Staff Blog

church at the park 2010 ...reflections

 

when calvary nexus first began meeting outside of our home we started gathering at a local park. The group was small and the idea of meeting “out of the box” has always been so attractive to me [and I imagine others, too]. as the church community grew we began to meet in a storefront location, our own developed land, and industrial space, but the park idea is near and dear to my heart. 

the church community has become too large for us to meet weekly in a park yet our church at the park event is one of my favorite experiences with the Body of Christ. the weather in camarillo seems to always be perfect so it lends itself to gathering outdoors, and I don’t take for granted the blessing of being able to assemble freely to worship. 

early in the morning [and often the night before] set-up of the sound system, chairs, food & activities for 1,500 people takes place. close to 250 people volunteered to help and the organization and cooperation seem flawless. people start to arrive and there is a palpable sense of anticipation – the mood is relaxed, the love is flowing but there’s an excitement … a stirring of God’s Spirit more than a mere event.

the worship team opens in prayer and instruments and voices rise up in unison. the assembled begin to sing with one voice to God, outdoors – very public & very attractive. The kids’ choir takes the stage for the final song and it feels soooooooo good. a precious baby girl is dedicated to the Lord as a “big family” prays for her new mom and dad to help her to grow strong in Jesus.

I encourage the crowd to open their Bibles to Ephesians chapter six, “as we continue our studies through Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus.” people are asked to share their Bibles if someone next to them doesn’t have one with them, and we learn  “God’s plan for family.” together we discover the role of children and parents as they are led by God’s Spirit.

The worship team returns to close in song, and people reach across aisles and hold hands and lift up their voices – the instruments drop out & the massive choir of 1500 voices praise God and I’m in awe of the beauty.

the park has a beautiful indoor pool with slide and diving boards that we rented for the occasion; and on a beautiful summer day 100s of people were loving it. also, we rented the skate-park and were blessed to have friends from “boarders for Christ” do a skate demo & share about their journey with Jesus. other folks went right for the amazing bbq [ultimately, we descended on the bbq & ice cream like locusts]. people were playing frisbee, football, handball, volleyball or just hanging out – sharing the love of God. SO relaxed …

I’m so amazed by how beautiful the Body of Christ is; and just enjoyed seeing people I know and love and meeting new people. I thank God for the many people who labored, albeit a labor of love, to make the day soooooooo very special for so many. And thanks to all of you who call calvary nexus your community for making it such an awesome experience!

 

Celebration and Anticipation

we have just passed the mid-way point of 2010 … a time to reflect and celebrate what God has done and a time to share what we believe God desires to do in our community. As our church family grows the tendency is to assume that our participation is not needed. To the contrary, as we grow together your part is essential. So, as we consider our vision & priorities for the remainder of the year please pray about how God would have you be a part …

vision 6.10-12.10 calvary nexus

nexus: a place of connection, a connected group, the focus or center

our mission: teaching the Bible to make committed believers to reach their community for Jesus~

I. celebration: thanks to God and to all of you who helped 

A. a second campus: one church at multiple locations

during 2009 our campus on Mobil was reaching functional capacity: there were 1,000+ adults attending Sunday services and we simply needed more space to serve our community. On 4.11.10, by the grace of God, we launched a new 24,000 sq. foot campus at 300 S. Lewis Rd. in Camarillo. We are now 1 church with 2 campuses in Camarillo.

B. a new youth center: reaching the next generation for Jesus

one of the primary reasons we started the 2nd campus was to create a youth center where middle school & high school students would have a nexus. On 5.10.10 we began offering sports, music, art, tutoring, spiritual life coaching, games and an energy lounge to our community for free. Each day, students gather for chapel and learn about Jesus. Through the efforts of many volunteers we are able to offer this one of a kind service to our community.

II. anticipation: our priorities for the remainder of the year

A. connect - we help people connect with God by teaching through the Bible as we gather as a large assembly:

1. multi-site matters: in the coming months we’ll continue our transition to one church at multiple sites.  Each campus provides a nexus where we can grow in Christ and live the mission of knowing Him and making Him known to help pre-believers connect with God. Please identify a primary campus and help develop that community. 

B. grow - we help people become committed to Christ by exploring spiritual growth in smaller groups:

1. community groups: we’re creating a church of community groups rather than a church with community groups. In essence, we hope to see all of the church involved in mid-week community where people experience authentic relationships intended to develop spiritual maturity. Smaller groups help singles, couples, parents, and families learn to respond to challenges from a biblical perspective. If you are not yet involved in a community group please sign-up asap this summer or contact roger@calvarynexus.org.

