"That they may know that this is Your hand - that You, LORD, have done it!"
Psalm 109:27
Great is Thy Faithfulness - The 1990's
The 90’s brought us Cheers, the Titanic, bungee jumping, beanie babies, inline skates and the Macarena. Teens became known as “cyberteens” as they acquired cell phones, CD burners and got “connected”. Doc Martins, platform shoes and fanny packs were in and the preschool bunch made friends with Tickle Me Elmo and furbies. Tattoos, piercing, and Botox came into the main stream of society; and Bill Gates, Oprah, Martha Stewart, Tiger Woods and Rush Limbaugh were introduced to us.
New talk shows featuring confrontations that included vulgarity and physical aggression and a number of new shows being aired during the family viewing hours were being combated by James Dobson and Focus on the Family as this ministry continued to expose the rise in “trash TV” and other issues destroying traditional family values.
Tragedy marked this decade with the LA Riots, the O.J. Simpson Trial,
the Oklahoma bombing, Rwanda, Bosnia and Columbine.
As the decade began, George H. W. Bush led the country in the Persian
Gulf War; at the end of the decade President Clinton battled his personal
problems and impeachment.
Calvary Church, like the world around us, encountered continued change, new technology and moments of tragedy during this decade.
The 90’s began with the inconveniences of fences, mounds of dirt, heavy duty equipment, limited parking and crowded services with overflow projection in the Fellowship Hall and the Fireside Room. Three of our Adult Bible Fellowship groups moved off campus due to the lack of space. Family Fellowship met in the Western Medical Center auditorium, Homebuilders and Young Marrieds met at Shelley’s Restaurant. (Shelley’s was located in the center across Fruit Street.) Children’s Ministries provided four services for children during this time: Three Sunday School hours held at 8:00, 9:30 and 11:00 a.m.; Children’s Church at 9:30 a.m. and
programs for all ages at 6:00 p.m.
In 1990, our newsletter entitled At Calvary completed the year with a 12 page edition and a circulation of 3,000 copies monthly. The following year At Calvary was mailed to the congregation with 10,000 copies printed each month. This proved to be a valuable tool for the Calvary family.
Worship Center Completed and Dedicated
Excitement was high, and expectations were great as the final inspections took place and the date was set for the first services to be held in the new Worship Center.
The day FINALLY arrived on November 24, 1991. The first morning services were held at 8:30 and 10:30 a.m., with a special dedication service at 6:00 p.m.
The Worship Center is 75,000 square feet, cost $9.7 million
and seated 3,000+ at opening.
Volunteers are Key
As in all of the preceding building programs, Calvary members provided much of the labor. Clark Esser, long time member of Calvary, acted as General Contractor as he did in all of the previous building programs on the Tustin Avenue property.
In the 1990 Annual Report: A mauve color scheme was approved and seats were recommended instead of pews.
The question was, "How in the world can we keep up with the custodial demands of the new Worship Center"? The answer came from a group of men and women who began meeting every Monday morning from about 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. volunteering their time and energy to clean the entire Worship Center facility
Gene Steen, one of the original volunteers, says, "We meet for coffee and donuts and a brief devotional from one of the Pastors and then head off to work. I've been doing this for almost fifteen years now and I look forward to this special time of serving the Lord together with a great group of friends every Monday morning. Bill Bucher, Business Administrator at the time, estimated that God's House Care" was saving Calvary $60,000 a year.
New Staff and Management Team
John Crandall, missionary to Germany for 13 years, joined the staff to head up the Outreach Ministries. Pastor Al Fox was assigned Associate Pastor to our Senior Pastor, helping in all the pastoral responsibilities that come to the Senior Pastor’s office.
The new management team included the following: Bill Bucher, Business Administration; Alex Lackey, School Administration; Lance Sparks, Family Ministries; John Crandall, Outreach Ministries; Ron Soderwall, Worship Ministries. New Staff included Mark Oestreicher, Junior High Pastor, and Dr. Jack Wheaton, Instrumental Director for Worship Ministries.
Corona Bible Church is Planted
This church plant was actually initiated by Calvary members who had moved to Corona and been meeting together for a Bible study. Various pastors from Calvary led the Bible study, including David Asch who became the first pastor in February of 1992. The church started with eight families and grew to about 120 in the first few years. Ralph Codrey, and later David De Groot, served as Elder liaisons from Calvary Church. Financial support was given for the first four years. David Asch described the church as being geared towards reaching un-churched people and primarily focused on young families. Dave is now Senior Pastor of Calvary Church, Pueblo, Colorado.
