Pursuing Life

In this final episode of our “I Have Decided” series, Katina is joining us to share about the ways that God has transformed her life through the most unexpected and traumatic of circumstances. Katina’s walk with the Lord has very much been characterized by open doors that lead to incredibly difficult situations. But, despite the feelings of loneliness, anxiety, and shame that those situations brou...

Adam Derus serves as the Director of Young Adults at Calvary Church, which means that he spends the majority of his time with 18 to 30-year-olds. Adam’s early college years were pivotal in his Christian walk, so naturally he is passionate about working with this age group as they navigate through the changes and questions of young adulthood. Today, Adam is sharing his story of coming to know Jesus...

Ian Forrey is a young adult whose life has recently been radically changed. In Ian’s words, he really had no opinion about the gospel. It wasn’t until he got involved in Young Adult Ministries, witnessed the faith of others, and heard David Platt speak at Cross-Conference that he allowed the truth of the gospel to change his heart and his life. Ian is now passionate about reading Scripture and gro...

Larry Richardson grew up knowing very little about a personal relationship with Jesus. While he attended Catholic Mass regularly, went through catechism, and even served as an altar boy, he believed that his baptism as a baby was his ticket to heaven. But, as an adult, Larry wrestled with questions like, “Is God real?” “Who is He?” and, “Do heaven and hell really exist?” And, while God met him in...

Kathy Noel serves on staff at Calvary Church as the Director of Child Discipleship. That means that her primary role is brainstorming and implementing ways that we can help kids pursue life in Christ, which includes coming alongside parents as they seek to disciple their children daily. Kathy started serving with kids when she was just a teenager, and she has a wealth of experience in both ministr...

Growing up in an affluent family in New Jersey, Lois knew a world where importance and success were found in flashy things that money could buy. But, even though her parents owned the biggest house and the best car in town, Lois knew those things didn’t lead to happiness. When Lois was a teenager, she witnessed her mother become radically transformed by Jesus, and she wanted that same joy! After m...

When Kyle Matteson was a kid, he really didn’t want anything to do with the church. While he was raised in a home that knew Jesus, circumstances early in life caused him to become angry towards faith. As a teenager, God got a hold of Kyle’s heart, and it started to soften. As he graduated from high school and has navigated his early 20s, Kyle has started learning that following Jesus means trustin...

Cheyanne Seber serves as the disability coordinator for Calvary Kids, as well as the inclusion specialist for Calvary Preschool. Cheyanne always knew that she wanted to work with kids, but it wasn’t until college that God really gave her a specific passion for kids with special needs. Now, through her role at Calvary, Cheyanne has the opportunity to work with kids and families to help meet their s...

Chris and Ashley Kresic join us today to talk about navigating discipleship with young children. The Kresics are busy parents, with four children under the age of eight and one more on the way. But, despite the busyness, they seek to live missionally-minded lives that intentionally point their kids, and others, to what it looks like to follow Jesus. Today’s episode is a very real conversation abou...

Twins, Becky and Lizzie, are entering their senior year of high school. Not only have they been intentional to be discipled through their involvement with Calvary Student Ministries, but they have also taken seriously the call to make disciples, both actively sharing their faith with their friends, and serving the next generation of kids in grades 1-4. Becky and Lizzie are examples to us all that...

Cross Training candidates, Melea, Hadassah, and Allyson, each have a unique story about how God has bent their hearts towards the nations. They also have a unique story about how He brought them together in their pursuit of overseas work – through prayer. All three of these young ladies are actively involved in Calvary’s Young Adult ministry, and have had a front row seat to the ways that God is a...

Ray Huber serves on Calvary’s Facilities Team, and his main responsibility is to work on building projects and construction-related repairs. As a part-time employee, this is Ray’s retirement job – or, as he calls it, his “repurposing.” Today he is sharing about his many years of serving God in church planting and missions, what he’s learned about being an initiator, and how to effectively pass off...

Karl & Eileen Fisher have been leading a group here at Calvary called Essentials for almost four years. Through this study of the Old & New Testaments, and how they weave together into one story, the Fishers have become connected with many individuals in all different parts of their journey towards Christ. Through these connections, they have seen people come to Christ for the first time,...

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” – 2 Corinthians 3:18 This fall on Pursuing Life will be all about stories of life-change, focusing on the ways that Jesus transforms the lives of people who decide to follow Him. We hope you’ll tune in star...

Michelle Kirby and Lydia Swarr both serve in Calvary Student Ministries – Lydia as a student group leader, and Michelle as a coach – and were connected with one another through a unique opportunity that arose for female leaders to be individually mentored by women in the church. Michelle had a burden to walk alongside younger women, while Lydia desired to be intentionally growing in her faith as s...

Over the last year, AJ & Lindsey Lafferty have been actively seeking to follow God’s call to make disciples. It hadn’t been a previously foreign concept to them, but after sitting through Calvary’s Ripple Effect sermon series, and attending the disciple-makers workshop that followed it, they really began to ask themselves if disciple-making was truly a reality in their lives. As they’ve proces...

This summer is all about disciple-making on the Pursuing Life podcast. Tune in, starting June 26, to hear stories of people at Calvary who are taking seriously Jesus’ call to make disciples, and how it’s changing hearts and lives.

Ginny Rehnberg has held many different roles at Calvary over the years, but currently serves as a ministry assistant, working mainly with our benevolence ministry. Ginny came to know Jesus as a young girl living in foster care, and today she is sharing with us how knowing Him has changed her life, and how she sees her role at Calvary as a way to share the love of Christ with those in need. 

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...

Mike Smucker serves as the president of Smucker’s Meats, which is a business that has been in his family for three generations. Mike and his family desire to share the love and character of Christ through their actions and use biblical principles to lead their employees. Today, Mike is sharing the ways in which he has seen God’s faithfulness in his work, how he has learned to trust God’s leading,...

Beth Gregory is one of the counselors on staff at Calvary Church. While she has not always worked in the counseling field, it has always been something that piqued her interest. After some circumstances later in life prompted Beth to seek out counseling for herself, she decided to go back to school to get her Master’s degree so that she could help others in their journeys as well. Today, she’s sha...

Cliff Hurter worked at Calvary Homes for over 40 years. For the majority of those years, he served as the Executive Director and, at the end of 2022, he stepped into retirement. Cliff really viewed his role at Calvary Homes as a ministry, and he sought to be intentional with the relationships he made with both the residents and staff that he worked with. Today, he is reflecting on his tenure at Ca...

We are so excited for you to meet Juan and Rose, Calvary’s newest Global Partners! While they are new to Calvary Church, they are not new to global work, nor are they new to working with refugees, which is exactly what they do now in Lancaster City! Today, they are sharing how God has faithfully brought them full circle with the work that they are doing, and how He is actively at work among those...

Global Partners, Bobby and Michele Law, serve in Taiwan, engaging working-class people in least-reached communities and emerging generations who are interested in missions. They have been church planting for nearly 30 years, and it’s their desire to see leaders raised up within the churches they plant, and that eventually those churches would also fulfill the Great Commission by sending out their...

Every year, Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week which starts with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and culminates with his death and resurrection. As we look at these events through the lens of Matthew’s Gospel, we see that Jesus predicts His death and resurrection on numerous occasions. His disciples had many questions, and only understood the significance of why Jesus had to die af...