In order to hang on to the beautiful mosaic of Canyon Springs’ history we are leaving these first few bits on our website even though Pastor Jack and Jilane are no longer pastoring Canyon Springs. We love our history and believe everyone should understand the formative experience that took place in order to plant Canyon Springs Church.
Canyon Springs began in 1998 with a simple dream. My wife Jilane and I wanted to start a church that we wouldn’t be embarrassed to go to. Pretty simple really. If you haven’t figured this out already, I’ll spell it out. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. Fortunately, God showed up. Let me walk you through some of the stories God has taken Canyon Springs through to grow us from from the five members of our family to 500 on a Sunday.
The First Conversation (From Jack Hawkins, founding Pastor of Canyon Springs Church)
Jilane and I were winding down our ministry at Forest Home Christian Conference center and were looking for our next ministry challenge. After exploring option after option and feeling discouraged, I had a conversation with my friend and mentor Denny. He suggested we start a church. I suggested something else. Anything else. Something with a paycheck would be preferable. The thought of starting from scratch was scary. Then Denny uttered a phrase that would change our lives forever. “If I could take away your fears about planting a church would you be interested?” I said “Yes, I would.” At that moment he told us about an organization, the Evangelical Covenant Church that would not only guide us through the process, but would pay me as well. I liked the sound of that. Later that day I came home to my wife and I said to her, “Guess what we talked about?” She said, “Not starting a church!” (We were obviously great people of faith, don’t you think?) From that moment on, Jilane and I knew in our heart that God was leading us to start a church. A short nine months later we had sold our house (at a loss) and moved to Scripps Ranch and the adventure began.
The First Meeting
When we moved into Scripps Ranch we were eager, excited, prayerful, but mostly lonely. We only knew two couples here, and both of those we had only met with once. Not exactly a great foundation for a church. Come to find out that God didn’t want people to be our foundation. He wanted that job. Silly us. We put together a core team of about 12 people that were meeting in our house weekly to put our church together. And, quite honestly, it wasn’t going well. When I look back on the photo of our little gang, only 6 of those people ever came to Canyon Springs. But four of them are still coming. God bless Bill and Edie Davis and Tom and Julie Gutierez. After a few months of small groups I turned to my wife and said, “God didn’t call me to start a small group, he called me to start a church.” So we picked a date, December 6, 1998, for our first church service, found a location, the Scripps Ranch library and we sent out a flyer to our community. We knew of 13 people who would show up. 103 did. I can still remember Bill and I jumping up and down as all the cars rolled in. We had 96 for our second meeting and 6 of those people made life changing decisions for Jesus Christ. We were amazed. Turns out God is a pretty good foundation for a church.
The First Location
In truth, our first location was the Scripps Ranch Library, but they would only allow us to meet monthly. I talked them into letting us meet weekly for a few months, but our time was running short. We were scrambling to find a facility. I had been turned down by every school in our area, several times, but I decided to make one last call to the principal at Jerabek school. A month before they had turned me down, but I was desperate. Two weeks later, I got a phone call. It was from the head custodian in charge of the facility, and he told me that we could use Jerabek school on Sundays for church. I can’t dance, but I gave it my best shot as I boogied around the room in our little condo. If I close my eyes I can still see that little auditorium, 8 foot ceilings, orange walls, tacky chairs, but it was beautiful to me and became our new church home.
I could go on and on about the ways that God showed up at Canyon Springs. In year two God opened up the doors to Dingeman elementary school and we almost immediately doubled in size. In year three I got a phone call from a pastor in Texas who wanted to work at our church for two years for free. In year four we filled the stadium at Scripps Ranch High School for our Easter services. Those are each great stories of God’s faithfulness. But the real stories are in the lives of people. Thousands have walked through our doors and hundreds have made life changing decisions to follow Jesus. Multiple marriages have been restored thanks to the power of God. Thousands of children have not only come to church, but drag their parents to church because they love it. Our children’s ministry has left a lasting legacy on this community. Our youth ministry has not only changed lives but is working to develop difference-makers who will lead God’s church into the future.
Pastor Jack and Jilane’s Departure Plan – Pastor Chad Richards
After six years of leading the youth ministry at Canyon Springs, Pastor Chad Richards stepped into the Executive Pastor role at our church, where he led us through COVID, developed our staff, and began casting a vision for the next 20 years of Canyon Springs.
In 2022, along with the board, Pastor Jack started to talk about the future of Canyon Springs. Jack started affirming that when he retired, he wanted Pastor Chad to lead the church. With three of his four kids in Arizona and a grandchild on the way, it became obvious that their hearts were there. At the beginning of 2023, Jack shared that they would be stepping down and moving to Arizona to build their next legacy. Pastor Chad was thrilled to step into the role of Lead Pastor.
Pastor Chad had the privilege of leading our church into the next few years. We had the amazing opportunity to move into our own church building and to begin the next generation of Canyon Springs Church. In 2025, an out-of-state opportunity was presented to Pastor Chad and his family. This opportunity was an awesome change for them and our church body; although sad to see them go, we were thrilled for this next chapter in their life.
Our Transition Pastor, John Rose
Pastor John has stepped in as our Transition Pastor. He brings over 38 years of pastoral experience, having served in roles including Youth Pastor, Associate Pastor, Preaching Pastor, and Lead Pastor. He spent 20 years as the founding Pastor of Rancho Vista Church in Chula Vista, guiding it from a small launch team to a vibrant congregation with its own facility.
Pastor John is well-regarded for his steady leadership during times of transition. Most recently, he served as interim Pastor at Clairemont Covenant Church, helping the congregation navigate change with unity and stability. He also founded and leads Baja Bound Ministries, which coordinates over 100 mission projects each year across Mexico with more than 5,000 volunteers. He has been married to his wife, Stephanie, for 35 years, and they are the proud parents of two adult children, Michaela and Jake.
Pastor John began serving as our Transition Pastor on May 15, 2025, ahead of Pastor Chad’s departure on June 1. In this role, he provides spiritual, organizational, and relational guidance during our time of transition. He works closely with our staff, ministry leaders, and elders to ensure continued unity and stability through this period. We’re blessed to have him with us and look forward to his leadership through this journey!
Transition Support
To support the leadership change, our current church personnel have taken on additional operational and administrative responsibilities to help ensure a smooth process. At the same time, we search for a new Lead Pastor.