Calvary Chapel Perfect Love (CCPL) was never a home fellowship; we began with the sole intent of being local church. Perfect Love was launched April 11, 2012 in San Diego’s east county with eleven people meeting in the community room of the Lamp Lighter Village mobile home park in Spring Valley. Without knowing where we would meet the following week we stepped out in faith to obey the Lord. After that first study Jewelie Bullock offered their brand new house to be our weekly Wednesday night meeting home.
Pastor Daryl recalls his conversation with Jason Bullock. Jason said, “We’re buying a new home with a large living room and dining area so that we can open it to fellowship and Bible study.” The following Wednesday our attendance more than doubled in size. Tina Gonzaba was among those at that second meeting. With new people and families coming every week, we suddenly had to develop youth and children’s ministries.
With such rapid growth we began looking for our own building to meet and continue to grow in. We subleased half of the building space of Gladiator’s Boxing gym. On January 6, 2013, nine months after our first Wednesday night meeting, we held our first Sunday morning service in our new location. We were so blessed to have a home; however, our Wednesday night Bible study services were quite interesting.
As we worshiped and studied on one side of the building, the boxers trained to loud gangster rap music in the next room. The restrooms for the building were on our side, so the boxers walked through our study as we fellowshipped. The gym was closed on Sundays so we didn’t have colorful mix of boxers and worshipers together.
During this same season Pastor Daryl began the process of affiliation with Calvary Chapel under Pastor Gary Lawton of Calvary Chapel Santee. In October 2013, as the process was coming to a close, Daryl’s meeting with Mike Macintosh was postponed when Pastor Chuck Smith passed on to be forever in the presence of the Lord. A few months later in February 2014, Daryl received the following email:
Good Morning Daryl, I have great news for you; Mike MacIntosh has reviewed your application and would like you to know that you are officially a servant Pastor in the Calvary Chapel Association. Mike will not meet with you next week due to out of town ministry; I will be in contact with you to reschedule your meeting with Mike. Congratulations & Many blessings.
After two years in the Gladiator’s building, CCPL was asked by that building’s owner to leave. After two months of searching to no avail and no place to go, with one week left in the Gladiator building, the Lord used Jewelie once again to find us a meeting place. This time we moved to sublease from another church. This arrangement caused us to move our Sunday services to 2pm and our mid-week service to Thursday nights. We began praying that the Lord would give us a building that we wouldn’t have to work on in a highly visible central location and suitable for our needs with room to grow.
After meeting there for a year and a half, and having access to the building only 3.5 hours per week our membership suffered greatly. In June of 2016, we were down to five households consisting of seven adults and as many children left in regular attendance. We had next to nothing left in savings and were going to be short on the next month’s rent, but God was ready to move again. The Lord led Pastor Daryl to a building whose owner earlier that morning just put a “for lease” sign in the window. It was exactly what we had prayed for.
Pastor Daryl called the number in the window while fleecing the Lord. If the owner would agree to our offer per square foot, which was lower than they were asking and up to five times lower than the owners of marijuana dispensaries are offering the landlords in Spring Valley, then this move was of the Lord.
In the meantime we informed the leadership of the church we were meeting at that we’d found a place of our own and they blessed us on our way in our new season with the Lord. We were moving in faith as we had not yet met with the owners of the new building. After meeting with the owners they agreed to our offer. We finished the month of June in the other church and met the entire month of July in Spring Valley Park.
We took possession of our new home August 1, 2017. Some former members returned and an increasing number of new members and gifted families ready to serve have become a part of our CCPL family, including two worship leaders after going five years without one. To put it simple, the Lord blew every door open to get us here and He is continuing to move as He increases our body spiritually and numerically.
We invite you to come and see what the Lord may have for you here, how He may use your gifts and how you may be a mighty warrior in His kingdom.