Who We Are

Our Vision is to create a Christ-centered movement of hope and healing.


Our Mission is to develop followers of Jesus who love God, love one another and love our neighbor.


Heart of Flood Church

Flood Church affirms the historic beliefs of the Christian Church. For a full affirmation of faith, visit the Converge website here. Converge is a global network of communities that Flood Church is a part of. 

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Flood has four primary environments that exist to create environments where people can be transformed by God to love Him, love one another, and love our neighbor.

  • Flood Worship Gatherings are opportunities each Sunday to gather as a larger church family to experience worship, Biblical teaching and spiritual practices.
  • Flood Groups are opportunities to gather and live out our mission of loving God, one another, and our neighbor as smaller communities throughout the week. Groups can range in size and demographic.
  • Flood Teams are opportunities to serve and meet specific needs at Flood, in the local community, and our world.
  • Flood Courses are short term enrichment opportunities to help individuals grow in and through specific areas of life.
Our values are Flood's fingerprints, what makes us unique. They are also in order of priority. Our values are both descriptive of our community and aspirational describing who we want to become.

Grace & Truth
  • These two values are intentionally named as one, acknowledging the invitation and challenge modeled by Jesus. (Mark 1:17, Matt. 28:18-20)
  • God’s truth permeates all aspects of life and is transformational, not just informational. (Hebrews 4:12, Acts 17:27-28)
  • The Bible is God’s authoritative Word and is relevant for today. (2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Timothy 3:16-17)
  • In response to the grace that God has given us, we extend grace to one another as we recognize that transformation is a process. (Colossians 3:13)
  • The church is a refuge for the world, not a refuge from the world. All are welcome because of God’s inclusive grace. (Matthew 22:1-14, 1 Peter 3:15-16)

Wholeness
  • Our aim is to reflect the character and priorities of Jesus Christ. This means our life choices are becoming congruent with our faith. (2 Corinthians 3:18; Romans 12:1-2)
  • We are on a journey of discovering our identity in Christ. The more we understand how God has uniquely designed us, the more we understand who God is. (Psalm 139:1-24)
  • Our spirituality is holistic and includes all areas of life: our bodies, minds, and souls. We pursue a contemplative spiritual life including prayer, Scripture reading, Sabbath, silence and other practices to help cultivate a relationship with the triune God. (Matthew 22:36-38, Philippians 4:1-23)
  • We affirm the essential link between our spiritual health and our emotional health. Emotional health and growth is critical to spiritual health and growth; one cannot exist without the other. (Mark 12:28-31; Romans 12:1-2)
  • Church community is essential to spiritual growth. Christ is fully represented when we are actively building each other up. (Ephesians 4:11-13, 1 Corinthians 12:12-31)

Justice
  • We affirm that all human beings are created equal in the image of God. (Gen. 1:26-28)
  • We desire to increasingly become a multi-ethnic community revealing the fullness of God’s family, committed to seeking peace and unity. (2 Corinthians 5:18-19, Ephesians 4:1-32, Revelation 7:9-12)
  • We are committed to pursuing equality through equity, the proportional representation of ethnic, generational, and economic diversity. We recognize the mandate from God to create a worship environment that creates equitable access and opportunities for all. (Galatians 3:28, James 2:1-26)
  • We recognize that being ambassadors of restoring God’s Kingdom on earth is integral to worship itself (Isaiah 1:10-17; Matthew 23:23; James 1:27).
  • We pursue wholeness in the body of Christ through character and gift-based leadership – regardless of age, ethnicity and gender. We value and uphold women and men in positions of authority and leadership. (Joel 2:28, Acts 2:17-18)
  • The sovereign love of the Spirit of God frees us to confess our complicity in structures of injustice and oppression and pursue reconciliation and justice in both word and deed. (Micah 6:6-8, Colossians 1:19-20)

Generosity
  • We serve others with our time, gifts, and financial resources as a response to God’s grace. In this, we resist the drift toward a consumer-based Christianity and seek to cultivate mutual investment and responsibility throughout our faith community. (Mark 12:41-44)
  • Flood seeks to empower people to serve the body of Christ through involvement within our local church. (Romans 12:12-27)
  • We want to bless the surrounding community and the countries of Mexico and Malawi, as well as our ministry partnerships with the resources God has entrusted us. (Genesis 12:2)
  • God calls us to a lifestyle of humility, where we look to give before we look to receive. (Philippians 2:3-4)
  • Practicing hospitality reflects God’s commitment to welcoming all people to Himself. We are committed to practicing hospitality by sharing our resources with strangers and friends alike, recognizing that what we do for the least of these, we do for Christ Himself. (Hebrews 13:1-3, 16; Luke 10:38; Matthew 25:34-40)

