Our Pillars

These four pillars are the founding principles of how this church will be run to serve God and provide for the community.

Encounter with God

This pillar is focused on cultivating a personal, ongoing relationship with Jesus Christ as the Lord of our lives. It encourages believers to seek meaningful time in prayer and intimate study of the Scriptures to experience His presence. The goal is a transformative meeting with God that changes our perspective and directs our daily actions.

Galatians 2:20
"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."


Elevated by His Spirit

This pillar centers on the work of the Holy Spirit, seeking His power and guidance in all aspects of personal and corporate life. It calls us to live a life submitted to the Spirit, allowing Him to produce the fruit of righteousness and empower us for ministry and service. As we yield to the Holy Spirit, He raises our vision and capacity beyond what we could achieve on our own.

Romans 8:13-14
"For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God."


Equipped by His Word

This pillar recognizes the Bible as the ultimate and necessary tool for spiritual maturity and effective service. It commits the church to faithful, systematic teaching of the entire counsel of God, verse-by-verse, to build a strong theological foundation in all believers. By diligently studying the Scriptures, we become fully trained and prepared to fulfill every good work the Lord has prepared for us.

2 Timothy 3:16-17
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."


Evangelize the One

This pillar emphasizes the Great Commission—the call for every believer to actively share the Gospel message with those who do not yet know Christ. However, we don't want to meaninglessly spread the Word. This pillar emphasizes evangelizing in a deep and meaningful way that builds depth of faith rather than a shallow many. It involves intentionally reaching out to family, friends, and community members, living a life that reflects Jesus, and speaking the truth in love.

Matthew 28:19-20
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you..."


What We Believe

"God often goes to the gutter to find the recipient for His grace. He lifts him out, washes him,
and transforms him - making him into a child of God fit for His kingdom. That is God's grace."
- Chuck Smith

Core Beliefs

The following are the core beliefs of Calvary Chapel New Haven based on the foundational truths taught in the bible. All of our teaching and ministry is rooted in and flows out of these biblical doctrines.

God

We believe in one personal, transcendent, and holy God, the creator of all, Who is eternal, and Who manifests Himself in three separate persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Jesus

We believe that Jesus Christ, though fully God, became a man for the suffering of death, that He is the promised Messiah, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, provided for the atonement of our sins by His vicarious death on the Cross, was bodily resurrected by the power of the Holy Spirit, ascended back to the right hand of God the Father, and ever lives to make intercession for us. After Jesus ascended to Heaven, He poured out His Holy Spirit on the believers in Jerusalem, enabling them to fulfill His command to preach the Gospel to the entire world, an obligation shared by all believers today.

Holy Spirit

We believe in the person and work of the Holy Spirit who indwells, seals, and empowers every believer, baptizing them into the Body of Christ. We further believe that the Holy Spirit will come upon any believer who asks in faith, enabling him/her to preach the Gospel in power. We also believe all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the Scriptures are valid for today if they are exercised within the scriptural guidelines. We believe that love is more important than all the gifts, and without this love all exercise of spiritual gifts is worthless.

The Bible

We believe in the inerrancy of Scripture, that the Bible, Old and New Testaments, in the original autographs, is the inspired, infallible Word of God, a complete and final written revelation of God. We seek the Word of God in such a way that its message can be applied to an individual’s life, leading that person to greater maturity in Christ. We reject doctrinal viewpoints or spiritual phenomena which are based solely on experience. We look to the Word of God for the basis of all our faith and practice.

The Church

We believe the only true basis of Christian fellowship is Christ’s (Agape) love, which is greater than any differences we possess, and without which we have no right to claim ourselves Christians. We believe Jesus Christ is the head of the Body, His church, and that church government should be simplistic rather than a complex bureaucracy. We desire to be lead by the Holy Spirit in all the functions and directions of the ministry of the church.

Salvation

We believe that all people are by nature separated from God and responsible for their own sin, but that salvation, redemption, and forgiveness are freely offered to all by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. When a person repents of sin and accepts Jesus Christ as personal Savior and Lord, trusting Him to save, that person is immediately born again and sealed by the Holy Spirit, all his/her sins are forgiven, and that person becomes a child of God.

Worship

We believe worship of God should be spiritual. Therefore, we remain flexible and yielded to the leading of the Holy Spirit to direct our worship. We believe worship of God should be inspirational. Therefore, we give a great place to music in our worship. We believe worship of God should be intelligent. Therefore, our services are designed with great emphasis upon teaching of the Word of God that He might instruct us how He should be worshiped. We believe worship of God should be fruitful. Therefore, we look for His love in our lives as the supreme manifestation that we have been truly worshiping Him.

Humanity

We believe in a personal devil called Satan who, along with all his evil angels, called demons, is destined to spend eternity in hell, and who now seeks to deceive the believers and defeat the work of God, but who can be resisted by believers who are in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit, protected by God, and interceded for by Jesus Christ our Lord. We believe that the nation of Israel has a special place in God’s plan and that all the promises of God to Israel will be fulfilled. We believe that marriage is exclusively the legal union of one man and one woman. We also believe that legitimate biblical sexual relations are exercised solely within marriage. Hence, sexual activities, such as, but not limited to, adultery, fornication, incest, polygamy, homosexuality, transgender, bisexuality, cross dressing, pedophilia and bestiality are inconsistent with the teachings of the Bible and the Church. Additionally, lascivious behavior, the creation and/or distribution and/or viewing of pornography, and efforts to alter one’s gender, are incompatible with a true biblical witness.

Christs Return

We await the pretribulational rapture of the church, and we believe that the second coming of Christ with His saints to rule on the earth will be personal, pre-millennial, and visible. This motivates us to holy living, heartfelt worship, committed service, diligent study of God’s Word, regular fellowship, and participation in baptism by immersion and in Holy Communion.