October - November 2010

The year 2011 is just around the corner. There are three anniversaries coming up in the New Year which will involve Calvary.

The beginning of the year marks the fifth anniversary of teh Eastern Pennsylvania Presbytery. In 2006, the Phialdelphia Presbytery divided into three presbyteries. In five years we have seen one new church added and two mission churches begun. The anniversary will be marked by a worship service of thanksgiving on February 13 at Calvary with all of the churches of the presbytery invited. Ron Lutz, pastor of New Life Presbyterian Church, Dresher, will bring the message.

A second celebration marks the 300th Anniversary of Willow Grove. I am serving ont he town's planning committee. The festivities will encompass the month of May and will include parades, concerts, street festivals, historic lectures, and carnivals. Calvary has been asked to host a Sunday festival on May 15 in the afternoon recognizing the contributions of the Willow Grove churches. The event has not yet been planned, but we are hoping for participants from our Willow Grove churches to share their history and bring some musical offerings. The staff is considering other ways our church can show the love of Jesus by serving our community during this month-long festival.

The third celebration will mark the 75th Anniversary of Calvary Presbyterian Church. Our church begain in october, 1936, when a group of over 200 members left the Presbyterian Church of USA over doctrinal issues which threatened the churhc. Calvary met in rented facilities in the War Memorial Building until a building was erected on our current site in 1939. We are thankful to God for preserving our unity and using us int he building up of His kingdom over the past seventy-five years. We prayerfully and diligently seek to be a grace-centered, gospel-driven community of people who hunger for Jesus Christ and who want to make Him known in Willow Grove. We have more than one year to gather an anniversary committee and make plans. Save the weekend of October 1 and 2, 2011, for this event. Some of you will be contacted in the days ahead to serve on this committee.

I have been most thankful for the 40 years I have been a part of Calvary (more than half of those 75 years!) as as son of the church, an Associate Pastor, and Senior Pastor. My parents becaome Christians through the ministry of Calvary, and they were faithful in centering the lives of their children in Christ, His Word, and His church. It is my prayer that this story will be repeated in the years ahead.