Pursuing Life

Dave Ross has served as the Pastor of Worship Ministries at Calvary Church for the last seven years. If you’re a regular attender of Calvary, you see Dave on stage most Sundays, but chances are, you probably don’t know his story! Today, Dave is sharing about his church background, his history with Calvary Church, how God very clearly drew him into ministry, and why he loves leading worship at Calv...

Tammy McDaniel is no stranger to struggles with mental health. What started with a dark season of battling postpartum depression has turned into over 20 years of Tammy learning how to manage and care for her mental health through many different seasons of life. In the last few years especially, Tammy has taken intentional steps towards being mentally healthy, and she has learned about the interpla...

Kim Jack is the Calvary Church librarian, and for the last ten years, she has been intentional about making sure that we have all kinds of resources available to help us grow in our pursuit of Christ. Kim loves books, but more than that, she loves stories. Today, she’s sharing with us her story of coming to know Christ, and how God directed her path to bring her to the Calvary staff.

To wrap up our series on everyday habits and rhythms, we’re joined by Adam Derus, Calvary’s Director of Young Adults, who is here to give us a few practical ways to take a personal inventory of our relationship with technology. Adam has sought to take ownership of his time and set healthy boundaries with technology, and today he is sharing with us some of what he’s learned as we seek to do the sam...

June is graduation season! Every year, we prayerfully send off dozens of high school seniors as they enter into a new season of life. It is our hope and prayer that each of them would go forward with Jesus as their foundation, looking to Him as their source of direction, wherever they go in life. This week on Pursuing Life, we talk with a few of our seniors about how God has been at work in their...

Beth Weaver’s journey with Scripture memory began when she was just a young girl. When she was in middle school, she began attending bible memory camps, and by high school she had memorized an entire book of the Bible. We know that as we get older, our brains process differently, but that hasn’t stopped Beth from finding new ways memorize. In fact, she’s memorizing more in retirement than she ever...

About two years ago, Josiah and Olivia Huss began hosting a monthly “hobby night” at their home. What started as a way for friends to get together and play games turned into a regular time where the Huss’s open their home for anyone to come spend time together over shared hobbies. Essentially, they have created a habit of hospitality. Today, they are sharing with us their heart behind regularly in...

Kevin Gushiken is a college and seminary professor, former pastor, husband, dad, and Calvary Church member. A few years ago, the Lord prompted Kevin to begin researching how play intersects with the Christian life. His research impacted not only his view of God, but encouraged him to cultivate not just a habit, but a lifestyle of play. Kevin has become so passionate about this topic, and today he...

Tune in starting Monday, May 6, for our new series, Every Day! These stories will go hand in hand with our next sermon series, as we dig into what it looks like to cultivate healthy habits and rhythms for spiritual growth. Make sure you’re following Pursuing Life so you are notified when new episodes release!

Bethany Zipprick is our newest Global Ministries staff member! Over the last few months, she has come on board to assist with a variety of different tasks – from email communication to event planning! As a young adult seeking to pursue God’s calling for her life, Bethany is actively considering the part that she plays in going into God’s world. Today, she is sharing how God brought her here, and w...

The final track of Cross Training is called Establish, where candidates meet with the elders for final approval to become a Global Partner. During this track, candidates are working to meet the requirements of their chosen agency, while also continuing their connection to Calvary Church. Our newest Global Partners who are finishing out the Establish track are James and Nica Yates. You may remember...

The third track of Cross Training is called Engage. This is where a candidate determines a mission agency, people group, and ministry focus. Noah Anderton is one of the candidates currently in Engage. He grew up as a missionary kid in Cameroon, where his parents sought to integrate into the Baka community, meeting needs and showing people the love of Jesus. Now, as an adult, Noah is obediently fol...

As we enter our spring Global Focus, we’ll be joined on Pursuing Life by a few of our Cross Training candidates. Cross Training is a program with four sequential tracks, designed to prepare individuals to take the gospel globally across cultures. The first track of Cross Training is called Explore, and its purpose is exactly as you might guess! It’s a chance for those who sense God might be callin...

