We are here to share the transformational love of Jesus Christ with our neighbors.
our mission
foundations & Beliefs
1. Calvary believes in one Triune God, as revealed in the Scriptures and in Creation, and affirmed in the Church's ancient creeds. (The ancient creeds are the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed.)
2. Calvary deeply values being part of the Reformed tradition with its history, structure, Church Order, and the Reformed Confessions. (The Reformed confessions are the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism and the Canons of Dort. Calvary also values more recent documents, such as "Our World Belongs to God" as well as the Belhar Confession which was written to address the racial segregation occurring in South Africa.)
3. Calvary's leaders affirm these Confessions in their historical context, also allowing individuals and leaders to struggle with and potentially disagree with specific teachings under the supervision of Calvary's Church Council.
CALVARY'S CORE APPROACH TO MINISTRY:
1. Belonging comes before belief; belief comes before Godly behavior. Intentional ministry
fosters all three.
a. You don't have to be perfect to be part of the Calvary family. Like in Jesus ministry, any who wants to belong can belong; there are no barriers.
b. Belief is defined by a deepening understanding of God's grace.
c. Godly behavior is defined by behaving like Jesus - loving God and loving others
- and by demonstrating the Fruit of the Spirit.
2. Belonging, belief, and Godly behavior can only happen through the presence and power
of the Holy Spirit.
Calvary's Core Commitment to Humility:
1. Because no one understands God perfectly, Calvary holds its beliefs with humility,
valuing unity over uniformity.
2. Because human relationships are also complicated, Calvary does not have all the
answers and does not have all the messy aspects of relationships figured out. We do
affirm that each person at Calvary is richer because of their relationships with others -
especially those from different backgrounds and cultures.
3. Calvary is deeply aware of the power dynamics that can intentionally or unintentionally
function in churches. Calvary resists the tendencies to view people as "us" and "them;" as those able to help and those needing help.
our values
WHEN CALVARY IS AT IT'S BEST WE...
LOve Each other well and live together in the messy
We will disagree, but we value unity over agreement
“The Messy Middle is a calling that sacrifices the comfort of standing on the shore of clear-cut, even “correct” answers, in order to wade out to people on another shoreline. When we choose a posture of the Messy Middle, we choose to embody the difficult, uncomfortable, yet holy role of the peacemaker.”
Excerpt from ”How to Stand Where Jesus Stands - The Messy Middle“, May 9, 2018, Kris Beckert. www.missioalliance.org/how-to-stand-where-jesus-stands-the-messy-middle
ARE welcoming and promote belonging together in our imperfections
It is our job to love others, regardless of backgrounds, beliefs, or differences. {John 15:12}
We have expressed this call to primarily love and welcome everyone with the phrase “belong, believe, behave”, not the other way around.
are an authentic, loving community, growing together
“The love of Jesus meets each of us right where we are. If we are willing to follow, He gives us grace to grow.”
practice grateful genorosity with our time, talents, resources and facility
We also colloborate purposefully with our community and ministry partners - to accomplish more than we could do alone.