Our Mission

Our mission is to lead people in a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.

When we think about this statement, the reality is that it is really impossible to accomplish. Because we can't force people to do anything that will cause them to grow.  We can't force people to read their bible, we can't force them to pray, we can't change their heart, and we can't renew their mind. So we've decided the best way to accomplish our mission is to help people develop a stronger faith in Jesus. The question is, how do we do that?  How do we help people develop their faith in such a way that their relationship with Christ is always growing?

For our faith to grow, all of us need three vital relationships in our life: Intimacy with God, community with other Christians, and influence with pre-Christians.  

Intimacy with God:  Intimacy at its simplest definition means to fully know and be fully known. When we talk about intimacy with God, we're simply stating a desire to fully know God for who He is and allowing Him into our lives in such a way that He fully knows us.  This is best done by developing a habit of reading & learning the bible, talking with God (prayer), worship, and obedience to His word.   

Community with other Christians: Revelations 12:10 (NLT) says "they have defeated him (the accuser) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony." That is, Christ made salvation possible for anyone who puts their faith in Him, but our faith grows through the encouraging testimony of other Christians. We encourage you to discover the benefit of hanging out with other Christians at a Fellowship Event or Life-Change group where you will hear the incredible stories of God's goodness and grace in the lives of other people. The result is that your own faith will grow.   

Influence with pre-Christians: One of the most encouraging ways to experience growth is to share your faith-journey with other people. You don't need a wealth of bible knowledge to tell your story. In fact, there are lots of things that can be debated and argued in life, including things about the bible. But, the story of your own life-change cannot be argued. By gaining inluence with pre-Christians, you are earning the right to tell them about the difference Jesus has made inside of you.

By pursuing these three vital relationships and making them a priority in our life we believe our mission to lead people in a growing relationship with Jesus Christ can be accomplished. So Calvary Church provides all kinds of activities, events, and environments to help individuals pursue the three vital relationships necessary for our faith to grow.

 If you're interested in knowing how we implement this be sure to check out Our Strategy.

Our Strategy

Strategy is the "boots on the ground" to help us accomplish our mission.  

The Bible often refers to the Church as a family. When we think about the idea of being part of a family many images come to mind. For some, the images are healthy, but for others it may not be so great. However, God's idea of family is for each member to live in perfect harmony with each other.  That's what we desire at Calvary Church, to become a family that lives in harmony with one another. We do this by strategically targeting three objectives in everything we do:  

    1) Create ENVIRONMENTS for the Holy Spirit to work in people's lives.

   2) To develop leaders to work within those environments.

   3) Invite people to participate in those environments.

You might be wondering what kind of environments we are trying to create. If we were to liken the Church to a home, three major enviroments could be found: A foyer environment, a living room environment, and a kitchen environment.

The FOYER Environment is a place where every guest enters someone's home for the first time.  Sometimes its an awkward place for a guest because they're not sure what to expect or how to behave. We know there are times when guests are more likely to be present than other times. We want to protect the integrity of the "Foyer Environment"  by helping those who visit feel as comfortable as possible. Needless to say, there are specific things we do (and don't do) within this environment so our guests can feel comfortable time and time and time again. 

The LIVING ROOM Environment is where people become more acquainted with each other and begin to develop friendships. After all, it would seem rude to visit someone's house for dinner only to be left standing in the foyer all evening. The living room is a place to kick the shoes off, laugh, and have fun together. Its a place where friendships are found and developed. At Calvary Church we don't want our guests to feel like we left them standing at the front door. So we create "Living Room" environments where you can make new friends and foster healthy relationships with other people. 

The KITCHEN Environment is a time when the entire family gathers together to discuss family issues. It's when responsibilities are assigned, goals are set, discipline is maintained, and intimate discussions happen for the benefit of the entire family. This environment is especially important to maintain harmony with each other.  We believe everyone needs a family to belong to where facades come down, masks come off, and deep relationships are fostered for the benefit of God's plan for our lives.  The "Kitchen Environment" provides the greatest potential for people to grow in their faith journey because its the real-deal relationally.   

Each of these major environments build upon each other. All three are needed to maintain a healthy balance  within our Church. So we work hard at creating all three environments so the Holy Spirit can work in people's lives. As leaders are developed, we invite people to be part of these environments.

If you desire to be part of a family, we invite you to be our guest.  But  remember, our biggest desire is for you to become part of our family.  

Our Core Values

All of us come from different backgrounds.

Whether it be religion, home life, cities, or  cultures, we all have different opinions on what is important in a church But, at Calvary Church we agree on seven core values to help us stay focused on how to operate and how to behave.

