Grateful for 2010 and some early 2011 developments

As the year 2010 comes to an end, we are grateful to God for his blessings.  This was a year of transition for Calvary in the interim period.  The economic situation in the U.S. and the violence in Mexico have presented their own challenges. Yet, as we look back, we thank God that during this year Calvary had a missional presence in Germany, Kenya and Southeast Dallas.  Our church built a home for a family in the Peñitas colonia.  We fulfilled our commitments to all the missionaries and church plants we support.  We ministered to hundreds of families through Angel Food, Bread of Life and Angel Tree.  Our Spanish service doubled in attendance.  And, we saw approximately 123 people join Calvary by baptism or transfer.  These are just a few of the many blessings we received in 2010.  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

An important meeting with leaders from Saltillo church is taking place in a few days.  As our leaders explore renewing a strategic partnership with a Saltillo church, some of the Saltillo leaders will be Calvary’s guests on January 7-9.  During their time here, our leaders will discuss ways in which we could partner in mission to the poor and to the unreached in Northern to Central Mexico.  We will hear testimonies from them during our worship services.  If you would like to host a family in your home, please contact Cindy Shartle.

We welcome Benjamin Aguirre to the Calvary Staff.  Benjamin has recently received his Bachelor’s degree from Rio Grand Bible Institute in Edinburg.  This month he joins our staff as Spanish Language Ministry Associate.  In this part-time role, he will continue to lead music and worship in our Spanish service and he will also provide administrative and pastoral support to Pastor Rolando.  Benjamin’s time and work at Calvary will be complemented by a part-time role on the Rio Grande Bible Institute faculty beginning this spring semester.  We are grateful to God for bringing someone with such a calling and giftedness to our church and for providing additional leadership to our fast-growing Spanish ministry.

Genuine Faith

Some people believe that faith is simply believing that what you want to happen will happen with enough intensity.  If what you want did not come to happen, then the assumption is that you did not have enough faith.  Others correctly understand that faith is trusting God and surrendering to Him completely.

For several months some of us prayed with David and Veronica Reyna of Rio Grande City for their daughter LouLou, an 11-year-old who had leukemia.  After many intense prayers by hundreds of people, the Lord called LouLou home.  The testimony of David and Veronica Reyna one week after her passing is a tremendous demonstration of genuine faith.

You can hear it yourself by watching this video:

http://www.louloureyna.com/blog/a-message-from-loulous-parents?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LouLouReyna+%28Lou+Lou+Reyna%29

(If you cannot open it by clicking above, copy and past the url or simply go to www.louloureyna.com and look for the video message).

I hope you will be encouraged by their example as you grow in your faith.

Blessings...

Deacon Ministry Seminar: 12-11-10

Calvary has recently elected six men who will join the active deacon team at the beginning of 2011.  Some one may ask what is the role of deacons at Calvary Baptist Church?  How does their work relate to the pastoral staff? How does it relate to the other ministries of the church?  What does the Bible say about it?  What has been the Baptist tradition in that regard?

This topic has found new interest in Baptist churches today as the role of deacons has changed in some.  Some Baptist churches have done away with the deacon ministry altogether.  Others have established elder boards.  It is important that we consider this matter for our context.

On Saturday, 12-11-10, beginning at 8:30 am in our multi-purpose building, I will lead an overview of the role of deacons, hoping to cover biblical, historical and practical areas of this topic.  The seminar is for deacons and for any others who are interested in understanding the role of the deacon in our church.  It is my hope that this seminar can help us understand our roles better, and thus, be more effective in the work that God has entrusted us.

Since this seminar involves meals, I am asking you to confirm your participation so that we can plan the food accordingly.  Please notify Kathleen Beecher in our church office of your participation via phone (686-4364) or e-mail (musicministry@calvarymcallen.org) by Wednesday, December 8.

I hope you can join us.

Approved Recommendations at the Business Session

Our church had a business session last Sunday night where several important items were approved.  (If you would like to get a hard copy of these reports, please request it from our church office).

Our finance reports year to date (as of October) show us ($216,940.74) income under budget.  This is a significant budget shortfall.  This has been a difficult year in the economy and a transition year for our church.  It is remarkable that our spending has been only ($12,512.63), representing about 6% of our budget shortfall.  Considering that we have had to exceed the budget in the area of maintenance because of air condition problems and related issues, this primarily means that we are not able to service all our mission endeavors at the projected level, that some ministries do not get done, and that we are not able to fill the staff positions that have been left vacant this year.  However, we are confident that the Lord will provide for Calvary's ministries this year.  We hope that our Thanksgiving offering this Sunday will be an opportunity to give generously so that the church's ministries for 2010 can be carried out.

