About Calvary Monterey

 

Here's a look into what we believe:

This statement of our faith is not debatable; meaning that we do not enter into argument/debate over these issues. Our focus is fellowship with the Father and the Son, and then with one another as an outflow of that fellowship (1 John 1:1-4). We are not focused on convincing others of the correctness of our views.

We Believe in all the fundamental doctrines of orthodox evangelical Christianity.

We Believe in the inerrancy of Scripture, that the Bible, Old and New Testaments, is the inspired, infallible Word of God.

We Believe in one God Who is eternally existent in three separate persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

We Believe that God the Father is the personal, transcendent, and sovereign Creator of all things.

We Believe that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human, that He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, provided for the atonement of our sins by His vicarious death on the cross, was bodily resurrected by the power of the Holy Spirit, ascended back to the right hand of God the Father, and ever lives to make intercession for us.

We Believe that all people are by nature separated from God and responsible for their own sin, but that salvation, redemption, and forgiveness are freely offered to all by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. When a person repents of sin and accepts Jesus Christ as personal Savior and Lord, trusting Him to save, that person is immediately born again and sealed by the Holy Spirit, all his/her sins are forgiven, and that person becomes a child of God, destined to spend eternity with the Lord.

We Believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the Scriptures, and that they are valid for today if they are exercised within the Scriptural guidelines. We as believers are to covet the best gifts, seeking to exercise them in love that the whole Body of Christ might be edified. We Believe that love is more important than even the most spectacular gifts, and without this love all exercise of spiritual gifts is worthless.

We Believe that church government should be simple, rather than a complex bureaucracy. We depend on the Holy Spirit to lead the church, rather than on fleshly promotion.

We Await the pre-tribulation rapture of the church, and We Believe that the second coming of Christ with His saints to rule on earth will be personal, pre-millennial, and visible. This motivates us to holy living, heartfelt worship, committed service, diligent study of God's Word, regular fellowship, and participation in adult baptism by immersion and Holy Communion.

We Seek to teach the Word of God in such a way that its message can be applied to an individual's life, leading that person to greater maturity in Christ.

 

 

 

And here's some history about us:

A Work of Grace

The church of Jesus Christ is described as a building and a holy temple in the Lord (Ephesians 2:19-22). The building materials are regenerated human beings. The temple in which God chooses to dwell is made up of individuals who are in Christ. The church may meet in a physical building, but the church itself is made up of people. Only 2 or 3 such people are needed for Christ to be present (Matthew 18:20).

In early 1979 Pastor Bill Holdridge was asked by the leadership of a fledgling little fellowship called Calvary Chapel to become their pastor.

This fellowship had its roots in the Shiloh Youth Revival Centers, which was a nationwide network of Christian communes. Since “Shiloh” had disbanded as a ministry in 1978, the folks naturally sought a landing place for the ministry. Affiliation with Calvary Chapel made sense due to the fact that the founders of Shiloh had their roots in Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. The problem was that the Pacific Grove group had no experience as a Calvary Chapel, and didn’t have confidence that they understood the heart of its ministry.

That is where Pastor Bill came in. He grew up in the Lord at Calvary Chapel; he knew the heart of the ministry. Bill had moved with his family to the Monterey Peninsula early in 1978, believing that the Lord was leading him to start a new work which emphasized the simple teaching of the Bible book by book and a life of dependence upon the Holy Spirit. But even with those convictions—and after experiencing 10 months of frustrating, up and down efforts—he was ready to give up, pack it in, and go back down to Southern California. It was right at the point of greatest discouragement that Bill discovered the Shiloh folks. It didn’t take long for their pastor, John Perkins, to ask Bill to take over the church.

Initially, Calvary Chapel met in the 7th Day Adventist facility on Lighthouse Avenue in Pacific Grove. The church grew pretty rapidly, which was problematic for their Adventist landlords. Therefore, Calvary Chapel was asked to find another place to meet. From there, the church met at the Pacific Grove Community Center on Junipero Avenue. After that, there were a couple of years at the Oldemeyer Center in Seaside. Then it was back to the P.G. Community Center. From there, the fellowship began to meet in the Mayflower Church facility at 14th and Central, conducting services on Sunday afternoons (this went against the counsel of evangelist D.L. Moody, who once advised churches not to hold afternoon church services, because the people are too full of “beef and unbelief” at that time of day ). That led the church into their next place of meeting, the brand new (at the time) Lighthouse Cinemas in Pacific Grove. This was a novel experience for many, meeting in a movie theater of all places! Often, smells of popcorn would waft into the “sanctuary” in time for the 11:15 movies. In spite of the smells and inconveniences, the church continued to grow during this nine year period, filling up the main theater twice each Sunday morning.

It was at about year 11 of the fellowship’s existence that earnest searching for a permanent home began. At first, the plan was to lease warehouse space in Sand City, but that all changed when land became available for sale on Hwy 68 near the airport. Soon the church was immersed in construction related plans and details. What seemed like miracles occurred in the process—approval from the water board to transfer water credits out to the site, the Planning Commission’s decision to not require an Environmental Impact Report, the City Council’s vote to overturn the Airport Land Use Commission’s denial of the project, and on and on. Finally, full approval for the project was gained, allowing Calvary Chapel to build its first building on 3.31 acres of land. Later, more buildings would be added, and more land purchased, but finally the church was in its own home. All of this happened with only $84,000 available in church savings. Truly the Lord was at work and was granting favor to CCMB (Calvary Chapel Monterey Bay).

All of these details have to do with facilities. Much more important was the formation of Christ’s nature within the hearts of His people ... the maturation of the saints. A Calvary Chapel Bible College extension campus was started. An excellent high school and junior high ministry was bearing fruit. A college fellowship was blessing many. Men and women were being discipled. Missions were happening. Well over a tithe of the church’s income was used to support local and international outreaches. Pastors were raised up. Families were strengthened. Military personnel were being equipped and sent by the U.S. Armed Forces into all parts of the world. Many were filled with the Holy Spirit, given spiritual gifts, and raised up in various ministries. The Lord was at work!

And He continues work in the present.

In February 2006 Pastor Bill stepped aside, completing almost 27 years of ministry with the church. He was succeeded by longtime Calvary Chapel pastor and missionary Roger Scalice, whom the Lord used to continue strengthen and challenge the fellowship. During Pastor Roger’s two years, he helped prepare Pastor Nate (Pastor Bill’s son), who has been senior pastor since April of 2008. Calvary Monterey has always been known for its strong verse by verse teaching style through the scriptures, relevant worship, many opportunities for believers to grow in love for the Lord and one another, and for its outreach ministries. In the 31 years of its history, faces may have changed a little bit, but the foundation has remained the same. The Lord God is still building His church, made up of His people … namely, those who are in His Son, Christ Jesus.