David Hocking Resigns as Senior Pastor of Calvary Church
October 7, 1992
With deep sorrow and regret David Hocking announced his resignation from the position of senior Pastor of Calvary Church.
David Hocking’s resignation will go down in the Calvary history as one of the most difficult times for the Calvary Family in all of its history. The new Worship Center was completed and dedicated just 10 months prior to this announcement. A huge debt had been encumbered and many felt the payment of this debt was dependent on David Hocking. The Calvary Family clearly realized that the Lord had used David in a mighty way at Calvary, but only as His instrument. God’s work at Calvary was not finished (as some had predicted) and He would prove Himself faithful as He had done from the beginning. The verse used by the founding fathers when starting the ministry of Calvary Church became even more meaningful at this time: “Be strong and of good courage, and do it; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord God will be with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you, until you have finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord.” I Chronicles 28:20. The work for the service of the Lord at Calvary was not finished!
Search Committee is Appointed
The Search Committee began their task of searching for the man that God would have to be the next pastor of Calvary Church. It would be three years, October 22, 1995, until the search would come to an end and David Mitchell would become the sixth pastor of Calvary Church. During the interim time Calvary was blessed to have many well-known and gifted Bible teachers fill the pulpit, including J.P. Moreland, Doug Bookman, Tom Shrader, and our own Bob Shank. One of these interim speakers was David Mitchell’s father, Dr. John L. Mitchell. Neither David, nor his father, had any idea at the time that David would become the Senior Pastor of Calvary Church 2 ½ years later.
New Staff Organization
The new position of Executive Pastor was created by the Board of Elders. The Executive Pastor would be responsible for providing the day-to-day oversight and direction of Calvary Church and would be accountable to the Board of Elders. John Crandall was appointed to that position and the staff was reorganized with eight directors replacing the former management team. The Team was announced in August 1993 and included: Sharon Andersen, Worship; Gerardo Marti, Missions; Bob Foyle, Discipleship and Care; Mark Oestreicher, Student Ministries; Geri Templeton, Children; Pat Wright, Administrative Services; Bill Bucher, Business Administration and Alex Lackey, School Administration.
Al Fox Takes the Helm
Al Fox assumed the position of Executive Pastor in May of 1994. Pastor Al filled many roles, including that of filling the pulpit, during his years at Calvary. His leadership was invaluable during the difficult years without a Senior Pastor.
One Sunday morning the speaker scheduled to preach was nowhere to be found. (Evidently a scheduling mix-up.) As the congregation waited and a few more hymns were sung, it was evident that the speaker would not be coming. With no time for preparation, Pastor Al walked to the pulpit and delivered the morning message. He was a picture of a man being ready “in season and out”, always ready to use his gifts as the Lord made opportunity. The Calvary family owes a great deal to Pastor Al for his leadership during this time and throughout his many years of ministry at Calvary.
More About Pastor Al Taken From Calvary Life, 1997
Pastor Al earned a Master’s Degree from Cal State Fullerton and a Master’s of Divinity degree from Talbot School of Theology before completing a doctorate from USC.
From 1964-72 he pastored Hillcrest Trinity Church in Fullerton and for 12 years he served on the faculty at Biola University teaching sociology and first-year Greek.
It was while attending Multnomah School of the Bible in Portland Oregon that he met and married his wife Gloria. They have five adult children; Ken, Sheryn, Shirley, Dan and Marilyn. The joy of his life is spending time with his grandchildren. What a rich spiritual heritage they have!
Pastor David Mitchell wrote the following, “I appreciate so much what Al has meant to the congregation over the years and more recently when the church was in a crisis. As the lead pastor, he saw things through a difficult time and certainly helped me a great deal when I became part of Calvary’s staff.”
After 22 years of ministry as a staff member at Calvary, Pastor Al resigned to serve as chaplain of Town and Country Manor in Orange. While there, he led Bible study groups, prayer times and was available for those in need. For a man whose heart is in studying and teaching God’s word and caring for people, this was a good fit.
Al continues to serve the Lord as Sr. Adult Pastor at Faith Community Church in Whittier, CA,. where his son Dan Fox serves as Assistant Pastor, and his son-in-law, Gordon Hummel, is serving as Business Administrator. Gordon and Shirley Hummel served as Calvary missionaries to Germany for several years. Gordon is the brother of Greg Hummel, Calvary missionary to Brazil. Gordon and Greg grew up at Calvary and often enjoyed confusing teachers and friends who didn’t know they were twins.
