CCS NewsLetter #1
Hello friends! I am thrilled to welcome you to the very first newsletter for Calvary Chapel Sunnyvale. We are a church plant sent out by Calvary Chapel Fremont. My name is Joseph Herrera and I'm accompanied by my wife Miah, and our 8-month-old son, Bear. We are taking a step of faith to build a church community in our hometown of Sunnyvale, California. Our heart is to build a home where people can truly experience the love of Jesus, and it is humbling to have you with us on this journey. In this first issue, you’ll read about our core beliefs, an update on our location, the need for the Lord to build a team, and how you can pray for this new plant.
Core beliefs
We really believe in allowing the word of God and the Holy Spirit to do what it does best, transform the hearts of man to the heavenly realities. The word of God reveals to us there is a God, He has a plan for our life, and He did everything in order for you to know Him. We have a huge heart for people to be introduced to and know Jesus—from the life and ministry He showed us to what He did on the cross for our sins, & ultimately to walk in communion with Him. We also have a strong commitment to discipleship, emphasizing that believers should know the Bible, be doers of the word—not just hearers—and walk in obedience to it. Then being empowered by the Holy Spirit to be used for the great commission of making Jesus known from the community you’re in to the ends of the earth! Evangelism, Discipleship, Missionaries!
Location
We are working on securing our first meeting location, We are between two newly renovated elementary schools Bishop & Ellis. Both located in the heart of Sunnyvale, Bishop Elementary has a theater and Multipurpose room, and Ellis Elementary has a multipurpose room and classrooms we could use. Bishop elementary is currently our plan A. If the Lord opens the door we plan on using the theater that can seat up to 450 people as well as the multipurpose room that could sustain 100 kids, lots of vision and room for growth in the community for a sweet price. Ellis elementary offers a similar option. A prayer point here is that we find favor with the schools and receive an answer soon. The theater/multipurpose rooms have everything needed for a church plant, sound system, projector, and theater style seats for Bishop and useable chairs in Ellis.
Building a team
If you think about what is needed for a Sunday morning service, there is obviously the Pastor but the reality is it takes many hands to make it flow smoothly: an ushering team to direct, guide, and welcome people; a tech team to run sound, livestream, and slides, a children’s ministry team to provide a safe fun environment for the kids to discover Jesus, a worship team to lead us in worship, and so on. You get the point: it's more than the charisma of one person but a real need for the Lord to build His church and bring the right people in for the job. Currently, I direct the vision as the lead pastor. My father, Martin Herrera, serves as the assistant pastor helping me set everything up. We also have someone joining us to lead worship and many willing hands to help in different capacities. We still need people to join the team to lead different ministries and participate in the ministries we are planning to offer.
Thinking about joining the team? Starting Sunday April 19th evening, and then every Sunday evening leading up to our launch date we plan on gathering as a team praying with and for one another, learning about church planting, and worshipping. If you're wanting to join the team, or even just want to know more about it, you can reply privately, reach out to me (Joseph, Martin, or Miah) & let us know!
Launch Date
Mark those calendars! We plan on launching out May 24th, our heart is to offer a complete Sunday morning experience of Worship, the word, and childcare. Our heart is that on Day 1 we would operate as a standalone church able to start the vision of sharing Jesus, making disciples, and sending people out to share the good news!
Prayer points
The example laid out before us in the book of Acts is that any work of God must start and be saturated in prayer. We are wanting you to gather with us in prayer. Below are some prayer points for this new work
#1 This church plant would be directed and empowered by the Lord
#2 We would find favor with the schools and secure our location
#3 The Lord would bring together a team to love, disciple, and reach Sunnyvale
#4 The Holy Spirit would be preparing the hearts for harvest in Sunnyvale
Support Links
Check out our live website!
Follow us on our social Medias - You can find the links on the website!
Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube
(Not much is on there but soon!)
Many have asked how you can financially support we are working on setting up our online giving options! Please let us know if youd like to donate!