Our Story - Calvary Chapel

In the late 1970's, the Lord led pastor Bob Grenier, (at that time, Pastoring a Calvary Chapel Church in Eugene Oregon ) to move to California's heartland and plant a new work. Started in 1978 with two home fellowships, and a Sunday Afternoon service at a local community room, the fellowship began to grow, and soon, moved into the larger facilities of the Visalia YMCA building. While at the YMCA, the church continued to flourish as a result of the Lord's blessings. Around the late 80's the Lord provided us with 12.7 acres, on which we built our church offices.

In 1994 we were able to move from the YMCA, as we completed the first building project, which included a sanctuary and children's classrooms, and nursery. Throughout the 1990's, the fellowship continued to grow as more individuals and families came to the Lord and began attending the church. To accommodate this continuing growth, Calvary Chapel Visalia, recently expanded the original sanctuary, more then doubling it's capacity, and added a number of new classrooms for the children's ministry. We also expanded and remodeled our Nursery, added a Nursing Mother's Room. Additionally, we expanded our Bookstore, and Cafe. We have expanded our parking lots three different times, added a Youth Chapel, and a beautiful Outdoor Pavilion that seats up to 125. Our vision for ministry, is to Exalt the Lord, Equip the Saints, and Evangelize the lost. On a practical level, we like to say, that we "Simply teach the Word Simply" We enjoy the systematic verse by verse expository method of teaching God's Word. We are indebted to the Lord, who through Pastor Chuck Smith from Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa has provided us such a great model and example of God's love and ministry.