Mission
  • Mission is why the local church exists—bringing the transformational love and power of the Living God to all people. (Isaiah 61; John 14:12)
  • Together, we are all called and sent by Christ to share the timeless message of Jesus’ sacrificial love to those around us and to invite them into relationship with Him. (Matthew 28:19-20)
  • Motivated by compassion and justice, we are to care for and meet the needs of the underprivileged and oppressed, providing the hope found in Christ. (Luke 4:14-30; Luke 10:25-37)
  • Spiritual multiplication is the natural result of a church that is being transformed. We desire to see disciples making disciples throughout all environments within our community. (2 Timothy 2:2)

Creativity
  • We value engaging a post-Christian culture through unique approaches to contextualizing the Gospel–translating truth for today through arts, media and storytelling. (Acts 17:22-34, Matthew 13:44-51)
  • Structure submits to the Holy Spirit; we don’t want rigidity to trump God’s leading. (Acts 16:6-10, Acts 10:9-22)
  • We worship God with our creative gifts as a reflection of the ultimate Creator. (Genesis 1:26,31)
  • We value joy, humor and celebration in the midst of our daily lives. (John 10:10, Psalm 37:4)
A low-angle shot of a large, modern concrete sign for 'Flood Church'. The sign is set against a clear sky with a tree-lined hill in the background.

Flood's Story

When God is speaking to you, even the faintest whisper will command your attention.

Matt had long sensed God was on the move at College Avenue, and he felt that God wanted to use him in this new movement. In God’s way, He announced with a whisper just what Matt had been sensing. Matt was teaching on worship and at the conclusion of the service, he led the congregation in the Doxology a cappella (not exactly something that happened on a regular basis with Matt).

As the hymn concluded, Matt sensed a voice telling him, “I am going to use you to begin a new movement of worship.” 

It was a profoundly simple moment, yet it carried with it more potential than he could have ever anticipated. Matt made his way to the back of the church as the service concluded. Still reeling from the words he heard, Matt was surprised when a man he had never met approached him. The man whispered, “I feel God wants me to tell you that He is going to use you to begin a new movement of worship.” And that was all Matt needed. 

As he began sharing the vision to a few close friends, Matt’s passion became contagious. 

In 1999, College Avenue Baptist Church gave Matt the blessing to begin a new ministry. 

A middle-aged man in a blue patterned shirt stands on a stage with purple lighting, holding an open book and speaking into a headset microphone.

In 2000 the band Something Like Silas (currently Future of Forestry) joined the growing team of those who shared the vision for this new worship movement. The new ministry was capturing a new generation and the sparks began to fly… or maybe we should say the water began to flow… The name “Flood” was decided upon, inspired by the Old Testament verse Joel 2:28, “I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions” (NIV). The desire was that Flood would be a place where everyone who came through the doors would be flooded with the Spirit God promised to pour out on all his people. 

The result? Generations would experience the messages, dreams, and visions God had always intended. And ultimately, that a “fountain [would] flow out of the Lord’s house” (Joel 3:18, NIV) into all of San Diego, bringing with it a cleansing refreshment and the Living Water of God. 

On October 22, 2000, the doors opened to 300 first-time attendees. From its beginnings at College Avenue, Flood grew to multiple worship gatherings and numerous mid-week groups throughout the city. 

In 2005, Matt and his ever-growing staff sensed God was calling Flood to something even bigger. It was time for the Flood ministry to take a big step and become its own church. 

A diverse group of people standing in a modern church auditorium, looking attentively towards the front. A screen with text is visible overhead.

On January 1, 2005, Flood Church was established as an independent daughter church of College Avenue Baptist Church. And on June 4 of 2006, Flood opened its doors on the campus of Kearny High School. With this new location came a new mission: to be a reproducing church that makes a tangible impact in the surrounding community. Flood truly cherishes the partnership with the high school and local community. 

Since the beginning, Flood has also had a distinct call to serve abroad. The church has active ministries in Malawi, Uganda and Haiti. In 2008, a Flood Church was planted in the capital city of Lilongwe, Malawi. 

With an increased heart for local communities and a desire to reconnect more and more people to their Creator, Flood embarked upon a new venture to see new Sunday campuses established in strategic places around the county. As one church, with multiple campuses, Flood hopes to take the life changing message of the gospel to more and more spaces and places in the city. 

Since its start in 2000, Flood has desired to create environments where lives are transformed by the Living God. Providing multiple arenas to experience community, Flood is a place where people hear the call of God on their lives through worship, culture, teaching, and relationships. Only God knows the height, depth, and breadth of what God has in store in the years to come! 

So that’s our story… now what’s yours? If you’re reading this right now, God is already speaking to you about experiencing Flood for yourself. Let even His faintest whisper command your attention!