Hats Off to "Calvary Cutters"

     Everyday as I drive up to my church office, I thank God for our church campus.  The elegant buildings that stand out in the midst of our community are a reminder of God's goodness and faithfulness.  When I see the large green lawn areas, I remember the volunteers who each week offer their strength and sweat to make them look nice and I thank God for them.  This group calls themselves the "Calvary Cutters."

     There are many ways in which church members demonstrate their love for God and for Calvary.  Some serve as teachers, deacons, ushers, committee members or ministry leaders.  We are so grateful for the great army of volunteers God has given us at Calvary.

     “Calvary Cutters" started its ministry over two years ago and their task is to keep our lawns looking nice and trimmed each week.  Each week these volunteers mow our grass, trim the edges and make sure our sprinkler system is working properly, thus saving the church thousands of dollars each year in landscape maintenance.  If you happen to drive by the church property on a Friday evening or early Saturday morning you will most likely see Ron Corbett, Lee Thalman and young Michael De Los Santos mowing the grass while David De Los Santos and David Cross take care of the trimming.  Danny Sosebee checks the sprinklers regularly.  When you see these men, please make sure to express your appreciation for their faithful work.  They are not looking for recognition but we do appreciate them.   You might even consider volunteering to help them on occasion.

     Having nice facilities, attractive lawns and dedicated volunteers are blessings that allow us to serve our church and community with the message of Christ.

Vans and Buildings

I would like to report to you on two items that have to do with church vans and buildings:

1. Calvary is getting new vans!  You may know that Calvary has had two 15-passenger buses and a cargo van for several years.  All three of these vehicles had been having mechanical problems.  The buses were used for group trips but after repeated mechanical problems, we decided to only use them for trips within the Valley.  The cargo van was used mostly for our “Bread of Life” ministry food pick up from the food bank but had been unreliable the last couple of months.  When the hailstorm came through back in the spring all three vehicles were damaged by the hail.  The insurance company totaled our cargo van and gave us money to repair the buses.  As we discussed this situation with our stewardship committee, the committee decided to sell the buses without repairing them and use the insurance money to purchase two new 15-passenger vans.  The committee also approved an additional amount of money for this transaction.  These vans will allow our ministries to be able to make their local and long-distance trips in more reliable vehicles and will also provide reliability to our food ministry pick-up.  The new vans should arrive within a week or so.  As you see these new vans on our campus, take time to thank God for his provision!
2. As you may already know, our Children’s building loan has been paid-off.  (We will have a celebration about this soon).  Therefore, in the bulletin you will no longer see a line labeled “Children’s Building Loan Balance.”  However, since there are people who are still giving to the building fund and since our budget has a designation for the building fund, we will now be reporting our “Building Fund Balance.”  This will reflect an accumulation of gifts for a building fund.  According to our long-range plans the next building that needs to be constructed is the Student Ministry Building.  No plans have been put in place for when this will happen yet.  In the meantime, we will report to you how much is coming in for this fund.  We will also keep you posted as to other developments regarding conversations about our future building projects.

Above all, your prayers for the continuing ministry at Calvary are greatly appreciated.

Grateful for Three Big Reasons this Week!

Preachers are known for doing everything in three-point outlines.  Surely not everything in life is given in three points.  Surely not all of God's revelation comes with three points and a story.  But sometimes it is so!  This week I am grateful for three reasons: (1) the appreciation I feel at my two-year anniversary as pastor; (2) Calvary's 55th anniversary as a church; and (3) the debt retirement of our children's building.


First, I would like to express my appreciation to the congregation for your expression of support as I completed my 2^nd year as your Lead Pastor.  I thank God for the privilege of serving you in that capacity.  I have felt the love and support of the congregation and I count myself blessed to be part of what God is doing in this precious church.  I am especially honored to be a part of such a great heritage.


Secondly, this week Calvary Baptist Church celebrates 55 years since its establishment.  Two dates are of special significance in regard to when this church was founded:

1.     On Monday, July 15, 1957 an organizational meeting took place at David Crockett Public School on North Main Street where 71 people entered into covenant to form Calvary Baptist Church, McAllen;

2.     On Sunday, July 21, 1957 Calvary celebrated her first worship service, also at the David Crocket Public School.  The charter was left open that Sunday so that others attending that worship service could join the founders group.  Thus, the list of original charter members consists of 143 people. 

So whether we celebrate the organizational meeting or the first worship service, or both, this week is Calvary’s 55th anniversary!  We are blessed to be a part of a church whose stated purpose from the beginning was to be evangelistic and missionary.

Fifty-five years later, with 1,235 active members on roll and an average attendance of 896 we continue to reach people in the McAllen area through our English and Spanish ministries, to sponsor the congregation in Sullivan City, support the BSM ministry at the UTPA campus, directly provide support to about 12 missionaries around the world, to have our members directly involved in Chiapas, the Amazon Basin and Kenya, contribute to the local association and the Cooperative Program, (among several other ministries), resulting in giving over 18% of our budget income for mission causes in addition to special mission offerings.  What God started, he continues to use and prosper!

Thirdly, thanks to the generosity and to the faithfulness of contributors who have been giving to the building fund, Calvary will be debt free in a matter of days!  About eight years ago our church went into a building campaign for a new children’s building.  Our people made pledges for this purpose and began giving toward it in 2004.  The approximate cost of the children's building and multi-purpose wing was $4.3 million.  After construction was completed, our church arranged long-term financing with the Baptist Church Loan Corporation for the amount of $950,000 back in 2008.  This week we will send our last payment, made possible by a building fund offering of $200,287 on Sunday July 1.  After eight years of generous giving above and beyond tithes and budget offerings, we are paying off the children's building!

To God be the glory, great things he hath done!

Kenya Mission Trip Blog

This week I want to encourage you to read the blog posts by our Kenya Mission Trip team.  God is using this small team in multiple ways and locations.  As you read, please pray for them, for the work they are doing, the connections they are making, and the partnerships that Calvary will continue to develop with Kenyan ministries.  I encourage you to comment on their blog posts.  (It's easier than commenting on mine!).  


Click below to go to that blog:


http://www.calvarymcallen.org/blogs