STORY
In 2018, two families moved up to the Shuswap from Langley with the impressing of God’s guidance upon their hearts. They left without job prospects, on faith that God was in fact going before them in this new adventure.
Soon after the move, these two families began meeting weekly to pray and study the Word and before long, two more families joined.
As the Bible study continued to grow, tentative plans to eventually plant a new church here in the area started to percolate.
In December 2020, in God’s providence, these few families (plus a few more) began meeting outside every Lord’s Day (by a frozen lake) for sledding, singing, prayer, Bible study, and fellowship around a fire (with hotdogs and roasted marshmallows to boot!)
By February 2021, sensing God’s leading to come together and consolidate as an officially-established local church, a leadership team was formed, and (long story short), the “core” constituency for Calvary Bible Church effectively came into being.
On March 13th, the team met for their first official leadership meeting when Pastor Brent Smith from Riverside Calvary Chapel in Langley came up to Salmon Arm to offer his services in a consulting role. At that meeting, the team was informed that Riverside had agreed to be their sending church, and more plans were made to move ahead with the plant.
On April 14th Spencer was approached to consider the possibility of working towards eventually being installed as the first lead teaching pastor and in June, he accepted the call.
Since then, God has been faithful to provide, sustain, build, strengthen, and grow this little group…
When the seed for our church was planted in the ground back in 2018, we couldn't have imagined the plans God had in store. But our families’ Bible study grew, and the idea for a church plant came up. And 2020 rolled around, and that idea grew into something more. And 2021 rolled around, and the idea finally came to fruition.
We know, one way or another, that Calvary Bible Church is God’s doing, and whether we’re meeting beside a frozen lake in the middle of winter (which we have), or in a warehouse on a farm (which we have), or under a pole barn in a hay field (which we have), or in a chapel at a Bible camp (which we have), or in a rented movie theatre (which we have), we trust that our Sovereign Lord and King will continue to do His glorious work, in His own way, with His own precious Gospel, in all our lives, to the building up of His church, by the power of His Holy Spirit, for the glory of the Name of Jesus. We expect nothing more, and nothing less.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
Ephesians 3:20-21