I am grateful for the official addition of 73 members who have joined during the last four months (47 by transfer and 26 by baptism).  We hope that in the months ahead God continues to add those who feel called to be disciples and make disciples through the fellowship at Calvary.

The church also approved the nominating committee and coordinating council recommendation in regard to committee nominations.

The deacon screening and nominating committee recommended six candidates for active service as deacons: Joe Averill, Danny Drefke, Brad Price, Darin Burrell, Tony Worley, and Bob Canterbury.  We are grateful for the availability of these men to serve our church as deacons for the next three years beginning in 2011.

Finally, our church approved the proposed 2011 church budget.  This budget reflects the addition of the Spanish Language Ministry since this was previously in the missions budget.  It also reflects salary and insurance increases for personnel.  There is a slight decrease in the missions portion and in other areas.  In terms of revenues, the budget will now count on the offerings from the Spanish Language Ministry worship service which were previously going to a designated account.  After these changes, the stewardship committee presented the budget as requiring virtually the same weekly revenues from the three English worship services as the 2010 budget.

As a church, there is always a delicate balance between a faith-driven budget and wise stewardship.  On the one side, the danger is that we would be irresponsible with the resources God has given us.  On the other side, the danger is that we would revert to only do what is humanly possible without relying on the Lord.  We believe that God is giving direction to our church and that there are ministries and mission endeavors that he has called us to do.  We are grateful to the stewardship committee for recommending and to the church for approving a budget that will challenge us to do our best and to rely on the Lord's provision while being responsible stewards of the Lord's resources.

Let us continue to seek the Lord's direction and blessing as we move forward to 2011!

"I Am Calvary" Commitment Cards

On Sunday, October 24, we closed our "I Am Calvary" emphasis with an opportunity for individuals in the congregation to make personal commitments to be missional disciples.  We did this by providing commitment cards where those making commitments could indicate their desire to take responsibility for their primary mission field.


We received a total of 380 commitment cards (272 from the English services and 108 from the Spanish service):

•   20 in business field
•   37 in education field
•      5 in legal (justice/law enforcement)
•    15 in medical field
• 170 identified neighborhood as their primary mission field
•    88 identified school as their primary mission field
•    22 identified family and/or friends as their primary mission field

This is very encouraging.  There are at least 380 individuals in our congregation who are taking responsibility for their primary mission field.  Whether it is at work, school or neighborhood, the mobilization of this significant group will yield a high impact in our city and region as the Holy Spirit empowers our witness.

One of the follow-up actions we are taking to equip those who are living missionally is the sermon series "Just Walk across the Room" which began last Sunday and will continue through Sunday, November 21.  We are also having a discussion group about this Bill Hybels book on Wednesday nights.  This sermon series and the study group are meant to offer a simple and relational model for pointing people to faith in Christ.

We would also like to encourage, and on occasion, resource the networking of people who share domains.  For example, we would like for those who are in the business domain to be able to network with each other on how to be effective in sharing faith in that context.  The same applies to the educational, legal, medical, student and neighborhood domains.  We want to know from these individuals and networks how, as a church, we can support, equip and resource their particular mission.

We trust that God has guided us thus far and we pray that he continue to lead us in supernatural ways for the accomplishment of his mission.

Survey Results Report (Expanded)

In the previous post, I shared a summary report of the survey results.  Below is the expanded version of the report.

The survey results for the “I Am Calvary” have been compiled.  The responses provide a good representative sample of the congregation.  We received 162 full surveys on-line and in hard copy.  (Several hard copy surveys were not entered because they were incomplete or because more than one answer was entered for a question).  The results are very informative and encouraging.  The survey consists of primarily four categories: demographic data; congregational identity; spiritual vitality and missional readiness.  Below is a summary of results under each of these categories.

Demographic Data:

            The survey provides a good cross-section of the congregation in many aspects.  The larger portion of survey participants represent those members who have been in Calvary less than 9 years, mostly those who attend the first two services, those who are teenagers, middle adults and individuals who drive between 11-19 minutes to Calvary.

