Plenty of cities in California are considered highly desirable places to live. Hemet, a midsize city a few hours inland from Los Angeles, isn’t exactly one of them. That’s according to John Scott, senior pastor of Community Christian Church in Hemet.
“A lot of people do want to come here because they can afford a house, but a lot of people want out,” Scott says. “It feels a lot like a military town. People get here, they get their house and get established, and as soon as they get a chance, they’re gone. So we don’t have a booming population, and economically we’re not a strong community. We have a lot of empty storefronts. Thirty years ago, it was a sleepy little retirement town. That’s really changed. There’s way more crime and gang-related stuff in our valley now.”
These facts make it all the more remarkable that Community Christian has seen so much growth.
“It’s not because we’re this booming suburb with a bunch of new housing,” he says. “We just feel like God is doing something here that’s beyond us, and we don’t want to mess it up. I’ve asked people who were new to the church if they’re new to Hemet, but they’re not. They just never found a church before they found ours.”
Grace Blair is one of the newcomers. Although she’s a Hemet native, she only started attending Community Christian in 2021. Her mom had died unexpectedly at the end of 2019, and then when the pandemic hit, she wanted answers to some big questions.
“I was lost for quite a while trying to figure it all out,” she says. “Community Christian is right around the corner from my house, and I have had so many friends go here. Church was never a big part of my growing up, but after those big life-changing events, I was getting curious. The church is such a welcoming place. There’s no judgment. It’s so easy to go, and you just feel at home. I started attending with a few of my friends, but now my girlfriends and I take up two whole rows.”
Blair echoes Scott’s sentiment that God is moving in Hemet. “Just within the last three years of me going, I’m sensing something changing in the valley. Something is pushing people to church, which is amazing.”
Part of that, Scott says, is fruit from the church’s efforts to keep connected with its people during COVID-19. A team of people called every member a few times during the pandemic, and he created a daily devotional called “Sixty Seconds with PJ,” which he continues to this day. The church also regularly hears that people begin attending after first watching online for several weeks or months, so their web presence has been critical.
The church has been intentionally reaching people with their invite culture. They began focusing on their “top five,” encouraging members to identify at least five people in their lives who need a relationship with Jesus, and to regularly pray for, serve, love and invite them to church.
“I think we’ve done a really good job of reaching the people who are in our community now,” Scott observes. “As people leave the church and new people come and take their seats, they reflect more of the diversity and differences in our community. I think that’s really good. We’re not trying to reach the same old church people; we’re trying to reach people who don’t know Christ. We’re on a record pace for baptisms in one year, so we know we’re getting a lot of people who are new to faith. That’s what’s important.”
And when people visit Community and decide to stay, Scott says, it’s because of the worship, the teaching, the children’s ministry and, most importantly, the feeling of belonging.
“I think it’s just the personality of the church to welcome and love people,” he adds. “It really is.”
COMMUNITY CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Hemet, California
Lead Pastor: John Scott
Website: Community.cc
Founded: 1981
Fastest-Growing: 40
A 2024 OUTREACH 100 CHURCH