In 1985, a ministry was begun for the staff of Parchman’s Mississippi Department of Corrections, and on June 3, 1990, that ministry took a name and built a home of its own known as Calvary Chapel of Parchman. This Sunday, June 7, the church will celebrate its anniversary with a special service.
The service will begin at 10 a.m., one hour later than usual, and will end before noon, so time is provided for fellowship and visiting with friends prior to serving lunch at 12:15 p.m.
Friends from neighboring churches are invited to come for the fellowship and meal after attending their services.
On June 3, 1990, 34 persons gathered in a building with no roof for the first worship service. A heavy rain halted just before the service was held and the sun came out. That happened for six weeks, and after the roof was completed the rain didn’t stop. Windows and doors were installed, and churchgoers brought their lawn chairs. A few weeks after that first service, the church held a Vacation Bible School with over 100 enrolled.
As of last Sunday, 173 persons have professed faith in Christ and been baptized at the church. Another 90 have united with the church upon moving to the area. Ten preachers have been licensed, and eight ordained to the Gospel ministry.
The church has organized 39 missions to Mexico, in which 1,351 people have given a week of service on the mission field to see 1,902 people in Mexico make public professions of faith in Christ as a result. Many churches, pastor’s homes, seminaries, camps and clinics have been built by construction teams. Hundreds of one-day medical clinics have been held in villages where no health care existed, and the infant mortality rate dropped rapidly from 65 of every hundred babies dying before their first birthday to less than 10.
Members have made an additional two missions each to Belize, Panama and Ecuador, and one each to Honduras, Venezuela, Costa Rica and Bolivia. Long-term trips ranging from several weeks to 13 years have been made to Moldova, South Sudan, Poland, Ukraine, China and more. Several missions were made to the Choctaw Nation in Mississippi.
Ministers ordained at Calvary Chapel have gone undercover as missionaries in restricted access countries, one baptizing the first known believers in Christ. Work in another country has resulted in over 20 churches where there were none.
Locally, the church has operated food pantries in needy areas for over 25 years, distributing about 2.5 million pounds of food. For 21 years it operated a free medical clinic once a month to treat the working poor and uninsured. Volunteer well-trained doctors, nurses, dentists, and pharmacists staffed the clinics. At Christmas the church has been responsible for placing Christmas backpacks in the hands of over a thousand children each year.
Calvary Chapel has planted at least 21 new churches, and 11 survive. Some of those 21 actually consolidated with other new churches nearby, and did not simply close. In all, it has been the catalyst for planting over 30 churches. At least four closed congregations have been replanted.
Offerings since 1994 total $2,109,516.11, of which $1,030.798.75 (48.9%) was given to missions and benevolent causes outside the local church family.
All friends of the church, people blessed by the church, and those who participated in Calvary's mission activities are invited to Sunday's service.
Locally, they can attend their own church service and come for the fellowship and fellowship meal.
Calvary Chapel altered its regular Sunday schedule to accommodate visitors from nearby churches.
