “Your career is over.” It was really shocking, but at the same time, a peace came over me. Baseball was everything to me. I know if I hadn’t accepted the Lord a few years before that, I would have been devastated, [turning into] an alcoholic like a lot of my buddies, and it would have been over. But God said something very clearly in my heart in that moment: I’ve got something for you. I’ve got a plan. I’ve got a purpose for you.

A week later, I started getting phone calls from churches. They had heard through contacts at Christian Heritage College that I wasn’t going to be playing baseball, so I ended up becoming a youth pastor. I still had a year of Bible college left. I ended up becoming a youth pastor, and I hadn’t even ever been in a youth group. It was trial by fire.