Saddleback Worship Spotlight: Andy from San Diego

Where are you from and what’s your family like?

My family is great! I love them to death. I have an older brother who is a CSI officer for the Santa Barbara PD, and both my father and my mother are retired and enjoying life.

Coke or Pepsi?

It is clear to me that all people who have been grafted into the commonwealth of Israel as God's children know Coke is vastly superior to Pepsi.

What is your favorite book?

The Chronicles of Narnia! I still read it to this day.

Where would you go on vacation if you could leave today?

The Maldives – beautiful sunsets, ocean, scenery. God's art is by far the best.

Describe your journey to Saddleback.

At the beginning of 2016, the Lord told me it would be a year of faith; I knew I would be tested.  For eight months I felt God telling me to leave the church I was serving at and step out into the open road, not knowing where it may lead. The natural next question was, "Can you tell me where we're going?" With no clear answer to the question, the only thing I could do was pray. Without a single contact, job offer, potential position, or anything in sight, I left. I knew that it would be disobedient to stay. Soon after, I saw that Saddleback was looking for worship pastors. Saddleback is the church that I was baptized at, the church where I found my faith again about seven years ago, and the church that has always had a dear place in my heart. I loved the culture and the church, but it wasn’t until Pastor Rick announced the opening of Saddleback San Diego that I knew for certain this was the place for me. Through patient waiting, prayer, faith, and a surrendered life before God who is worthy of it all, my waiting period had ended.

What is your job title?

I am the worship pastor at Saddleback San Diego.

What does your day-to-day work look like?

As every pastor knows, my day-to-day work changes daily. Days are filled with various meetings, fellowships, trainings, rehearsing, vocal exercises, music directing, practicing, conferences, phone calls to discuss individual needs with the team, emails, lots of prayer, Ableton files, auditioning, spending time with church family… the list goes on. I have an awesome tech director who is such a huge help to me. I can’t leave him out! We speak with each other four times a week, and I connect with my lead pastor 2-3 times a week. Since the San Diego campus is new, I’m also connecting with various schools in the area to find more people who have a heart to serve and use their talents for an eternal purpose. Most importantly, I would not be able to do any of these things without the team of volunteers and staff behind me. They are the true heroes and builders of this church!

What do you love most about what you do?

My favorite part of what I do is the assurance that I am at the center of God’s will. I like to remember that what I’m doing is for Him and that I’m going to see Him in all of this. If He told me to go elsewhere, I would pack my bags and go because my favorite part of what I do is I get to be with Jesus. I would never opt to be here if the Lord did not want me here.

What is God teaching you through this role?

A lot! He’s been teaching me patience with my team. He’s been teaching me to continually encourage. He’s been teaching me to love, to love, and… to love. If love is greater than faith and hope (1 Cor. 13:13), I imagine it will be the most difficult thing to learn. Love is a constant learning process in order to truly love like Christ loves.