The bulk of the responses came from Calvary members with a few who are attending non-members.  Of the 162 completing the surveys, 139 are members of Calvary, 17 non-members who attend regularly and 5 are non-members who attend occasionally.

The surveys were filled by individuals in all age categories, providing for a good cross section of the congregation, but with greater participation from teenagers and middle adults.  A significant response came from those ages 12-18 (26%), while the response of those ages 36-55 consisted of 39%.  The lowest response came from those ages 19-25 (2%) and those ages 80 and above (2%). 

In terms of how long they have been members of Calvary, the responses for the survey come largely from those who have been members less than 9 years.  The category of 3 to 9 years consisted of 38% of respondents.  Similarly, 35% have been members for less than 3 years.  Those with less than 3 years represent a much bigger percentage in Spanish responses (80% of Spanish response and 28% of English responses).  Those who have been members 10-20 years make up 23%.  Only 6% came from those who have been members over 20 years.

The largest participation in the survey came from those who attend the earlier two services.  Forty-two percent of the responses came from the 9:45 service and twenty-four percent came from the 8:15 service.  The lowest participation was from the 12:45 service with only 15% of responses.

A large portion of those responding live at a driving distance between 11-19 minutes from the church building while the lowest number of respondents drive less than 5 minutes.  Forty-four percent of responders drive between 11 and 19 minutes to get to the church building, while thirty one percent drive between 6 and 10 minutes and seventeen percent drive more than 20 minutes.  Only 7% of responders drive less than 5 minutes to the church building.

Congregational Identity:

            A large majority of respondents feel strongly connected to Calvary and see either McAllen or the entire Rio Grande Valley as Calvary’s primary mission field, while a significant portion feel like there is not a evidence of real unity among the diverse parts of the church.

While individuals may feel mostly connected to Calvary, they may also perceive a greater need for unity.  A large number of responders feel like they are an important part of Calvary and that they share much in common with others.  Seventy-four percent of responders agree or strongly agree that they are an important part of Calvary and sixty-nine percent of responders agree or strongly agree that they have much in common with most members of Calvary.  While a significant number of responders feel like there is evidence of unity among the diverse parts of the church., thirty-three percent of responders are neutral or disagree on whether Calvary evidences real unity among the diverse parts of the church.

According to participants our primary mission field may be as large as the Upper, Middle and Lower Valley inclusive of the cities south of our border and as small as the city of McAllen.  There is also evidence for the continuation of cooperative program giving with a priority on direct Calvary involvement.  A large number of responders would like to see more resources and emphasis given to reaching McAllen (69%), the Upper Valley (66%) and Northern Mexico (59%).  In general more responders (52%) would like to increase the amount of resources and emphasis to direct Calvary involvement than to cooperative missions (37%).   In terms of identifying Calvary’s primary mission field, the larger amount of responses (35%) indicated the “upper, middle and lower valley,” followed by 30% who indicated McAllen should be the primary mission field.

Spiritual Vitality:

There is a strong sense in the respondents of personal fellowship with God, although the active sharing of their faith is not as frequent as their prayer time.  A large portion of respondents frequently feel God’s presence (70%), feel a personal intimacy with God (75%) and communicate with God in prayer (90%).  The number of individuals who frequently share their faith with others consists of 25% of responders.

Missional Readiness

            Survey participants indicated a high degree of missional understanding and readiness.  A significant percentage identified the role of missions in the church and that of individuals as greater than a department or a job for professionals.  A large majority identified the reason Calvary exists as that of equipping and mobilizing members for Christ’s mission.  Interest in increased emphasis on evangelism and ministries into the community was also evidenced.

            At least a majority of the respondents have an understanding of missions that is consistent with the missional paradigm.  A significant portion of respondents do not agree that missions is only a department of the church (52%), neither that the call to missions is a spiritual gift (52%) nor that mission should only be done by professional ministers (86%).  Rather they view themselves as missionaries sent by Jesus Christ (65% of respondents agreed and strongly agreed on this item).  In terms of the primary reasons Calvary exists, while a significant portion of respondents (28%) marked teach/preach the Word of God, a greater number (49%) indicated that making disciples (equipping and mobilizing member for Christ’s mission).

