2019, so far, has been a time of change and growth in the leadership at Calvary. We are thankful for what the Lord is doing!
Deacon Candidates
We are excited to have Erik Van Treuren as our newest deacon candidate. We thank the Lord for Erik and Naomi’s willingness to serve and bless Calvary with their gifts.
Earlier this year, we also added Brian Neves, joined by his wife Michelle, and Bruce Wyder to the deacon candidates.
Elder and Deacon Ordination
On February 24, 2019, we held an ordination for our elder and deacon candidates during our morning service. Greg Ho, Khaleef Crumbley, Joe Fantuzzo, Brian Gussis, and Ermanno Bibbo (not pictured) were ordained.
Our pastor preached a sermon on the qualifications of both positions, and then he asked the men to affirm their willingness to carry out what the Lord has called and prepared them to do. Likewise, the pastor asked the congregation to acknowledge their part in helping our elders and deacons carry out their duties.
After this, Pastor Babij and Dwayne prayed over Khaleef and Greg. These four then prayed over the deacons. We then celebrated with our newly ordained elders and deacons in the Fellowship Hall!
We thank the Lord for the many ways he is expanding our leadership and directing our church and pray the Lord will bless and keep these servants as they continue in His work!
On May 26, 2019, the church picnic was held at Colonial Park in Somerset, NJ.
It was a beautiful day with weather warm enough for our little ones to enjoy getting wet!
Our grill masters worked hard to feed the masses and there were many who contributed to preparing and setting up the food so we could all eat well!
There were many games going on, some for the younger ones, and people of all ages enjoyed volley ball.
We were assigned teams and each team gained points for winning various games. The winning team was able to give extra monetary support to one of our kingdom workers. Since the points were tied, an arm wrestling match decided the winner.
Thank you to everyone who helped make this a wonderful day for our church family and friends.
Our own Juliana R. shares her experience at the recent Cripplegate Conference.
On the first Friday of June, our church’s YAMily (Young Adult Ministry family) set out to the annual Cripplegate Conference at Immanuel Bible Church in Springfield, Virginia. What started out as a three-day Young Adult Bible Conference in 2015, has evolved into a Bible conference for all ages.
As the Cripplegate Conference’s website reads, it is a weekend full of “expositional preaching, God-centered music, and practical application”. Both times I have attended this conference I have been left with chills, new knowledge, and a deeper love for Christ.
I was a Christian for about four months when I attended this conference in 2018. I have grown so much since then in my walk with the Lord, personal convictions, and how I reflect on God’s Word.
The speakers at The Cripplegate Conference take a large overarching theme and reaches believers and unbelievers alike. Having been to this conference twice now, I can really see how God is using the various pastors from different churches to come together and exposit Scripture to help us better understand them.
This year’s conference theme was “The Law”, answering the question: What is the purpose of God’s Law and how should we, as Christians apply it in our lives? Throughout the seven sessions, we were blessed to learn about Mosaic Law, how Jesus revealed God’s Law to those he interacted with, Legalism, and The Law in evangelism.
Attending the conference felt as if for three days I retreated from all of the concerns of everyday life and worldly issues to a rich community of believers. I love being surrounded by like-minded Christians from across the country eager to hear God’s Word preached and worship Him.
During the conference, we are given a long break away from Immanuel Bible Church to enjoy time with friends and explore the area. Even then, when we go out into the “world” we get to do so with our Sisters and Brothers in Christ. I love that we had the opportunity to eat some Chick-fil-A (provided by Immanuel Bible Church) and then spend time in fellowship exploring a new area, praying over dinner, and getting excited for the next set of sessions.
A personal highlight of the conference is the Q&A portion on Saturday night. This year’s Q&A was particularly interesting to me because it convicted me concerning worldly media. A question was asked about the Christian’s conscience concerning different avenues of media we take in.
The speakers shared their thoughts on the topic and read some passages of Scripture to aid them in their comments. I was challenged to consider what media I am subjecting myself too that goes against God’s Law. Television sitcoms, romantic comedies, social media… how can I narrow the amount of sinful and questionable content I am taking in daily?
Jesse Johnson, George Lawson, Jordan Standridge, Nathan Busenitz, Eric Davis
Being that the conference is an annual one, we see many of the same attendees and speakers year after year. It is very encouraging to see how God uses this conference to bring the same people back and even grow the number of attendees from a particular church. I was in awe that the pastors of Immanuel Bible Church remembered details about Calvary’s attendees’ lives!
Jordan knew that Caleb and I had been engaged since the last conference and congratulated us. Jesse, as he spoke with many of us, and commented on our growth year after year. It is a wonderful blessing to see pastors, not only invested in their congregation, but us as visitors each year.
Overall, this conference was a great way to kick off the summer months. I was so encouraged by sermons, Scripture, and other believers to continue glorifying God as I strive to follow His commandments. The announcement of next year’s conference theme can’t come soon enough! Hope to see more of you down in Virginia next year!
