1. Churches
  2. Nondenominational
  3. California
  4. San Diego, CA

Ethnos Community Church

A Spiritual Community for All Peoples San Diego, CA
Ethnos Community Church

Plan Your Visit

Address
3950 Berino Ct
PO Box 927154
San Diego, CA 92122-1601

Phone
(858) 342-8362

Website

Directions
Get directions on Google Maps

Who We Are

Temple. Church. Synagogue. Mosque.

These words bring up various images and memories for each of us. For some, visions of significant moments of love and transformation are brought up. For others, memories of a childhood ritual that has since been left behind. For others still, no memories exist to draw from.

Wherever you may be on the spiritual journey, we invite you to explore life, God, and friendship with us. We look forward to getting connected with you soon.

About Us

Vibe
Casual, Down to Earth, Spirit-filled, Friendly, Multigenerational, Neighborhood-focused

Programs
Faith and Work, Social Justice, Community Service, Addiction/Recovery, Children's Ministry, Nursery, Missions, Youth Group

Music
Contemporary

Denomination
Nondenominational

Size
Small

Founded
2003

Our Services

What are services like?
Gatherings at Ethnos are casual, participatory and intellectually engaging. We incorporate multiple forms of worship into our gatherings, including musical worship, group prayer, teaching, listening to God and fellowship.

What is the community like?
Ethnos is a greek word used in the Bible that refers to specific, geocultural lingual people groups. We are a multigenerational, multiethnic, multicultural and multilingual church. Although the church has a high concentration of people affiliated with UCSD and employed in the local biotech industry, you will find people from all socioeconomic and educational backgrounds here. At Ethnos, we believe that the best of "church" happens during the week. This means that we place a high emphasis on small community groups that are skeptic and seeker friendly and meet throughout the week.

What if I'm not a Christian?
The mission of Ethnos, in a nutshell, is "to help skeptics become world changers both here and abroad." In other words, we believe that skeptics and seekers are loved by God and have a lot to contribute to both our community and the church at large. We believe and have experienced that people from all faith backgrounds (including no faith background) will feel safe and welcome here. Curiosity is encouraged! In fact, there is always a time for dialog after the message, in which all are welcome to ask questions or share their thoughts with everyone.

Leadership

Yucan Chiu

Yucan Chiu

Yucan Chiu has been a part of the University City community for over 15 years. Growing up as a first generation Chinese American, Yucan was exposed to Jesus at Chinese immigrant churches early on but didn't come into a relationship with Jesus until the age of 14 after being stuck in a lot of anger and sexual addiction. Soon after meeting Jesus, Yucan felt a call to begin exploring "ministry" and got going with serving the communities around him. In 2003 that led him and a handful of others to start Ethnos. Yucan has degrees in Biology and Sociology from UCSD, a Masters in Divinity from Talbot School of Theology, and a Doctorate in Ministry from Bakke Graduate University. He's married to his college sweetheart Yen, and they have two wonderful daughters. In his spare time Yucan enjoys camping, basketball, photography, and travel. You can find some of his pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/yucan/.

What Members Say Add your voice

  • I went to Ethnos for the first time in October 2011 after doing a Yelp search for churches. I grew up attending a Catholic church but had stopped going to church for several years. I had been living in the area for years and had no idea there was a church that help Sunday services in Doyle Elementary School, right across the street from me! I was immediately struck by how friendly everyone was and how different the services were from other Christian churches I attended. Some of the first services I attended had guest speakers who were members of the congregation or were from other organizations, like Plant with Purpose. I also loved that Ethnos places so much emphasis on the importance of diversity and social justice, and they back it up with Scripture. After a few weeks, I joined a community group, which allowed me to dive deeper into the Bible and get to know others at Ethnos. I'd highly recommend Ethnos to someone looking for an accepting, loving, and safe environment where you can strengthen your relationship with God.
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