A Pastor in Lodi
In 1995 the search committee of Calvary Church got word of a pastor in Lodi that perhaps was the one that God had chosen to become the sixth pastor of Calvary Church. The search committee traveled to Lodi, met Pastor David and his family, visited his church and came away saying, “This is the man”. They loved his wife Joy and were delighted with their two daughters, Jessica, age 12 and Kirstie, age 9. David visited Calvary and met the staff who also concluded that David was the man God had chosen to lead Calvary into the next millennium.
David Mitchell Becomes Sixth Pastor of Calvary Church
David grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. He writes about his early days: “I trusted Christ as Savior at age twelve in my parents’ bedroom. It was a Sunday morning before church and I prayed with my mother and sister. My father was at his weekly radio broadcast for the church. I was fortunate to grow up in a pastor’s home with a stable, growing and positive personal and church family to nurture me in my faith. My home church was Bethany Bible in Phoenix where my father was Senior Pastor for many years. While I was not always the perfect Christian, I never experienced any severe rebellion or made any major misguided decisions to create lasting negative consequences.”
David studied at Westmont College, Santa Barbara, graduating in 1973 with a B.A. in psychology. It was during his junior year that he committed himself to full-time Christian ministry. The experience of being a pastor’s child as well as having a strong home church helped him know the value of a growing and healthy local church. This is also where he met fellow student, Joy Sloan.
Following graduation from Westmont, David entered Dallas Theological Seminary. After the completion of his first year, he returned home to ask Joy to marry him. David and Joy were married on August 3, 1978. Joy and David had a lot in common as she too had the privilege of growing up in a pastor’s home. Her father pastored the First Baptist Church of Yucaipa, a strong and growing church that had participated in the annual Prophecy Conferences with Calvary.
David describes Joy, “She is my best friend, counselor, and real team player with me as pastor. Joy grew up in a pastor’s home very similar to my own. She has a real strong sense of ministry in the local church and is indeed a joyful person to be around. She has warmth and a ready smile for people.”
David graduated from Dallas in 1977 receiving the Th.M. in Practical Theology. Following graduation he began his pastoral ministry at Faith Baptist Church in Corona, California. During his nine years of ministry at Faith he saw the church turn around and grow in every aspect. He served at Faith until 1986 when First Baptist Church of Lodi, California invited him to be their Senior Pastor. Feeling that he had accomplished all that God would have him do in Corona, he accepted the invitation of First Baptist, Lodi. David and his family enjoyed a loving relationship with the members of First Baptist Church and saw it grow under his leadership.
During this time David also studied at Talbot Theological Seminary where, in 1989, he received his D. Min.
Below: David graduates from Talbot surrounded by his proud family.
David’s graduation from Dallas Theological Seminary.
Above: David with
Dr. Walvoord,
DTS President
Left: David with his father,
John Mitchell.
Dr. David J. Mitchell
Installed as Sixth Pastor of Calvary Church
Sunday November 19, 1995
On October 22, 1995 David officially accepted the invitation to become the Senior Pastor of Calvary Church of Santa Ana bringing the three year search to an end. This began a new chapter in David’s life as well as that of Calvary Church. Leaders from First Baptist Church of Lodi graciously attended David’s first Sunday with us and offered Calvary all their best wishes as their shepherd now became our shepherd. “We look forward to a loving relationship with Pastor David equal to that which First Baptist enjoyed for more than nine years.”
David Wears Two Hats
After coming to Calvary, David wanted to get involved with a ministry outside his “comfort zone”. He chose to become a volunteer chaplain for the Santa Ana Police Department. After passing an FBI background check, he underwent several days of training and department tours, including jail and other facilities. Pastor David saw this as an opportunity to reach out to the community through witnessing in lifestyle evangelism. Building individual relationships with
police personnel also was important, he felt.He spends time riding with officers and assisting as needed at various crisis scenes. In addition, Pastor David provides support and assistance to officers at funerals, murders, suicides and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). He offers prayer at various Santa Ana City Council meetings. Pastor David has seen results from this chaplaincy and would encourage others to get involved in their community.
Bylaws Changed
Calvary Church changed its bylaws on Sunday, September 21, 1997, when, at the annual meeting, church members voted and approved the changes by a 97 percent majority. By changing its bylaws, Calvary established “Ministry Teams” rather than Boards. Ministry teams consisted of appointed members, while Elders are still elected individually and requiring a two-thirds majority affirmation by Calvary members.
Each team focuses on one ministry area; a Pastor or Director and an Elder are assigned to each team; and others of the church membership who have a talent and passion for one of the ministries are appointed to an appropriate team. Each team is empowered to carry out its ministry.