            Survey participants rated most ministries of the church as strengths but indicated an interest in seeing more emphases in some of them.  Respondents identified worship (83%), Spanish ministry (72%) and diversity (73%) as being strengths of the church, and evangelism (38%) and ministries into the community (40%) as needing more emphasis.  Furthermore, 46% of respondents would like to see more emphasis placed on deacon ministry and more than 31% feel there needs to be more attention in utilization of and effectively benefitting from the gifts of pastoral staff. 

Survey Results Summary

In this post, I'm sharing a one-page summary of the survey results.  An expanded form of the report is forthcoming.

“I Am Calvary” Survey Report (Summary)

The survey results for the “I Am Calvary” have been compiled.  The responses provide a good representative sample of the congregation.  We received 162 full surveys on-line and in hard copy.  (Several hard copy surveys were not entered because they were incomplete or because more than one answer was entered for a question).  The results are very informative and encouraging.  The survey consists of primarily four categories: demographic data; congregational identity; spiritual vitality and missional readiness.  Below is a summary of results under each of these categories.

Demographic Data:

            The survey provides a good cross-section of the congregation in many aspects.  The larger portion of survey participants represent those members who have been in Calvary less than 9 years, mostly those who attend the first two services, those who are teenagers and middle adults and individuals who drive between 11-19 minutes to get to Calvary.

Congregational Identity:

            A large majority of respondents feel strongly connected to Calvary and see either McAllen or the entire Rio Grande Valley as Calvary’s primary mission field, while a significant portion feel like there is not evidence of real unity among the diverse parts of the church.

Spiritual Vitality:

There is a strong sense in the respondents of personal fellowship with God, although the active sharing of their faith is not as frequent as their prayer time. 

Missional Readiness

            Survey participants indicated a high degree of missional understanding and readiness.  A significant percentage identified the role of missions in the church and that of individuals as greater than a department or a job for professionals.  Many indicated their own sense of being missionaries sent by Jesus Christ.  A large majority identified the reason Calvary exists as that of equipping and mobilizing members for Christ’s mission.  Interest in increased emphasis on evangelism and ministries into the community was also evidenced.

Culmination of "I Am Calvary" emphasis

After 40 days of prayer and a sermon series, this past weekend we climaxed our “I Am Calvary” emphasis with a banquet, a leadership lab, a commitment Sunday and a pastoral staff retreat.  Each of these experiences contribute to the process of discovering Calvary’s congregational identity, celebrating what God is doing through our church and defining our focus as we move into the future.  We also have the survey results.

I am grateful to God for all these experiences.  I believe they have strengthened our congregation.  I am thankful also for all those leaders and other individuals who made this emphasis possible.  It will be important to reflect on each of these events and on the data that was received as we move forward into discerning God’s strategic direction for Calvary.

I will be entering a post for each of these in order to help us reflect.

Thank you for taking the time to prayerfully read over these.

"I Am Calvary" Banquet

Dear Calvary Leader,

These are exciting days at Calvary!  As the church has focused on prayer and spiritual renewal we have seen a renewed since of worship, evangelism and mission.  As we are discovering and celebrating our identity as a congregation, we are gaining a new appreciation for all those who make up our church.  We are grateful for all those who are joining Calvary every week by transfer or through baptism.  God is blessing our church with those who are saying, “this is the church for me!”

On the weekend of October 22-24, we are concluding this “I Am Calvary” emphasis.  It will be an opportunity to celebrate who we are, what God is doing through us and to commit to the mission he has for us.  One of the most exciting events of that weekend is the “I Am Calvary” banquet.  We have talked about our congregational identity in our four Sunday worship services and in our prayer groups.  However, this banquet will be an opportunity to bring together people from all four worship services and celebrate who we are and what God is doing in our church.  The purpose of the banquet is to share information that will inspire us to work together as one church (with various expressions) for God’s mission.  In addition to some good Lone Star barbeque and fellowship around the table, we will have the opportunity to worship through music, be encouraged by our facilitator, Dr. Milfred Minatrea, hear testimonies, identify where God is working and where he might be leading us to join Him, and pray together.  It is my desire that when you leave the banquet, you will have a renewed sense of God’s purpose for us as a congregation and a desire to join hands across the tapestry of Calvary in personal commitment to that purpose.  The weekend will climax with a special worship service on Sunday morning (10-24-10) where pastor Milfred Minatrea will preach in the English services and pastor Julio Guarneri will preach the Spanish service.  Each individual will have the opportunity to respond to  God’s invitation to be on mission with Him.

