I just attended a three-plus day conference of the Calvary Global Network (CGN), and I am so excited about what is happening in our family of churches. Let me share some reasons why I am excited and why I love CGN.
1. Calvary Chapel: Its Essence and Identity.
CGN has published a book that articulates the essential core values of our Calvary Chapel family of churches. As someone who has previously written extensively on our philosophy of ministry and systematic theology in a church planter training manual that Pastor Chuck requested I send to all our churches, I feel qualified to affirm this resource.
To summarize our Calvary Chapel Essence and Identity:
- Expositional Bible teaching,
- Dependency upon the Holy Spirit,
- Grace-centered cultures,
- Anticipation of Christ’s imminent return,
- Seeking to reach all generations, and
- Promoting servant leadership.
The book is a tangible, thoughtful, and effective expression of our Calvary Chapel values, serving as a great reminder not only for my generation (a Calvary Chapel pastor for 35 years) but also for generations to come, until our Lord returns.
2. The excitement was striking, the love palpable.
The sanctuary was full of conference attendees from six continents. The feedback from our family members was overwhelmingly positive, and the sense of love was palpable. I heard from countless attendees who had never attended a CGN conference before, many of whom are part of Calvary Chapel, about how amazing the experience was. They never experienced such a profound sense of love and the presence of the Holy Spirit as they did at our conference. There are more churches in our family, and the conference attendance has increased. There is a sense that we are experiencing the next generation of a healthy expression of Calvary Chapel that welcomes like-minded evangelicals.
3. The Conference Speakers and Theme
Examining the Upper Room discourse (John 13-17) and contemplating the way forward was inspirational. Alistair Begg and Ed Stetzer were insightful voices. They are not part of Calvary Chapel but have the greatest respect and love for CGN and our incredible Bible teachers. There was a wonderful diversity of voices from within our CGN family. Ted Leavenworth, the pastor of the host church, modeled servant leadership (John 13). Kike Torres, a Spanish-speaking pastor in Mexico, shared a fantastic message about abiding (John 15). Daniel Williams, who pastors a smaller church, gave an engaging message about loving like Jesus (John 13:34-35) and then modeled that love throughout the conference. On the other end of the spectrum, Doug Sauder, of Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale, a church with almost 20,000 members, shared an inspiring exposition of John 17 regarding unity.
4. Initiatives
Cultivate is CGN’s global church planting initiative, which has created infrastructure to support 1,000 church plants over the next 10 years.
Connect is the CGN initiative that cares for our growing family of churches by encouraging, empowering, supporting, and seeking to connect leaders to God, CGN resources, and one another, thereby forging spiritual and emotional health within our family.
Expositors Collective exists to prepare our family to be more effective public proclaimers of the word of God. In a movement that places great value on expositional Bible teaching, the importance of this initiative cannot be underestimated.
When She Leads equips women to serve and lead within the local church and beyond. CGN believes that the biblical role of elder is reserved exclusively for men and thus does not ordain women; however, we recognize and affirm the significant impact women make when they are equipped and encouraged to use their gifts in ministry and leadership.
As I contemplate the extraordinary health of CGN and the experiences of myself and so many others, I love CGN.