Ministries of the 90s
MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) and Moms in Touch
Both of these ongoing ministries began in the early 90’s. Moms in Touch for moms
committed to praying for their school age children, and MOPS for preschool moms.
Blood Drives
Calvary initiated Blood Drives in the mid-nineties as a bridge into the community. Even the staff participated, as shown at right. You’re a brave man, Pastor Fred!
Care and Concern Day
Since the mid 90’s, Gerry Bauer has been the man behind this ministry. His organizational and administrative gifts, together with his heart for people and desire to serve the Lord, make him the perfect choice to direct this awesome bridge-building ministry to our community.
Gerry says that the tears of thankfulness and the many notes and letters of appreciation are what make it all worthwhile.
The October 1999 report states that over 200 Calvary people served together to repair 98 automobiles and 30 bicycles and best of all, three people prayed to receive Christ.
Calvary Church Celebrates the Arts
The Annual Fine Arts Festival was born and had its first show in 1996, beginning another tradition at Calvary. From its inception, it has been led by Lester Johnson. This ministry provides an opportunity for many Calvary members, Calvary Christian School students, and others to share their gifts and talents with our congregation and community.
Pictured below are some of the entries at the 2006 Fine Arts Festival.
As the art show has continued to grow and the variety of art mediums has expanded. It is amazing to see the talent and gifts that God has given to our people, young and old, used in such a wide variety of ways.
Summer Nights At Calvary
Summer Nights began on Wednesdays during the summer months throughout the 1990’s. In the early 90’s, there were Summer Bible Conferences A Call To Holiness the theme for 1993 featured speakers, Jerry Bridges, John Vawter, Hank Hanegraaff, Ted Kitchens, Lane Adams and Bob Shank. Other conferences included themes on prayer and prophecy. In 1996 Calvary Summer Life became a time to gather as a church family to get to know one another and to enjoy social times geared for the whole family.
Annual Church Picnics
Highlights of the year always included the all-church picnics held on either Memorial Day, 4th of July, or Labor Day. These were great social events for the whole church family that included lots of the big three: Fun, Food and Fellowship.
Calvary Bookstore Opens
For many years Calvary Church had dreamed of opening its own bookstore.
Needing someone to direct this ministry, Calvary needed to look no further than
to Randy Harris, one of Calvary’s own members. Randy, a writer and avid reader, was asked to head up this new ministry. Ready to make a career change at the time, he felt God was leading him to accept this position. It fit his giftedness and it was where his heart was. His family was also excited about this new ministry and has been supportive and involved since the beginning.
The bookstore opened on December 4, 1994. Randy has run the store since the day it opened and he says, “I have enjoyed every minute of it!”
In September of 2006, the bookstore surpassed one million in total sales.
Remodeling projects that will double the square footage of the store and double
shelf space will be completed by the Christmas season of 2006.
In addition to directing the day-to-day operations of the bookstore, Randy has also written several of the Christmas productions for A Night Before Christmas, Calvary’s annual Christmas musical production.
Randy is married to Tammy, a staff member of Calvary’s Worship Ministries. Together they have raised three kids; Jesse (22), Abby (19) and Benjamin (16).
Calvary Christian Preschool
The 90’s saw several changes in the leadership of our preschool. Betty Hoyt, Director as the decade began, left to assume the leadership of another preschool. She was followed by Helen Scott and Lalia Tanner. In the late 90’s, Debbie Keeler became the Preschool Director and made many improvements to the facilities and the curriculum.
Calvary Christian School
Worship Ministries in the 90’s
Many gifted musicians served in the choir, orchestra and individual groups providing awesome inspirational music at the regular worship services of the church as well as many special performances throughout the year.
In the early 90’s, Worship Ministries was led by Ron Soderwall and later by Helen Weed and then Ron Rogalski. The Calvary family is grateful to the many faithful musicians who have led us in worship week after week and provided many hours of enjoyment for the congregation and the community.
Ron Rogalski
Ron, originally from Winnipeg, Canada, joined the Calvary staff as Worship Pastor in 1996. Before coming to Calvary, Ron ministered for fifteen years at Sunrise Baptist Church, Sacramento, where he focused on instrumental and youth music ministries.
Ron and his wife Linda have three children: Jocelyn, Kirstin and Bryce.
Pictured are two family photos from 1996 and 2006.
Helen Weed
Helen came to Calvary in 1994 after 17 years as Music Director at Garden Grove First Presbyterian Church in Garden Grove. She has served as Director of Worship Ministries and Associate Director of Music.
