Dear Calvary Church,

This Sunday is a very important day in the life of Calvary Palisades. First off, remember that we “Fall Back” Saturday night! Secondly, the VitalChurch Team will be onsite beginning today. Here’s an overview of the schedule (and I would encourage you to be prayerful):

  • Dinner tonight with the VitalChurch Team and our Elders, Deacons, and Staff (including spouses). The objective is to get everyone on the same page concerning the scope and focus of the weekend. We will also have a time of prayer together.
  • Tomorrow morning the VitalChurch Team will share the initial oral report with our Elders followed by a time of dialogue.
  • Tomorrow afternoon the VitalChurch Team will share the initial oral report with our Staff followed by a time of dialogue.
  • Sunday morning will be a normal worship service where we will finish up our Family of God sermon series (catch-up if you need to), which will be followed by lunch, and then the initial oral report will be shared with our congregation. It takes about 45 minutes to share the findings and recommendations, and a time of Q&A will follow.

I certainly hope you will make every effort to be there. The aim is to provide us with a mirror and a map. The mirror is not what VitalChurch thinks, it’s what we told them in the online survey and input sessions. Based on what we have told them about our church, VitalChurch will provide us with some very specific recommendations to implement before we engage a search for a permanent Lead Pastor.

And Ron asked me to convey our sympathies to the family of David Price who graduated into the presence of Jesus this past Tuesday. While he has not been attending services for many years, he was very active during the building phase of our current Palisades Drive campus, and he was also the founder of Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village.

Good Gossip

  • You may have heard that last week there was a power outage on our campus from Friday to Sunday morning. Kudos to the CCS Staff for carrying on with classes! And we were preparing to hold our church service without power, but the power was restored about 8:30am!
  • After our church service 26 people showed up for a GriefShare event and learned how to navigate the holidays while grieving the loss of a loved one.
  • Our Family Harvest Night last Sunday was a big success! We all needed to pivot from Friday night to Sunday night because of the power outage. A big thank you to all that volunteered! It was yet another event that mingled church and CCS families for the purpose of building connections and relationships.
  • Once a month we host Teen Challenge Women for a gathering of fellowship, prayer, and worship. Last Saturday over 30 women attended. Kristen said, “The meeting was one of the best meetings we have ever had. The women blessed us with acapella original songs they are writing about God’s goodness and the prayer requests were deep.”
  • A big thank you to Pam Douglas. She works quietly and effectively to gather and encourage women as well as organizing events like GriefShare and hosting the Teen Challenge Women. Thanks for serving, Pam!
  • Our exceptional staff got away yesterday for a day of teambuilding and fun! We started the day at a coffee shop, then experienced an Escape Room together, followed by lunch. It has been a joy for me to join this team.

Please continue to pray for God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done in and through Calvary Church—and I’ll see you on Sunday!

Pastor Gregg