On Saturday, July 28, 2018, we held our Work Day here at the church. It was a blessing to have our members and friends help with some much-needed maintenance and upkeep on the church grounds.
We were able to clear out and organize two storage spaces in the front of the church. We also did a bit of yard work and clean up in the basement.
Many thanks to our deacons for organizing the day and for the many hands that helped make the burden lighter. It was nice to fellowship with everyone over a slice of pizza after!
These work days will come up as the need arises. So keep an eye out in the bulletin and on the calendar for our next one.
Thanks to all who worked hard to make the 2017 Calvary Christmas Party a success last week. We even had some special guests from old times dropped by, and we all had a great time of food, fellowship and worship!
The Young Adult ministry (YAM) went to Immanuel Baptist Church in Springfield, VA for the annual Foundry Conference. From June 9-11, they were able to experience sermons centered on the truths which sparked the Reformation (Additionally, in observance of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, our Sunday School and sermons are currently covering topics regarding the Reformation).
The speakers were: Jordan Standridge, Jesse Johnson, Mike Riccardi, and Eric Davis.
Rob, one of our young adults, shares about his experience at the conference:
This year at the Foundry conference I wasn’t expecting to be blessed as much as I was. Everything was great, the preaching, the fellowship, hanging out at the hotel, walking around DC.
But one thing in particular was especially great. Both sermons by Eric Davis had a powerful impact on me personally. The theme of the conference this year was The Reformation. Therefore, Eric talked a bit about the doctrine purgatory and Martin Luther’s conversion. Hearing the details of the doctrine of purgatory was so fearful, sad, hopeless.
Hearing how Luther tried to please God Almighty with his filthy works makes you feel so utterly hopeless, depressed. Is there any hope at all?! Then, in both of his sermons, Eric tactfully transitioned from man’s hopeless attempts to obtain justification by good works, to the mighty power of God in justifying sinners by faith alone in Christ alone!!!
I believe that the reason why the sermons were so powerful was because the Gospel was preached right after preaching the hopeless attempts of man. As a result, the Gospel was like a bright star in a dark night sky. Such powerful preaching! Will never forget that experience.
We had a wonderful time of fellowship, powerful preaching, God-centered music, and practical application. We look forward to attending next year!
The conference will be known as The Cripplegate Conference going forward.
On Friday, February 10, 2017, the married couples of Calvary came together in the transformed fellowship hall for a delicious meal, a chance to strengthen relationships and develop new friendships, and lots of laughter!
We had husbands reading sonnets, and wives talking about brake fluid! And we got a chance to discover things about each couple that we never knew before.
Handing couple the prize for winning a game
All in all, it was a wonderful evening. If you are an engaged or married couple, we hope you’ll join us next year!
Ladies decorating for the socialYAM member hanging balloons for the social
And thank you to all who participated in putting the event together and to the YAM ministry who provided support throughout the event.
What a great service it was to witness the baptism of three individuals: Ezekiel, Noel, and Mary. We praise the Lord for His work in these three individuals that were baptized during the service on this day. Their testimonies are sure to encourage us of the power of His Spirit in this world and of Jesus’s love for sinners. We continue to pray for God to grow and mold them to His likeness and for us as a church to welcome them as members of our church family.
Dates: January 20-22, 2017
Location: Pinebrook Bible Conference and Retreat Center in East Stroudsburg, PA
Members of the Calvary Baptist Church teen ministry attended Faith Bible Fellowship Church’s annual retreat for middle and high school students. Sno-Glo is a weekend for teens that is designed to provide a fun and enriching couple of days to step away from life and just focus on worshipping God and receiving challenging teaching from the Word.
This year, the theme of the retreat was “Taking Jesus at His Word.” For many teens, conversations and questions about faith can be either an everyday experience or something they do not normally think about. Whether a teenager grew up in the church or is encountering the question of God’s existence for the first time, this retreat’s aim was to challenge the students’ views of the real Jesus Christ. The teaching and small group conversations centered on passages from the Matthew 5 and Matthew 7, and the Luke 9 where we were able to read Jesus’s own words on some of the situations teens face on on a daily basis. For example, we talked about the seriousness of sin, understanding the truth of the gospel, and the cost of following and responding like Christ.
Over the course of the weekend, the teens were able to develop deeper friendships with other young Christians and those seeking the truth, as well as share some of the more personal questions and struggles they experience in their lives. This retreat gave our teens the chance to grow closer to one another as well as to develop relationships and connections with the young adults who chaperoned the retreat. Our prayer is that these bonds would continue to develop throughout the rest of the year, providing opportunities for discipleship and encouragement.
In addition to growing more in our knowledge of Christ, we also had a lot of fun! The weekend offered a variety of activities students could participate in during free time, such as dodgeball, volleyball, basketball, ping pong, swimming, and much more. There was also a snack shack and a game room where students relaxed and did what teens like to do best! Our group had a packed weekend as you can tell from our amazing volleyball skills in the photo down below. Overall, Sno-Glo offered a spiritually rich and fun-filled weekend of fellowship and seeking to take Jesus at His word.