In addition to her Church responsibilities, she is the instrumental teacher for Calvary Christian School. She also conducts the Praise Symphony Orchestra and is a piano, violin, viola and guitar teacher.
A Tradition Begins
The annual Night Before Christmas made its debut on December 5, 1997. A Night Before Christmas with a Broadway-style musical, A Time for Christmas was introduced by Pastor Ron Rogalski as “a night that anyone can enjoy and identify with. It’s a great way to build relationships with un-churched friends.”
A Time for Christmas was produced by Pastor Ron with Helen Weed, musical director, Linda Paszkiewicz drama director and Kris Bromberger, choreographer.
The purpose of this ministry is to provide an evangelistic bridge-builder event to which Calvary families can bring their un-churched friends. It is an evening of fun and truth, celebrating Christmas with music, drama and friends.
Missions in the 90’s
Calvary’s passion and commitment to missions was evident all during the 90’s. The Albania Partnership Project took place in 1992 with a group of ten persons from Calvary who joined together to reach the Albanian people. They lived with Albanian families, taught English at a local high school and took every opportunity possible to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. This ministry took place at the invitation of the Ministry of Education in Albania.
Another group of seven left their safe, secure, comfort zone and boarded a plane to Beijing, China. Each day team members spent two to four hours in an orphanage. John Kulisich sat on the floor with toddlers climbing on his lap for his famous custom-made newspaper hats. The team was given an opportunity to spend time in conversational English classes in the university and shared in local cafes. Their final days were in Hong Kong where they attended a “March for Jesus” along the streets of the city.
The Missions Conference theme of 1992 was Make a Difference. The Children’s Ministries staff took that theme and made it applicable to the children as Kids Can Make a Difference. At the close of the conference, they took several 5th and 6th grade children to Mexico where they learned first-hand how to “make a difference,” and that kids CAN make a difference!
At Any Cost
This unforgettable youth music drama was based on the story and themes found in the book Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliott. The moving performance by the high school and college students was an interpretation of the work that five men accomplished while serving in Ecuador. This life changing musical was written and directed by Pastor Ron Rogalski and Rob Pearsall and was presented during the 1997 Missions Conference.
Pictured Above: Surrounded by the At Any Cost cast and Ron Rogalski are Abe and Marj (Saint) Van Der Puy. Marj’s first husband was Nate Saint. The Van Der Puys took part in the conference as speakers and enjoyed the performance as well.
The Children’s Conference also presented this story in a continued nightly story/drama presentation by David and Debbie Rowley.In 2006 the Hollywood version of the story came to the big screen with the production of The End of The Spear as the world commemorated the 50th anniversary of the killing of the four men who were attempting to take the gospel to the Auca/Waorani Indians. Ralph and Marian Stuck, Calvary missionaries to Ecuador at the time remember the story well. Not only were they in Ecuador listening to the radio reports, but they were also friends of these men and their families.
Bob Johnson Joins the Calvary Staff
Bob Johnson had been a leader at Calvary during the early 90’s serving as an elder and leading several lay ministries.At the time of Bill Bucher’s retirement, Bob was involved in the corporate world in a successful management position with Vons Markets. He had recently begun to feel that the Lord was calling him into full time ministry. As Bill’s retirement became eminent Bob explored the possibility of assuming his position at Calvary. And…..the rest is history.
Bob has served in the role of Executive Pastor, overseeing the day to day operations of all the ministries of Calvary Church since 1997. He can be found in the nursery checking out a leak in the ceiling, or in the Worship Center observing sound equipment, or checking out a problem with the air conditioning system. Bob has a heart for people and for ministry and is committed to doing all he can do to make every area of ministry at Calvary the best it can be for God’s honor and glory. Bob is gifted in handling day-to-day management. He regularly teaches classes on Sundays, Wednesday nights and leads Lighthouse ministries. Should you see Bob on campus he is always willing to “chat”, however you must be able to walk at a quick pace to keep up with him.
Bob’s wife Raylene has also served at Calvary as an Administrative Assistant to David Hocking and Don Richardson as well as coordinator of the Secretarial staff. She conducted a Bible study and prayer time for this staff on a weekly basis. Raylene continues an active ministry with our Women’s Ministries as a coordinator and teacher.
1999 came to a close with the big question of Y2K. It filled the headlines of newspapers, magazines, and TV reports. Books were written on the subject predicting results. (Does anyone even remember Y2K anymore?)
The people of Calvary Church were again reminded of the fact that “our times are in His hands” and though we may not know what tomorrow holds, we know who holds tomorrow.