Global Partners, Philip and Lynn Jackson, have been living and doing ministry in Macedonia for nearly 30 years. About fifteen years ago, they were on home assignment, when the college-aged son of another Global Partner couple asked Philip to help him with a class assignment on solitude. This discussion on solitude was door that would open both Philip and Lynn to the regular rhythm of Sabbath, whic...

Pastor Stan Maughan began observing Sabbath on Sundays when he was in seminary. Prior to this, Stan’s understanding of Sabbath didn’t go far beyond attending a church service. But, by intentionally taking time every week to stop working and rest, Stan found that one day was actually sustaining him through his seminary education. Over the years, Stan’s Sabbath day has looked different, and he has w...

Laura Leigh Kinley serves as Calvary’s Communications Manager, and you may remember her from Episode 51, where she shared her testimony and about her work at Calvary. Today, Laura Leigh is back to share with us how Sabbath has become an important practice in her life. After reading John Mark Comer’s book, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, she was deeply impacted and encouraged with some practical...

Today we are kicking off our REST series with a special introductory episode to help us lay a foundation for our understanding of Sabbath. Pastor Scott Messner is here to help us unpack what Scripture says about Sabbath, how our understanding of it shifts between the Old and New Testaments, and how we can apply its practices to our lives today. Resources Mentioned in this Episode: Embracing the Rh...

Tune in to REST, a new series focusing in on the concept of biblical rest, also known as Sabbath. We’ll hear stories from people who have put Sabbath concepts into practice, and how those practices have impacted their lives. While none of these individuals are experts, our hope is that their stories will spark ideas and conversation as you consider what it truly means to rest.

John and Janet Soden are Calvary’s newest Global Partners! On February 4, they were commissioned for service according to our church constitution and, in March, they will be moving to Minneapolis, where John will be working with Training Leaders International – an organization that focuses on training pastors and leaders around the world, providing desperately needed theological training. John and...

Calvary Preschool has been serving countless families in our community for 50 years! This is such a huge milestone, and while CPS has already begun celebrating, we thought that there would be such value in publicly celebrating God’s faithfulness to this important ministry. So today, Calvary Preschool’s current Director, Susan Hixon, and one of the former Directors, Jody Williams – who is also one...

Between 2020 and 2022, Justin & Laura Houghton walked through an incredibly difficult season where they lost three pregnancies in less than a year. During this time, they were deeply impacted by a worship song called, “Another in the Fire.” This song, which comes directly from Daniel chapter 3, speaks the truth that Jesus is with us in the midst of life’s biggest fires...and that is the thread...

Sam Harbin has been attending Calvary for the last ten years. During that time, he has also been serving as the Chair of the Bible and Theology Department at Lancaster Bible College, where he works with undergrad, graduate, and PhD students. God has blessed Sam with experience both in local churches and in higher education, and that experience has had ripple effects that have allowed ministry to t...

In addition to being an elder, Jay Weaver is also one of Calvary’s Global Partners, based stateside in Lancaster County. Jay has a deep, historical connection to Calvary Church, and his knack for analytics makes him a valuable asset to our Elder Board. Jay’s story is a reminder to all of us just how important it is to take the time to remember God’s faithfulness in our lives. To hear the stories o...

In this final episode of 2023, we get to hear from Steve and Jemi Rohrer, who are Calvary Global Partners serving in Japan. Currently on their first extended furlough in 35 years, God perfectly orchestrated this time for the Rohrer’s to be Stateside. God is doing amazing work in Japan, and because Steve and Jemi have been serving there for many decades, they have had the opportunity to see some of...

Terri Sherman serves as Calvary’s Global Ministries Coordinator, which is a role that she’s held for 20 years! While staffing and processes have changed over time, what has remained true is that Terri has been faithful to come alongside both the Global Ministries team and our Global Partners in order to help Calvary Church carry out our value of going into God’s world . In many ways, Terri has a f...