As a key leader of our church, I hope you have already purchased your tickets.  The banquet, which is for teenagers and adults, will be at Michelle’s banquet hall on Nolana.  We will have Lone Star barbeque cater your choice of beef brisket or chicken.  Children will have an age-appropriate “I am Calvary” event at the children’s building where they will be served pizza.  Thanks to the availability of some designated funds, we have been able to make this banquet very affordable for everyone.  Adult/teenage tickets are only $6 and children’s tickets are only $2.  If you have not purchased your tickets, please do so this Sunday, October 17, which will be the last day they will be available.  Please also encourage those Calvary people in your respective ministry to attend this important banquet.

The banquet will take place on Friday, October 22 at 6:30 pm.

See you there!

Multiple Sunday Worship Services

Calvary has offered multiple Sunday worship services for quite some time now.  Over the last year this has consisted of an early classic style service in English, two mid-morning contemporary style services in English and one mid-day contemporary style Spanish language service.  Recently some have asked whether the two contemporary style services should be combined.  The reasons for this inquiry may be varied but they can be narrowed down to a couple of primary reasons.  Some wonder if the attendance numbers justify having two contemporary services.  They wonder if combining them would provide a greater sense of unity to a "spread out" congregation or if combining them would provide a greater sense of energy and enthusiasm in worship.  Others are hoping that this kind of change would move the classic service to a later hour.

After much thought, prayer and consideration, as lead pastor, in agreement with the rest of the pastoral staff, I have decided that we will not change the times and worship/language style for our Sunday morning worship services in the near future.  Below are the reasons for such a decision.

We must keep in mind that the reason for having multiple services is to reach as many people as possible.  We believe that when people can sense God's presence in worship, feel his love through people and hear the message of the gospel we are being faithful stewards of the gift of salvation.  For us at Calvary McAllen, that means we need to provide at least three things in regard to our worship services:  (1) worship style preference; (2) language preference (English and Spanish); and (3) space for growth.  That is why we provide a classic style service in English which combines hymns and contemporary songs with a choir and an orchestra, contemporary style services in English which use mostly contemporary songs with a praise band, and a contemporary style service in Spanish which uses a latin-flavored praise band.

The early service has had an attendance of around 200 for several years and it continues to have that.  The 9:45 am service has fluctuated around 300 for the last couple of years and is currently averaging below that level.  The 11:15 am service has had between 200 and 250 over the last couple of years and that trend remains today.  The Spanish service has gone from having under 100 in average attendance two years ago to having about an average of 140 last year.  It is averaging more recently around 240.

It is readily apparent that our Spanish service is the fastest growing service and that the current time allotted is working well.  If it continues to grow at that rate, at some point in the future, we may need to consider multiple Spanish services and/or a change in the service times.  However, for now, it is working well and we will continue to leave it as is.

The contemporary services have a combined attendance that is usually below 500.  However, in the present calendar year, there have been five Sundays where the combined attendance reached close to 600.  Since the seating capacity for our worship center is about 650, including the balcony, this represents a combined attendance of almost 90%.  In other words, if we were to combine both contemporary services and have more Sundays like those five, we would not leave enough room for growth.  The population growth in Hidalgo County is projected to be at almost 14% over the next five years, which is almost triple that of the national projected growth.  We need to make room for the people that God wants us to reach with his love and his message.  We need to pray and be about sharing the gospel so that the Lord will bring the harvest he has in store for us.

According to recent demographic studies, the largest age group segment in our area is that of ages 9 through 28 consisting of 33% of the total population compared to a national average of 28%.  We are a younger county than most of the nation in terms of population age.  This means that we are going to be effective in reaching those in our county, we need to provide services that are relevant to youth & young adults (and their children).  Of course, we desire to be a church for all people of all ages.  It is important that we minister to median and senior adults also.

Although there are always exceptions, generally the classic style of worship is preferred by older adults and generally they prefer early hour services.  In the same way, in spite of notable exceptions, we assume that generally the contemporary style of worship is preferred by younger and median adults and that they generally prefer later hour services.

For these reasons, we feel like the current provision of an 8:15 am classic service in English,  9:45 am and 11:15 am contemporary services in English and a 12:45 pm service in Spanish are the best way to provide for our current congregation and for the population that we are trying to reach with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

What remains now is to pray and witness so that we can see the harvest of people that we want God to send to us.

