Adult Ministry Blog

Terry Sanderson Confirmed as Calvary's New Lead Pastor

In an overwhelming affirmative vote today, the members of Calvary Church confirmed Terry Sanderson as our new Lead Pastor. Click here to read the announcement from the Elder Board. Continue to pray for Terry and his family as they transition over the next few months, and for North Park church as they begin their transition.  Click here to read Terry's resignation letter to North Park.

Letter from an inmate...

In December, a group of volunteers from Calvary and other churches in our community came together to make gift baskets to distribute at a Christmas worship service at the St. Charles County Correctional facility.  The organizer recently received a letter from one of the recipients.  We thought you might enjoy reading it:

Diane,

My name is Lorna [last name removed for privacy] and I an inmate at St. Charles Co. Dept. of Corrections. Just wanted to drop a note of appreciation to you and your church, also to anyone else who was involved in doing our Christmas Program. I know a couple of churches got together to make our bags if you know which ones could you just thank them for me “Thank You more than I could ever express.” Also I seen our bibles are from First Baptist Church in O’Fallon. Our stamps here are limited so if you could also let them know somehow that getting my own bible for Christmas and hearing the word of God for Christmas really touched my heart and soul in a very deep place. I just can’t stop crying but they are not sad tears. Just tears of, oh I don’t know the word. (Smile) I guess joy would be one that could come close. It is very deep to know that God loves me no matter what I’ve done. He loves me. That makes me feel so good from the inside out. So from my heart & soul thank you and God Bless all of you for taking the time to let a “couple of convicts” know there is at least one person out there that doesn’t think we deserve to be thrown in the human waste category. Again thank you and Merry Christmas.

Lorna

Connections To Success Christmas Party

The Connections To Success Christmas Party was an awesome success! There were gifts, games, and other special events for the families involved. Almost 1000 single moms and hurting families attended.  Many of these would not have had a Christmas without this ministry. Almost half of the volunteers were from Calvary including several small groups.  The Boy Scout unit from Calvary put together 120 food boxes for the families.

Making A Difference In The Lives Of Prisoners

Calvary along with O'Fallon First Baptist, sponsored "Christmas Behind Bars" which is a program to provide Christmas Eve services for the inmates in the St. Charles County Jail.  On Saturday, December 13, close to 300 inmates attended the services plus several of the prison guards.  All together 198 people accepted Christ.  We gave away gift bags which included Christian literature, hygiene items, and a Bible to all those attending the services.  Thank you to everyone who helped make this event a success!

A Flood of Generosity

If you do not live near a river, you may never think about flooding. But if you do, every spring when the rains come, there is always a chance that the river will overflow its banks and flood your home. This spring, as many St. Louis area rivers overflowed their banks, many people were left to rebuild their homes as best they could. It can be easy to forget about flood victims when the news goes off every night, but Raymond Washington and his Growth Group from Calvary Church found themselves with an opportunity to help one individual. A member of the group, Jessica Willis, had an aunt whose home was devastated by the Meramec River near Eureka. When Jessica made her group aware of her aunt’s need, they decided to see what they could do to help.

“I sit at a desk everyday,” said Washington. “I am not a person who knows anything about repairs or construction. But I approached this task with the idea that I would do whatever needed to be done.” When the Growth Group arrived at the house, they were surprised by the amount of destruction. The floodwater had filled the entire first floor of the home before receding. Jessica’s aunt had continued to live in the home, but was overwhelmed by the amount of work to be done and the costs of repairs without insurance.

“The look on her face when we showed up was just incredible. You could just see the relief,” Washington remembered. “That look inspired us to do as much as we could for her.” The group had intended to work for 2-3 hours, but soon realized there was a much bigger job and spent the entire day gutting the first floor of the home and hauling away debris.

The Growth Group keeps up with Jessica’s aunt as she slowly repairs her home. Washington believes that projects like this one are important. “As important as breathing! Service like this is what keeps us humble and connected to the people's needs. When we help others, we are like Christ. He met people's needs, where they were hurting.” --Story by Susan Godbey

Putting Hope in a Home

Those who know Cheryl Kross know she is a woman with a mission.

Cheryl has always believed God was calling her to “make a difference in the life of a child” and, as a result, has focused much of her volunteer efforts working in traditional children’s programming. “But when I heard about Calvary’s Habitat project, I knew God was telling me this was another good opportunity to impact a child’s life,” explained Cheryl. Although it may seem an atypical children’s ministry, she notes that the homes provided to families through Habitat for Humanity provide much more than shelter; the newfound security of owning their home also provides these children with a foundation for hope in the future. 

Cheryl commented that after she began attending Calvary, upon returning to the area two years ago, she asked God to show her where He wanted her to serve.  “When I heard that announcement, it felt like He was saying this was a place to start (serving).” She added, “Habitat for Humanity has always inspired me.” She remembers simply writing  “Habitat” on the comment card, dropping it in the offering that Sunday morning, and thinking, “How simple can this be?”

