What We Believe
Calvary Chapel has been formed as a fellowship of believers in the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Our supreme desire is to know Christ and be conformed into His image by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are not a denominational church, nor are we opposed to denominations as such, only their over-emphasis of doctrinal differences that have led to the division of the body of Christ. We believe that the only true basis of Christian fellowship is His (Agape) love, which is greater than any differences we possess and without which we have no right to claim ourselves Christians. For a more detailed Statement of Faith please see below.
Calvary Chapel is a non-denominational Christian church that began in 1965 in Costa Mesa, California. The first Calvary Chapel's pastor, Chuck Smith, followed God’s desire on his heart and ministered to young people in the area. Those who were a part of the "Jesus Movement" of the 60’s were welcomed in by Chuck Smith, enabling them to worship God and learn the Bible together. A huge movement towards Christ and His teachings was nourished through the love and desires of Pastor Chuck Smith and the Calvary Chapel movement.
Calvary Chapel services are designed to be centered on the verse-by-verse teaching of God’s Word. We are a Bible based ministry that concentrates on the simple teaching of the Word of God in love to His people. In our services, we focus on a personal relationship with God through worship, prayer, and the teaching of the Word of God. We offer both expository and topical studies.
At Calvary Chapel we believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the Bible, and we encourage their exercise, but always decently and in order, and with the primary emphasis on the Word of God, which we look to as our primary rule of faith. To quote Pastor Chuck Smith: “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 the most spectacular gifts, and without this love all exercise of spiritual gifts is worthless.”
Although most Calvary Chapels do utilize a form of contemporary worship, there are actually a great variety of styles of music found in our churches. Some are very traditional and conservative, while others prefer electric guitars and drums. No set style of worship makes a Calvary Chapel unique; instead there is wide latitude in expression. All of us desire, of course, that whatever the style of worship, it come from our hearts.
At Calvary Chapel we believe that the pastor is responsible for the church, responsible to hear from God, and responsible to feed and love His people faithfully. Elders are appointed to help the pastor care for the spiritual needs of the congregation, as are deacons to help the pastor care for the material needs of the church. The pastor guides the church as he is lead by the Holy Spirit, and we trust God to put pastors where He wants them to be.
Today, there are over 1300 affiliate Calvary Chapels across the world loving Jesus and studying His Word. All of us come together with one common focus: love for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the desire to know Him more intimately.
Statement of Faith
We believe that God the Father is the personal, transcendent, and sovereign Creator of all things.
We believe that God is eternally existent in three separate persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
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 in the inerrancy of Scripture, that the Bible, Old and New Testaments is the inspired, Infallible and complete Word of God for His church today.
We believe the only true basis of Christian fellowship is Christ's (Agape) love, which is greater than any differences we possess, and without which we have no right to claim ourselves Christians.
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 that after He ascended to Heaven, Jesus poured out His Holy Spirit on the believers in Jerusalem, enabling them to fulfill His command to preach the Gospel to the entire world, an obligation shared by all believers today. We believe that the central mission of the church is to proclaim God's Word to a lost and hurting world.
We believe that because of Jesus’ love and sacrifice for us we should be motivated to heartfelt worship, committed service, diligent study of God’s Word, regular fellowship with other Christians, and participation in both baptism by immersion and the observance of communion.
We believe worship of God should be spiritual. Therefore, we remain flexible and yielded to the leading of the Holy Spirit to direct our worship.
We believe worship of God should be inspirational. Therefore, we give great place to music in our worship.
We believe worship of God should be intelligent. Therefore, our services are designed with great emphasis upon the teaching of the Word of God that He might instruct us how He should be worshipped.
We believe worship of God should be fruitful. Therefore, we look for His love in our lives as the supreme manifestation that we have been truly worshipping Him.
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 the most spectacular gifts, and without this love all exercise of spiritual gifts is worthless.
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.
In our services, we focus on a personal relationship with God through worship, prayer, and the teaching of the Word of God.