FAITH, EE & Personal Evangelism

For many years Calvary has used the FAITH program as its primary personal evangelism strategy.  This program has had much success in training people to share their faith and in winning many people to Christ. There have been times in the past when FAITH involvement consisted of close to 15 evangelistic teams going out every Tuesday night.

About a year ago, our Spanish Language Ministry went through the FAITH training and began to form teams.  In the process, Pastor Rolando Aguirre felt that Evangelism Explosion (EE) was a better fit for the context of our SLM than FAITH.  So they began to use the EE strategy.  Nevertheless, FAITH (English) teams and EE (Spanish) teams met at the same time each Tuesday, shared a meal, received assignments, went out to visit and returned to report and celebrate.  During this year, the EE (Spanish) teams have grown to nine.  We praise God for this rapid multiplication!

During this same period FAITH (English) leader and learner participation has diminished to the point that there were not enough teams to be able to do the fall 2010 semester.  While we can conjecture on the various reasons why this might have happened, we think it is more important to see this as an opportunity to refine our evangelism and discipleship strategy.

I personally see the principles of the FAITH program to be:

•  personal evangelism
• training of others
• multiplication
• accountability
• celebration
• connection of new believers with a small group as an objective
• fixed day & time

Of these, the fixed day & time can sometime be an obstacle for those who wish to be involved in personal evangelism and it also may not be the best time to find those prospects that we are seeking to visit.

In the meantime, we are implementing an alternative strategy we are calling the "Building Bridges Initiative" for now.  This initiative seeks to retain all of the principles of the FAITH program with the exception of the fixed day & time.  The Building Bridges Initiative will seek to involve individuals from the congregation through their Bible Fellowships in contacting prospects in order to develop a relationship with them, share the gospel and connect them to a small group.  The contacts may be done in a home, a coffee shop or a restaurant.  They will be done on the day and time that is most convenient for the team and for the prospect.  Furthermore, these contacts will seek to ensure a discipleship relationship that will continue after the person has made a decision to follow Christ.  This is an ambitious project.  For the time being, we are piloting the first part of this initiative through the pastoral staff and other former FAITH leaders.  Eventually, we will expand the involvement of teams and the kind of on-going discipleship that we would like to see take place.  The process of implementation of this will take at least one year.  So the plan for 2010 and 2011 is to implement the "Building Bridges Initiative" as the primary strategy for personal evangelism and, eventually, personal discipleship.

Whether it is FAITH, EE or "Building Bridges," I am glad that Calvary has a heart for personal evangelism and I am committed to encouraging and equipping leaders to do this in a more effective manner.

Affirm "Calvary en Español" as an expression of Calvary

As we have said before through various means (blog, deacons meeting, personnel, missions, & stewardship committees), we are affirming "Calvary en Español" as an expression of Calvary that will remain with us permanently.  That fact is that Calvary en español was not initially intended to be a “mission” or “church start” which would be sent off after reaching a certain size.  And, we remain committed to this intention as pastoral staff and leaders.


Calvary en español is a vital expression of who we are as Calvary as much as our children's ministry, youth ministry and worship style services are.


The next big step in affirming this is to move all of the Calvary en español's expenditures, also referred to as SLM (Spanish Language Ministry), from the missions budget to the church's general budget.  This includes personnel and ministry expenses.  Although this will reflect an increase in Calvary's budget, it must be noted that we are also projecting the revenues from SLM which have been going into a designated fund.  The effect is that the revenues will increase by approximately the same amount (according to the present pattern) that the expenses will increase resulting in basically a zero net difference.


There are other steps which need to be taken in the future in order to affirm this which have to do with the publication of documents in English and Spanish, the provision of language accessibility in business sessions and other meetings, and the inclusion of representatives from all four worship services in our committees and leader structure.


This is an exciting development in the life of Calvary as our SLM has doubled in size over the last year and as it has provided an army of volunteers for children's ministry, bread of life, angel food, block parties, worship, evangelism explosion and other areas of the church's ministry.

"I Am Calvary" Emphasis

The "I Am Calvary" emphasis has arrived.  We are in the second week of our 40 days of prayer that were leading up to it and we will begin the "I Am Calvary" sermon series this Sunday, Lord willing.  By way of our bulletin and our weekly prayer guides, we are providing demographic information about our congregation and community as well as information about ministries and mission endeavors that Calvary supports.