 1) Strategic Service is exactly what it sounds like - serving strategically. We believe everyone has a talent, a gift, or special ability to offer the Lord in their personal service. We encourage people to ask themselves this question prior to diving into service:   "In light of what God has called our church to do, where can I serve to help the church accomplish its mission?"  If all of us serve strategically everyone will enjoy the journey of serving the Lord.  

2) Relevant Environments are a way for us to use what is cultural to communicate what is timeless. Most people don't have a problem with believing in God, but rather the environments they're forced to endure at organizations who teach about God. Relevant Environments make church involvement more enjoyable and helps people become part of the family where their faith can grow in Christ. 

 3) Intentional Apprenticing helps us equip people before they are given responsibility within the environments we endeavor to create.  

4) Authentic Community is anywhere people are genuinely connected, encouraged and challenged in their relationship with God and with others.  It's the real-deal relationally, where over time facades come down and masks are removed. It's any environment where people can connect with others and experience the grace, forgiveness, and love of God.  

5) Intimacy with God is about being fully known and fully accepted. Not just knowing about God based on what other people have told us,  but rather fully accepting Him for who He is. Many people want God to fit into a box they create for Him, but that's not intimacy. We have a great desire to experience Jesus Christ within a context of relationship He desires to have with us. This happens when we read the bible, apply its teaching and talk with Jesus (prayer) everyday.  

 6) Relational Evangelism is doing ministry within the context of our relatioships with other people, particularly pre-Christians. Webster describes evangelism as promoting what we believe in. Relational Evangelism is simply promoting what we believe in to the people we care about.  

7) Biblical Authority is the most important value we adhere to. Throughout the New Testament, Jesus Himself submitted to the authority of Scripture and taught His disciples to do the same.  If Jesus, the Son of God, emphasized the importance of the authority of scripture in His own life, why shouldn't we? We believe the Bible is our final authority for what we believe and how we behave. We don't want to think the bible is AN authority, but rather we want to function as though we really believe it is THE final authority in our lives.  

Our Doctrine

We are a full-gospel fellowship church affiliated with the General Council of the Assemblies of God.

 Together we have over 13,000 churches across America and more than 230,000 Churches around the world with some 65 million members and adherants, making it the worlds largest pentecostal fellowship.  

Within this fellowship Calvary Church is a partner of the Oregon Ministry Network which consists of 200 churches across the state of Oregon. Together we stand united in a four-fold reason for being:  To evangelize the lost, worship God, disciple believers, and show compassion.  

There are 16 fundamental truths all Assemblies of God churches believe.

1) The scriptures are inspired of God and declare His design and plan for mankind.  

2) There is only One True God revealed in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (commonly called the Trinity). 

 3) The deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. As God's son Jesus was born both human and divine.  

 4) Man willingly fell to sin. Though mankind was originally created good, he chose to sin which introduced evil and death to his physical and spiritual states within the world.  

 5) Salvation of man can be restored with God by trusting in Jesus Christ through faith and repentance of sin.  

 6) Ordinances of the Church include Water Baptism which is practiced by immerson after repenting of one's sins and receiving Christ's free gift of salvation. Holy Communion is a symbolic rememberance of Christ's suffering and death for  our salvation.

 7) The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a special experience following salvation that empowers believers for witnessing and effective service, just as it did in New Testament times.  

 8) The initial PHYSICAL evidence  of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is 'speaking in tongues' as experienced on the Day of Pentecost and referenced throughout the Book of Acts and the Epistles.

 9) Sanctification initially occurs at Salvation and is not only a declaration that a believer is holy, but is also a progressive lifelong process of separating from evil as believers continually grow closer to God and become more Christlike.  

 10) The Church has a mission to seek and save all who are lost in sin. 

 11) A divinely called and scriptually ordained leadership ministry serves the Church. Under leadership each of us must commit ourselves to reach others for Christ, to worship Him with other believers, and to build up the body of believers.  

 12) Divine healing of the sick is a privilege for all Christians today and is provided for in Christ's sacrificial death on the cross for our sins (atonement).  

 13) The blessed hope is when Jesus raptures His Church prior to His return to earth (second coming). 

 14) The millennial reign of Christ will happen when Jesus returns with His saints at His second coming and begins His rule over earth for 1000 years.   

 15) A final judgement will take place for those who have rejected Christ in this lifetime. They will be judged for their sin and consigned to eternal punishment in a lake of fire. 

 16) New heavens and a new earth is being prepared by Christ for all people, of all time, who have accepted Him. We will live with Him there forever following His millennial reign on earth.