In the late 1960's God did a couple of phenomenal movements within His church on planet earth. Our church is a marriage of these two movements.
One movement was a merge of the
Wesleyan
Methodist
Church in
America with the Pilgrim Holiness Church of California, now known as the
Wesleyan
Church. Its heritage goes all the way back to 1735 in the person and ministry of John Wesley. Wesley was an outstanding scholar, yet regarded himself as "a man of one book," the Bible. It was the Bible that motivated Wesley's vision for offering Christ to the common people in a way that led to
England's greatest spiritual revival. That movement came to
America along with Wesley in 1766. By the late 1800's there was a widespread emphasis on Wesley's teaching of holiness that swept across
America. Wesley developed a school for orphans, job programs, medical assistance for the poor, prison reformation and arguments for the abolition of slavery. Wesley expressed confidence in the Bible as the only and sufficient rule for Christian faith and practice. This is still the hallmark of the Wesleyan Church today.
The other great movement of the late 60's was the establishment of the Calvary Chapel Ministries. This is a non-denominational movement that embraced the hippie generation and the Jesus people. Its heritage and hallmarks include a shared commitment to systematical Bible teaching, expository preaching with an emphasis upon love that transcends all cultural and ethnic barriers.
Calvary chapels are known for their focus on worship, featuring contemporary music loyal to the Word of God. Most importantly, Calvary Chapel has been known for striking a balance between extremes on controversial theological issues that have often caused division rather than unity in the Body of Christ.
Our pastor spent nearly 20 years serving in a Calvary Chapel Ministry known as Horizon Christian Fellowship. Both
Calvary and Horizon are mega ministries with worldwide outreaches, churches and bases of influence and faith. Although our pastor received his practical ministry experience through Horizon Christian Fellowship, he received his formal education, a Masters of Pastoral Studies degree and a Masters of Divinity degree, from
Azusa
Pacific
University's Graduate School of Theology, a Wesleyan Seminary.
As God has merged these two movements in our pastor's life, so God is merging these two movements here in El Camino Christian Fellowship.