For this process, we have contracted Dr. Milfred Minatrea as a consultant.  Dr. Minatrea is the director of the missional church center and supplied the pulpit on numerous occasions during the lead pastor interim time.  He is the author of the book "Shaped by God's Heart: The Passion and Practices of Missional Churches."  I am also glad to count Milfred as a friend.  I believe his knowledge and experience will help us go through an assessment process that will be beneficial as we move to the next level of being a missional church.

The process will include a congregational survey prepared by Milfred and which will be distributed to the congregation over the next week online.  Hard copies will be made available for those who prefer not to do it online.

Additionally, there will be an "I Am Calvary" weekend on October 22-24.  This weekend will consist of an "I Am Calvary" dinner to which the entire church is invited.  This dinner will take place in the gym and it will consist of a beef or chicken barbecue plate.  The children and preschool will have their activity in the children's building while the youth and adults have their dinner in the gym.  During this dinner we will hear information and inspiration about what God is doing through Calvary and the opportunities which are before us.  On Saturday morning, we will invite a representative group of Calvary leaders for a workshop where we will talk about the process of becoming strategic as a missional church.  Although I would like to invite everyone who is a leader, it will be important to keep this group representative in order to facilitate the workshop format.  We will seek representation from all four worship services, from the various age groups and from the different ministries of the church.  Sunday, we will conclude with a worship celebration.  The Monday and Tuesday following, the pastoral staff will go on retreat with Milfred Minatrea to discuss the "what's next."

I hope that you, as a Calvary leader, will be in prayer and will encourage others to participate in the survey and in the "I Am Calvary" dinner.

We are looking forward to what God will show us during this process.

Follow up to Pastor's Coffee with Leaders

I want to thank all those of you who came to the pastor's coffee last Sunday night.  It was good to share with you the developments and to hear back from you about each of those items we discussed.  Below is some of the introductory information I presented.  This information provides some background for the direction in which hope to head.  I will list the other items we discussed as separate posts.  Most of these will be presented to the congregation this Sunday night (September 26 at 6:00 pm) as a "pastor's update."

Objective for this fall and spring: undergo spiritual preparation and congregational assessment that will lead to the development of a strategy.

Driving question in the process: how do we take being a missional church to the next level?

What is meant by being missional (Some book quotes):

“The Christian faith…is intrinsically missionary.  The Christian faith…sees ‘all generations of the earth’ as objects of God’s salvific will and plan of salvation…it regards the ‘reign of God’ which has come in Jesus Christ as intended for ‘all humanity.’  This dimension of the Christian faith is not an optional extra.”  David J. Bosch Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission, 2006, p. 9

“We have come to see that mission is not merely an activity of the church.  Rather, mission is the result of God’s initiative, rooted in God’s purposes to restore and heal creation.  ‘Mission’ means ‘sending,’ and it is the central biblical theme describing the purpose of God’s action in human history.”…“God’s mission is calling and sending us, the church of Jesus Christ, to be a missionary church in our own societies, in the cultures in which we find ourselves.  These cultures are no longer Christian…Now…their character as a mission field is so obvious as to need no demonstration.  The issue for the Christian church is its faithful response to this challenge.”  Darrell L. Guder Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America, 1998, p. 4-6

From Milfred Minatrea, Shaped by God’s Heart: The Passion and Practices of Missional Churches, 2004

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·      P. 11, Differences between a mission-minded and missional church

Mission-minded                                    Missional

Sending & supporting                        being & doing

Representative                                    participative

One expression of its ministry            the essence of its existence

·      P. 12, Missional church definition

“A missional church is a reproducing community of authentic disciples, being equipped as missionaries sent by God, to live and proclaim his kingdom in their world.”

Pastor's Coffee with Calvary Leaders

Dear Calvary Leader,

            I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity God has given me to be Calvary’s lead pastor.  This week marks two months since I began this assignment.  During this time I have been able to get to know the staff, many of the deacons and several individuals in the congregation.  It is evident that God has blessed this church with wonderful, God-loving and committed people.  I have also been able to observe and study the church’s ministries, organization, and allocation of resources.  Though, I am still learning much, I have begun to make some decisions in consultation with the pastoral staff.  My intention is to continue to do assessment of the congregation that would lead to the developing of a shared vision for the congregation.  While this process will take some time, there are some actions steps that need to be taken now.  It is my desire to share some of this information with you as a leader so that you will be informed and also to hear your feedback about this.  For this reason, I am inviting you to a pastor’s coffee with Calvary leaders.  This meeting is by invitation only.  You will receive your invitation by e-mail.  However, if you know of an active key leader that you think should be invited, please let me know.  I want to be as inclusive as possible.  This pastor’s coffee with leaders will take place this Sunday, September 19 at 6:00 pm in the multi-purpose room.  Please confirm your participation by replying to the e-mail or by calling Kathleen at the church office.

