Community Corner

SVECC Profile: Spring Valley Community Church

The church is one of several tenants of the Spring Valley-East Communities Center, formerly Spring Valley Elementary.

In 2009, when the made the tough decision to close down Spring Valley Elementary School due to declining enrollment, much thought was given to what to do with the facility. 

Thanks to some ambitious social groups in Spring Valley, along with San Diego Youth Services, the decision was made to lease the buildings out and form a community center that would be the heartbeat of improving the quality of life for those in Spring Valley and other areas of East County. Then and there the was born.

Now, with the facility at close to 99 percent occupancy, Mount Helix Patch will profile each of the organizations at the SVECC in a multi-part series.

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We'll kick it off with Spring Valley Community Church. Its pastor, Steve Babbitt, answered questions from Mount Helix Patch via email.

When was your church founded?

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Spring Valley Community Church was founded in August 2003, backed by both and the Baptist General Conference as an effort to develop a faith-based community dedicated solely to serving the people of Spring Valley.  We are a fully-registered 501(c)3 corporation and have been independent since 2005.  

What is the mission of your church?

SVCC is out to transform Spring Valley from a community that is too often overwhelmed by fear, poverty and oppression into a community marked by peace, hope and freedom. As a faith-based organization, we do that through first addressing deeply-personal, spiritual needs. Then, as a social justice agency, we do that by addressing tangible, physical needs. The old motto, “Heart to God, Hand to Man” sums SVCC up pretty well.  

What are the specific services provided to Spring Valley?

As a faith-based organization, we see very clearly that community transformation begins with personal transformation. From our vantage point, there is no program that can truly change a community that does not first address the foundational issues of personal responsibility and personal hope. Therefore, a good portion of our energy is spent in mentorship programs for youth and children, as well as classes for adults, and, of course, inspirational Sunday services that aim to strengthen and encourage the inner-soul.  That’s pretty typical church fare – but there’s a twist with SVCC.   What we hope makes us a bit different from a typical church is our commitment to social justice. Once we have encouraged someone to find personal peace, hope and freedom, we encourage them to share that peace, hope and freedom with the community around them by serving others. Sort of a domino effect ...

So, for example, one of the ladies in our church, a retiree, organized a food bank for families and individuals in need. At the height of the recession in 2008-09, she organized others to provide essential food more than 14,000 people in just one year. We still provide emergency food and supplies for families in need, no questions asked. That program is growing. We have other adults, a group of them that are concerned with the explosive situation in Tijuana. So they encouraged us to support a program that gets prostitutes, their children and homeless off the streets and into rehabilitation. It works! The kids group in our church even supports a children’s mentoring program in Nepal. More than 1,800 kids in Nepal are learning about the “peace, hope, freedom” alternative to the violence and sexual trafficking so many of them experience, and the children of Spring Valley get to participate in their diversion.  

How many people do you serve?

Our attendance at Sunday morning services (we have them in both English and Spanish) is currently 75 and growing – but to be perfectly honest, seeing that number increase is a much lower priority for me than, say, seeing more of those people serving their community. I have never felt that packing bodies in seats is a meaningful objective for a faith-based organization. SVCC is not successful until every seat is empty and our people are out serving others. Every “seat” has more than a story – every “seat” has a mission and purpose.  

One important distinction I need to make: SVCC serves anybody who comes. While some faith-based organizations are decidedly exclusive and shut their doors to people they don’t like, we’ve staked our reputation on the fact that anyone – and I mean ANYONE -- is welcome at SVCC. God’s love extends to all, and so our doors are open to all. No exceptions. No conditions. No questions asked.  

What else do you want to the community to know about you being here?

I’m personally here for the long haul. My wife, Tammie, (a teacher at ) and I have lived in the heart of Spring Valley since we transplanted from the beach 12 years ago. Our three kids all attend schools here. I am determined to stay as long as Spring Valley will have me. We love the views, the people and the history of this place. More than that, we love the potential Spring Valley has. And, of course, there’s just around the block from my house.


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