The issue of gender is increasingly becoming an important issue in the church. As the issue encroaches upon global Christianity it is critical that Calvary have a clear understanding of what gender is and how to respond to a post-Christian critique as well as gender roles in ministry. The static or fluid nature of gender has ramifications for how the church deals with issues such as transgenderism, sexual identity, any distinctions between the genders such as roles and responsibilities, and gender roles in ministry. While the scope goes far beyond this paper, this provides a summary of Calvary’s position in my understanding and experience.

UPDATED MONDAY, MARCH 16 Calvary family, let’s take a moment to talk about what’s on our hearts and minds this week. The COVID-19 virus that has been impacting our world is now impacting our own lives on a local level, and I want to share with you how our church is responding.

On Sunday, January 26, several leaders shared about recent changes (all good!), continued growth, and the vision for local and global outreach at Calvary Church.

Our church’s local and global outreach ministries have always worked toward common goals to reach our city and the world with the love of Jesus. This spring, we’re bringing them together in a fresh way.

Introducing Noah Smith this past Sunday as our new Director of Student Ministries marks the end of a nearly year-long search to fill the Calvary Students leadership position. And in many ways, we're ending where we began.

On Sunday March 3, one of our elders, Dave Kurt, announced that our restated constitution was enthusiastically adopted by congregational vote.  As a result, our new constitution became effective on March 1.  The first official action was to affirm Josh Reasoner as our lead teaching pastor, which we celebrated at our Sunday service on March 3.  One of the major changes in our new constitution is the creation of elder term limits as well as a new process for nominating and choosing new elders.  

As you know, we are toward the final stages of restating our old constitution. I am pleased to report that as of the end of the 30-day voting period, February 15th, we have received only four votes against the restated constitution.  This means that as of March 1st, 2019, the proposed restated constitution becomes official.  We will immediately begin working on the Lay Elder nomination process and term limit procedures.  You will hear more of this in the very near future.

A church is like a big family, and family members need to talk and listen to each other well in order to flourish and grow.  I plan to touch base with you here to keep our church community informed of big picture issues relating to Calvary. We had a fantastic turnout for our Family Meeting last Sunday.