Thirty-five years ago, today, our church signed our charter papers. We were just a handful of Christians in a beautiful valley about to explode with growth, but we were no less a church then as we are now.
I was six months old when we first started meeting in a rented school over near Pechanga.
I remember it well. It was just me, all alone with my mom, in the nursery.
Okay, so maybe I don’t remember all the details of my infancy, but some of you remember those early years! Many of our members today have been around for 20, 25, or 30+ years, and, to me, that says a lot.
Last year, my dad retired and we had a great celebration as we welcomed back past members who had moved away, enjoyed a meal together, and gave my parents the ol’ 1948 Pontiac as a retirement gift (which they took to the Temecula Rod Run last week!).
What a joy to see what God has done through Calvary Baptist Church since its beginning. Our founding motto was, “Contending for truth; not traditions or trends,” and that’s been a guiding principle for us since the beginning.
Not too much has changed.
Oh, sure, we have these beautiful facilities and a few new faces, a nice sound system and a slick website… but those aren’t what make up a church. The DOCTRINE of a church and the PEOPLE of the “faith which was once delivered to the saints” are what’s most important.
I’d like 35 more years in Temecula, if God would allow. With the Good Book as our guide, our best days are yet ahead.
-Pastor Ryan