The rest of the story is now part of the jobsite history.  As part of Calvary’s Habitat team, Cheryl has participated several Saturdays both in new home construction and lunch detail – often coordinating menu and setup. Cheryl added, ”It’s a great way to serve a better cause than myself, and it’s not that big of a deal when we all work together.” Whether it’s with hammer in hand or serving lunch to the other volunteers it’s clear, Cheryl Kross is definitely making a difference. 

- story by Beth Wade
 

Serving Stories Coming Soon!

We're excited to announce a new feature on this blog coming very soon!

Each month, look for new stories of Calvary members and attenders who are reaching out to the rest of Calvary and their communities!  The very first story will be posted soon!

If you have an idea for a future story, please email me at names@calvaryonline.cc.

In Christ,

Natalie Ames
Adult Ministries Assistant

Get Out and Serve - Part III

There are some exciting places and ways to serve coming up in the month of June.  Check these out!

• Have you ever wanted to see a real Polo match up close and personal?  You can if you sign up to help with the Epworth Polo Match on June 14 at Blue Heron Farms in Defiance.  This event helps raise money for Epworth Children and Family Services, an agency that helps teens in crisis. We'll need approximately 40 volunteers for this event and all volunteers are invited to stay for the BBQ dinner. It's a great way to spend some time together as a growth group and enjoy a great afternoon at the sport of kings!
  

• Do you love to paint?  We'll need 20-30 volunteers to help paint teen dorms and furniture at the Epworth center in St. Louis.  Spend the day on June 28, painting, blessing and praying for the teens in crisis who live there.

• Do you love children?  Every Wednesday & Thursday evening, Our Lady's Inn needs a few people to play with babies and toddlers so moms can attend classes.  On Sundays, they need help with prepare dinner or lunch foods for about 20-25 moms and their children.  You can drop it off or stay and serve. Our Lady's Inn is an emergency shelter for pregnant women in crisis, helping them to choose life for their unborn child.  We need 2 to 3 volunteers each Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday throughout the summer.

• Are you handy with a hammer?  Do you make a mean lunch?  Calvary's Habitat for Humanity project is gearing up to begin on June 21st.  We need construction volunteers for June 21st, June 28th and July 12 quickly.  Crew size varies each week between 12 and 18.  Is your growth group looking for a summer project?  This might be the one for you!

You can find these projects and other projects on the Web site by clicking what I like to call the "Serve Guy" on the home page.  You'll also see ministry opportunities inside the church as well.

I'll leave you this month with the chorus of one of my favorite Audio Adrenaline songs:

I want to be Your hands
I want to be Your feet
I'll go where You send me
I'll go where You send me
And I try, yeah, I try
To touch the world
Like You touched my life
And I'll find my way
To be Your hands

Our community needs to see Jesus and they can when we each find our way to be His hands.

Blessings,

Natalie

Get Out and Serve - Part II

I promised to update you on our April serving projects!

In the month of April, Calvary Church sent 82 volunteers into the community to help with five different projects!

• On April 2, the CalvaryChurch@theMall F3 prepared, setup, served dinner and fellowshipped with the people of the Church of St. Charles, a church that has been called to specifically minister to low-income individuals and families in the city of St. Charles.
• On April 5, 33 volunteers at Calvary Mid Rivers and Calvary West provided free oil changes to 71 single moms and low-income families.
• Nine Calvary volunteers served in April's Shower of Love on April 10 and collected baby items at area Shop-n-Save stores to distribute to Our Lady's Inn and other St. Charles agencies serving mothers and babies.
• Eleven volunteers went into St. Louis on Saturday, April 19 to help Jubilee Church on North Grand Avenue install windows in doors and shelving units in their garage.  Jubilee Church is an Evangelical Free Church committed to revitalizing their community.
• Also on April 19, the 11 members of the Washington Growth Group, from CalvaryChurch@theMall, traveled to Eureka to help a flood victim clean up her home.

Many of these volunteers found their place to serve on the new Serve section of our Website and you can too!  There are some exciting places and ways to serve in the month of June.  I'll tell you all about them in my next post!

Blessings!

Natalie

Get Out and Serve - Part I

I'm so excited to be the guest blogger this month!  My name is Natalie Ames and I am the Adult Ministries secretary at Calvary Church, a job I'm thrilled to have as my passion is connecting people with other people and with opportunities.  In this job, I get to do both!

Over the last few months, Calvary's focus has been "Worship, Serve, Grow."  This month, we thought we'd tell you how Calvary is serving our larger community and how you can serve on several upcoming projects.  Stay tuned!

Blessings,

Natalie
names@calvaryonline.cc