Pastor Chuck Smith (founder of the Calvary Chapel movement) Has recently finished a book called calvary chapel distinctives and it can be found for free at twft.com It basically gives a run down of what we believe, and may help some of you understand what calvary chapel is all about. I go to CC, Bangor Maine and have to say there is a vaccume in my area and very few churches are bible teaching fellowships. I enjoy our pastor (Ken Graves) and all the other pastors that teach at CC's all over the world. Ive noticed alot of people in this thread picking out certain pastors and criticising them, while I do not agree with everything every pastor says, CC or otherwise when one of them says something i disagree with i simply let it slide or bring it up with the specific pastor himself. CC is definitely a spirit filled charismatic church and is doing a great work for God all over the world right now. Check out that book i mentioned in the begining of this post and visit one that is close to you today
In case you dont feel like reading that whole book this is a basic outline
We believe worship of God should be spiritual.
THEREFORE: We remain flexible and yielded to the leading of the Holy Spirit to direct our worship.
We believe worship of God should be inspirational.
THEREFORE: We give a great place to music in our worship.
We believe worship of God should be intelligent.
THEREFORE: Our services are designed with great emphasis upon teaching the Word of God that He might instruct us how He would be worshiped.
We believe worship of God should be fruitful.
THEREFORE: We look for His love in our lives as the supreme manifestation that we have truly been worshiping Him.
Doctrinal Statement:
1. We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God and inerrant in the original writings.
2. We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
3. We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless blood, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father and His personal return in power and glory.
4. We believe that the lost and sinful man must be saved, and that man's only hope of redemption is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
5. We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a Godly life.
6. We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the unsaved, they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are unsaved unto the resurrection of damnation.
7. We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.