24225 Monroe Ave
Murrieta, CA 92562
Phone: (951)677-5667
Fax: (951) 698-4896
T.T.Y. (951) 698-2520
Church Website
Rating:
Worship 5/5
Friendliness 4/5
Sermon 4/5
Theological Content 3/5
Evangelistic 4/5
Facility 5/5
On Sunday 04/05/2009 I decided to go visit the 7:30AM service at Calvary Chapel Murrieta
Their services are at 7:30, 9:30, 11:30AM and 7PM. Nursery and Sunday School classes for all ages are available.
Pastor Brian Bell explains the history of the church
Chapel of Murrieta was originally incorporated as Murrieta Union Church in 1951 as part of the Assembly of God denomination. However, in January of 1985, the church had only 12 remaining members and no pastor. The remaining members, at that time, contacted Chuck Smith, the Pastor of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, California, a non-denominational church, requesting that a pastor be sent. A pastor from Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa came and began teaching line upon line, precept upon precept, through the Word of God. The church began to slowly grow in numbers during the next three years. The name was changed to Murrieta Country Church to better reflect the rural setting and location of the church.
By March of 1987, the church numbered more than 100 adults. It a move to Murrieta Christian School located on Adams Avenue. The church refurbished the school facilities and was able to meet there rent free. Near the end of 1987, the church sold its property in Old Town and purchased five acres of vacant land next to Murrieta Christian School with the intent of building its own facility.
In June 1989, because of confusion over whether or not we were affiliated with Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, we changed the name of the church to Calvary Chapel of Murrieta. On July 2, 1989, the original pastor sent from Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa resigned and moved away. At that time, the Assistant Pastor, Brian Bell, became the Senior Pastor.
In June of 1991 we completed the construction of a new 350 seat sanctuary and Sunday School/fellowship hall on the five acres that we had purchased in 1987 on Adams Ave. In September of 1993, Calvary Chapel Murrieta established Calvary Chapel Christian School on this site with an enrollment of 268 students.
The next five years would be filled with continued growth, not only for our church, but our new school as well. As the church expanded to four Sunday morning services and the school added eight modular classrooms to keep up with our growth, it was evident that we were in need of a larger facility. In 1995, we purchased 8.25 acres on Monroe Ave. and made plans to not only move the church to this site, but also to construct a Jr./Sr. high school facility so that we could accommodate the continued growth and expansion of our school.
In August 1996, we broke ground on the building of a new 900 seat sanctuary and gymnasium at the Monroe Ave. site, which also included 60,000 additional square feet of classrooms, 315 parking spaces and support offices for the church, Sunday school, and our Jr./Sr. high school. In February 1997 we dedicated the building and held our first service.
1999 was a busy year at Calvary Chapel Murrieta. We were able to complete our new elementary school campus in late February. This new campus, which is located south of the church on Monroe Ave., currently has 640 students and 60 staff members. The 35,000 square foot school has a full service kitchen, a separate fine arts department room, and a large maintenance building. With over two acres of playground and play equipment, as well as 185 new parking stalls, this new facility will meet our needs for some time to come.
Our Jr./Sr. high campus has also seen some new construction with the addition of six classrooms, the relocation and remodeling of our Jr./Sr. high school offices, and the consolidation of our church and school print shops to one location. The addition of the six new classrooms has enabled us to add a multi-room library to serve both campuses, as well as a completely new computer lab and support staff office.
In addition to the 505 students at our Jr./Sr. high campus, we also have an additional 229 students who are home schooled participating in ISP (Independent Study Program.)
The Music
The worship music was the best that I have heard in the Temecula/Murrieta Valley. Why do I say that? First of all it was real worship not a performance or a concert. Secondly, the music was tastefully done and the vocals were excellent. The harmonies were right on and the mix was great. I could go on but I don't want to puff them up!
The Sermon
The Sermon was good. It was Biblical and to the point. Pastor Brian's style struck me as different than the Calvary Chapel pastors that I have heard preach. I can't put my finger on what the difference was but I didn't feel like I was listening to a KWAVE sermon. The Title of his sermon was "This is a Test" and you can listen to it on itunes by going to the itunes store and downloading it for free.
