Introduction
Getting Started
Are you new to faith, new to Newbreak, new to Life Groups, or all of the above? Discovering Your Pathway (DYP) is designed to equip you in your journey as a Christ-follower, and help you find your place here at Newbreak. As you discover your pathway through our ten week course, you will interact with others who are on this journey with you, and you will understand our shared role in bringing God’s good news, hope, and grace to our local communities.
Icebreaker
- What’s your name and what do you do for a living?
- What brought you to Newbreak, and how long have you been here?
- What’s your favorite local restaurant?
Our Newbreak Story
Back in the 1970s, Pastor Mike Quinn (view all staff) began ministry with his wife Teresa at a small church in Ocean Beach, California. Located on the corner of Ebers and Cape May, it was a beautiful historic church originally built in the 1930s. Unbeknownst to the Quinns, that church would eventually become one of Newbreak Church’s campuses. But the journey to that point was decades in the making.
In 1986, Pastor Mike answered the call to become Lead Pastor of La Jolla Christian Fellowship -- a church of just 13 people in La Jolla. This church took a long time to grow numerically -- remaining under 200 people for 14 years. But it was during these years that the church grew formationally as God began to shape the heartbeat of what would become Newbreak Church. With a strong focus on outreach and Life Groups, this young church began to flourish as they cared for one another, celebrated each other, and served the community.
In 1994 the church relocated from La Jolla to Tierrasanta, launching a Saturday night service as Canyon View Christian Fellowship. The church immediately began serving its new community and attendees bonded together in small groups. The church grew exponentially and in 2005, Pastor Robert Wachs was hired to serve as Executive Pastor, supporting Pastor Mike in the ongoing growth and direction of this flourishing community.
As a church planter at heart, Pastor Mike held the vision of growing attendance to over 1200 people so as to then send out 200 people to launch new churches in other San Diego communities. In the mid-2000s, that dream became a reality with the planting of a Scripps Ranch campus. Then in 2009 came three new campuses and a new name, Newbreak Church. In 2020, the Covid pandemic opened the door for an online campus and in December of that year. At that time, Pastor Robert Wachs became Lead Pastor, Pastor Mike transitioned into his role as Network Pastor, and we hired Joann Johnson to be our Executive Pastor.
Pastor Joann was instrumental in creating a healthy staff culture as we navigated the tough Covid season. She brought our teams together like never before, cheered us on, and kept us laser focused on our mission of connecting people with God through authentic relationships to serve communities.
In November 2023, Pastor Robert resigned as our lead pastor to focus on caring for his family as they navigated the tragic loss of their youngest son. During the transition, we watched Pastor Joann continue to lead our church well through a difficult season. In April of 2024, Pastor Joann stepped into the role of Lead Pastor.
Today, Newbreak is filled with people from many different walks of life who have a passion for serving their communities and cultivating authentic relationships that draw them closer to Jesus and each other. We are excited for what God is continuing to do through all of us at Newbreak and we are so glad you are joining us in this journey. Welcome!
Newbreak’s Vision Framework
After completing His earthly ministry, Jesus commissioned all those who would follow after Him to make disciples and glorify God (Matthew 28:19-20). Our unique way of doing this at Newbreak is represented by our Vision Framework. The four sides of the frame represent our mission, strategy, values and measures. Together they frame our vision, which is a picture of where God is taking us as a church.
Our Measures
Our target and reflect when we are successful in accomplishing the mission. Newbreak’s twelve measures are organized under the three phrases of the mission statement as follows:
Life Group Covenant
We believe that being a part of a healthy spiritual community is one of the best ways to grow into devoted followers of Jesus Christ. In order to foster that kind of community, it’s a good idea to establish some common expectations, based on Scripture, and to put them into words.
We Agree to the Following:
What We Believe
“Watch your life and doctrine closely. Continue in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1 Timothy 4:16) These Core Beliefs are intended to be the basis of fellowship. There will always be peripheral doctrines upon which committed followers of Christ disagree, but the core beliefs are non negotiable.
In regard to our beliefs at Newbreak we say:
- In our ESSENTIAL beliefs, we have unity.
- In our NON-ESSENTIAL beliefs, we have diversity.
- In all our beliefs, we show CHARITY.
Newbreak is an independent community of believers connected to a network of other missionally-minded churches within the Assemblies of God.
Where We Are Going
Built around our mission statement of "connecting people with God through authentic relationships to serve communities," each lesson explores one or two topics intended to help us measure our growth and development as we seek to live life on mission. These measures will also help us to know when we are successful in accomplishing our mission at Newbreak.
Our curriculum is broken down into weekly large group lessons that are expounded upon in five daily devotionals to do at home. Please take time each day to connect with God by prayerfully considering the Scripture passages, teaching, and questions in each daily devotional. We’ll talk about some of the readings and the questions during the group each week. Be sure to write down any questions you may have for your Life Group leader.
One of our goals this semester is to serve together in the community. At Newbreak, we call this our SERVE Challenge. We’ll be discussing and praying about where to serve throughout the semester.