            The topics of discussion include, identified strengths and areas of need, a framework for developing the vision of the church, the “I Am Calvary” assessment process and desired outcomes, the future of Calvary en español, the direction of the personal evangelism ministry, the decision about the multiple Sunday services, the strategy for evangelistic block parties (4^th of July and Noah’s Ark), and the focus on making disciples.  This is a lot of information but it will important to communicate it to you and have you speak to it.  I hope to see you there.

Prayerfully,

Julio Guarneri,

Calvary’s Lead Pastor

Back in the Saddle & "I Am Calvary"

This is my second week of being back in the Valley and at work in Calvary.  I am so glad to be back.  Our children have started their school year and we have moved into our house (although we have not closed yet, we are renting until we close).  We are very grateful for the prayers, support and encouragement during these days.

"I Am Calvary"


In my last communication, I shared with you the need for Calvary to develop, acknowledge and celebrate their congregational identity.  In that e-mail I shared with you statistics about the age groups in our church as well as longevity in our congregation.  It is to be noted that over 25% of our Sunday worship attendance consists of the group that attends "Calvary en español" (our Spanish language worship).  The ethnic make up of our congregation is also interesting.  Of the 1072 Calvary resident members, 66% are identified as Anglo, 30% as Hispanic, 2% as Asians, 2% of more than one ethnicity, and less than 1% Black.  (Please notice that these are actual membership figures and may not reflect attendance or participation).  This rich tapestry of ages, worship-style-preferences, congregational longevity, language, and ethnicity is a blessing!

What does this diversity mean for congregational life? ministries? our mission? the future of our church?  Those are great questions but before they are answered, it is important that we have a clear sense of identity and that we affirm that identity as we move forward.  It is important that we affirm all that Calvary is and that we do not become exclusivists.

For that reason, I am proposing a fall emphasis called "I Am Calvary."  This emphasis has the purpose of helping us develop and celebrate our congregational identity.  The emphasis will include the following elements:

• a time of spiritual preparation (through preaching and worship);
• a 40-days-of-prayer period seeking God to reveal to us who we are, who our community and our mission field are;
• a sermon series which explores God's design for the church and its mission;
• the sharing of information and of personal stories about the various segments;
• the administration of a survey that helps us get information from the congregation about our current identity, spiritual vitality and missional readiness;
• the celebration and inspiration of the entire congregation in terms of God's design for our church and his mission;
• the intervention of a consultant to work with our leaders to help us think more strategically in our mission

Some of the elements of this emphasis will begin as early as September 12 and some will continue as late as October 27, so it is essentially a 6-week emphasis.  I share this with you asking you to pray about this so that God uses it to accomplish his purpose in our church, to share your thoughts and ideas about the emphasis and its elements, and to ask for your full participation in the process.

One of the several implications of the "I Am Calvary" emphasis that we expect is the affirmation that "Calvary en español" is not a "mission" of Calvary.  This means there is no intention for it to become a separate congregation.  "Calvary en español" is an expression of Calvary very much like the classic worship service and like the contemporary service is.  It is also a ministry to a particular segment of our congregation like student ministry and children's ministry are.  Thus, "I Am Calvary" needs to include the acknowledgement that "Calvary en español" will be an integral part of Calvary for the long run.  That has budgetary, leadership, and organizational implications which need to be explored.  This also promises to be a viable model for reaching Hispanics and experiencing congregational life in a multi-cultural setting.

In the next post, I will talk about our FAITH program developments, the multiple worship services and other pertinent items.

I also would like you to know that we are planning to have a chat about some of these items on an upcoming Sunday night.  This would be an opportunity for me to talk about these things in person and to hear from you.  So be on the look out for an invitation to the "leaders chat room."

It's good to be back in the saddle.  Let's pray and seek God's face for the future of Calvary.