La Mesa First United Methodist Church marked a milestone last week: 130 years of serving as a gathering place and a catalyst for action in the community.
With its colonial Spanish-style architecture built over a century ago, the anniversary is not of the physical church but of the community that was formed — and continues to this day.
“This church has always sought to not be just a building in the community, but an actual example of what that world could look like,” said Reverend Christian DeMent, who has led the congregation since 2020.
La Mesa First United Methodist Church Reverend Christian DeMent and La Mesa Mayor Mark Arapostathis at a recent La Mesa Council ceremony honoring the church. (Photo courtesy of La Mesa First United Methodist Church)The Methodist church was the first congregation in La Mesa.
It began not in a sanctuary but in a local packing plant, where early residents gathered because the nearest church in San Diego was a two-hour buggy ride away.
Building community in La Mesa
From the start, the church was defined less by a building and more by the people who came together to support their neighbors.
That legacy of community-driven action continues to guide the church today.
“There is not a day that this place isn’t bustling with stuff going on,” DeMent said.
A clear example is the church’s monthly Fresh Start program, where the congregation and members of the local community come together to cook a meal and share resources for 180 unhoused neighbors.
The intent, DeMent said, isn’t so much to provide but to build community with one another.
“It’s not an us and them. Like, we’re the people of resource, and we’re going to provide for the people without,” he said. “It’s a community meal… We’ll sit down and eat with all of our guests.”
Among those helping prepare the meals are Jim and Wendy Tepner, who joined the church a year and a half ago and immediately found themselves drawn into its work. They were soon invited to join the 130th anniversary committee, which Jim said helped them to quickly become part of the community.
“Compared to just suiting up and showing up once a week, we became more interlinked,” he said. “This church does so much real boots-on-the-ground actual work, it makes my head spin.”
Fresh Start is only one facet of the daily activity on the church grounds.
Throughout the week, members gather for bible study, choir rehearsals, and sewing circles where volunteers make prayer quilts. Foster youth learn cooking skills in the church kitchen, and shower facilities are open for unhoused community members.
Bringing people together through music has always been a big part of the church. (Photo courtesy of La Mesa First United Methodist Church)The church’s preschool program also keeps the churchyard alive with the sound of laughter from 75 children daily. DeMent attended the preschool himself, making his return as pastor feel like coming home.
“This is a place where children are celebrated and really are as much a part of the community as the adults are,” he said.
For longtime member Mary Earnest, 73, that intergenerational community is what first brought her to the church 28 years ago, when she had two young children.
“I’ve just always felt that it’s important to give your children strong communities to grow up in that are just beyond the immediate family itself,” she said.
Earnest was also drawn to the church’s long-standing advocacy for social justice, especially its full inclusion of LGBTQ members.
“I had always believed very strongly that one needs to love one’s neighbors and not just tolerate them, but truly be open and welcoming to them,” she said.
That openness was also extended to herself in moments of doubt. “It has always been a very open, loving community that made room for people like myself coming in with some doubts about my faith and how I could live within a community,” she said.
That openness is also what first attracted Eric Dewey-Hoffman, 72, who joined the church 51 years ago while attending San Diego State University.
He was welcomed into the young adult group without pressure to officially join the church—something he said was uncommon for a church at the time. Over the years, that sense of acceptance grew into a deep-rooted connection.
“It’s community,” Dewey-Hoffman said. “It’s about being with other people for a common purpose.”
Tepner agreed, noting that the church’s commitment to welcoming people of all faiths — or none — is part of what keeps him involved. If the church ever preached that Methodism was the one true religion, he said, “I would walk away.”
As La Mesa First United Methodist looks toward the future, DeMent hopes it continues to be a place where belonging is the foundation. He wants it to continue to be a church where people can say, I’m not a Methodist, but that’s my church. I don’t believe in God, but that’s my church. This is a place that I can feel I belong.
After 130 years, the heart of the church remains what it was in that old packing plant: a community of people coming together to build a better world — one shared meal, open door, and welcome table at a time.
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