2. leader development: leader & teacher development takes place formally through our school of ministry & intern program, and informally as we identify, train and develop leaders in every area of the church. We’re constantly looking to prepare more leaders as God continues to expand our influence. If you’d like to grow as a spiritual leader please contact me [bruce@calvarynexus.org]. 

C. reach: we help reach our community by living our relationship with Christ beyond sunday:

1. community service ministry: develop a culture of service evangelism. The goal is to see everyone in the church serve 2-3 hours a month. We offer large-scale projects, and small-scale projects [e.g. rescue mission, pregnancy center, food pantry, senior center], & care for individual needs within the church and community. please contact robb@calvarynexus.org to serve God by serving others.

2. youth center@ lewis rd campus: we’re looking for 100 volunteers & more students for our daily program for older students.  In an effort to reach the next generation for Jesus you can help any weekday afternoon with sports, music, art, games, energy lounge hosting, video & computers, spiritual life coaching, etc. Please contact Jess@calvarynexus.org.

NDP 2010

Some photos from the National Day of Prayer.

 

My Youth Center Experience

Last week, we launched our youth center at the lewis rd campus … dreams really do come true [especially when they’re a vision from God]. More than a year ago we began to explore the possibility of establishing a youth center in our community where jr. high & high school students could gather weekdays after school. The plan was to create a place where students could come & feel that it is their space. A place to finish homework, have a snack in a cool 3^rd place - the energy lounge, play sports, play games, learn to play an instrument in the worship center and create art in the artist’s loft/center, get tutoring help or use computers in the learning center, or just get some help navigating life [life coaching/mentoring].

What an amazing experience for me to see our youth center open, see students excited to be there, and to participate in this blessing. The kids are great and they appreciate not only the place but the love that the volunteers are showing them. I was so impressed by the volunteers who simply wanted to make a difference in the life of a young person. There are so many of us who want to help but feel unqualified by a lack of “special” talent or ability … but the kids love it.

The idea of being able to offer a youth center to our community free of charge seems so improbable but because of the love of God’s people that has become a reality. I know that this is going to be an expanding benefit for our community that will impact our youth – the next generation of leaders – for good but it is also such a blessing to the volunteers. Here is a an inspiring email I received from a volunteer [shared with permission]:

Hi PB,

I've stepped in a ring and boxed, can ride a motorcycle on a race track and throw a bunch of weight around but I have to admit, I was really nervous about my first day at the Youth Center!  Being a person that for 2 years would periodically come to Calvary, sit through service and then hop in my car and leave this was something completely new to me.  But It was also something that I just felt motivated to do when I felt a change in my heart.  I don’t like to think of myself as a “new believer”  but rather newly restored and I’d just like you to know that you (and the Church of course) have played such a vital role in this.  As I mentioned before I have spent most of my adult life “searching”.  I’m not even sure I knew what I was searching for but I was lucky enough to stumble in that Good Friday a few years ago and although you can say I’ve “been around” for the past few years it was almost as if I were just going through the motions.  It wasn’t until recently that I found myself in the place where I am now.  Yearning for more, Falling in Love with Jesus and wanting to be a reflection of just that.

Finishing off my workweek with a few hours at the Youth Center was really refreshing as I struggled quite a bit earlier in the week.  I feel blessed to have the opportunity to serve the Lord through the Youth Center and look forward to all the growth at the Youth Center, and in my life. 

See ya soon!

Love,

April G.

I know that as a volunteer myself I was blessed. I got to play basketball, watch some really creative kids make art, drink sodas & eat tootsie rolls with a group of kids, and I had so much fun. Also, I was reminded of some of the challenges of being a student today, and they shared some great insights for parents. During my chapel time, I asked the students to share some insights that they think parents should be aware of [but probably aren't] and I wanted to pass the lessons along:

1. give them some privacy

2. don't make them spend too much time with siblings

3. some things parents think are "easy" aren't when your in Jr Hi [sometimes we're too young to understand]

4. don't try to act cool

5. give em time to do chores

6. sometimes we do things without a reason, so don't ask, "why did you do that?"

7. don't correct me in front of people (it's embarrassing)

8. be more patient [give us time]

9. listen and accept us 

10.understand that our challenges are different than yours are/were

11. don't ask us too many questions

12. not all of us are multi-taskers

13. kids are kids ... so we act like kids

14. if you keep asking the same question, I'll probably give you the same answer. 

What inspires me more than anything else about the youth center is knowing that every afternoon the students have a chapel service where they will learn about God, be introduced to Jesus, and be provided with tools to help them grow in Jesus so that they can succeed in this life and the life to come. This youth center is making an eternal difference and that truth makes our participation so rewarding.

<3
pb