More Than Three Decades on West Smith Street
Calvary Chapel South gathers at 1340 W Smith Street in Kent, Washington, a building it has called home since a small team planted the church in 1990. Lead Pastor Kevin Day, part of that founding group, frames the spirit of the place with a phrase that runs across the church's welcome page: "We are weak, He is strong." The motto captures what Pastor Kevin describes as "a community of imperfect people who rely on the grace of God every single day," drawn together around verse-by-verse Bible teaching and a love for the city of Kent.
From that small plant more than three decades ago, the church has grown into a multi-generational congregation that meets three times a week, runs an in-house Bible institute and serves the city through free meals, a tutoring program, a baby pantry, a foster ministry and a network of partnerships with missionaries abroad.
Sunday Mornings and Wednesday Nights Around the Word
The weekly rhythm of the church is built on three gatherings. On Sundays, two services meet at 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM, each running about seventy-five minutes. Both services begin with congregational worship and then move into a chapter-by-chapter study of Scripture, a teaching style the church has held to since its earliest days. A Spanish-language service, CCS en Español, meets at 9:00 AM in the Fellowship Hall, with Pastor Bobby Cruz and Pastor Mauricio Diaz shepherding that congregation.
On Wednesdays, the Midweek service gathers at 6:30 PM for family worship followed by verse-by-verse teaching and small discussion groups. The Spanish-language midweek, Servicio Entre Semana, follows at 7:00 PM. The teaching plan moves through books of the Bible over ten-week stretches, and the whole family worships together before the children and middle schoolers are dismissed to their own rooms.
All three services stream live on YouTube, so anyone who cannot make it in person can still follow along. The Sunday services also remain available afterward in the message library and on the church's podcast feed.
Calvary Kids and the Children's Wing
Children have their own world inside the church. Calvary Kids runs every Sunday at both 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM and on Wednesday nights from 6:30 to 8:00 PM. Becky Stratton leads the ministry as Kids Ministry Director, with Ellie Hoeks serving as her assistant and Carrie Davenport coordinating large-group worship, kids camps and the annual Christmas musical at Paradise Point.
The wing is built to walk a child from infancy through fifth grade. Check-in opens at 8:45 AM and 10:45 AM, and a staff member meets first-time families at the door. Nursery caregivers rock, pray over and watch the littlest ones. Two- and three-year-olds through five-year-olds work through a different Bible truth each month, with worship, a Bible lesson, prayer, a snack and intentional play. Kindergarten through fifth grade gathers for a large-group worship and Bible lesson, then breaks into small groups for verse memorization, prayer, a snack and a craft that reinforces the lesson. Every Calvary Kids volunteer has completed a background check.
For parents of infants who want to stay with their child, a Mother's Room offers a quiet space to watch the service. On Wednesday nights, the whole family starts in the sanctuary, then the children move to their own program of worship, Bible teaching, games and crafts.
Tribe Youth and Young Adults
Middle school and high school students are part of Tribe, the church's youth ministry. Both groups meet during the 11:00 AM Sunday service, with middle schoolers gathering in the Tribe Middle School Room for teaching and high schoolers in the Fellowship Hall after joining the main congregation for worship. Wednesday nights follow a similar pattern: worship together in the sanctuary, then age-specific teaching and small groups.
Jared Stratton, one of the pastors at Calvary Chapel South, came to faith at the church as a young adult and now leads the youth ministry. Trevor Day, son of Pastor Kevin, serves as Middle School Director, and Gabriel Fernandez is a Middle School Pastor in Training. The youth calendar includes a regular cooking competition, an annual apologetics conference and trips to conferences in the wider Seattle area.
Young adults aged eighteen to thirty gather on Tuesdays at 7:00 PM in the Fellowship Hall for a peer-led Bible study, fellowship and prayer. The group uses a Discord server to share meeting details and event news.
Women's Ministry, Men's Ministry and Prayer
Donna Venning directs the women's ministry, which builds its year around two weekly Bible studies. A daytime study meets on Thursdays from 10:00 AM to noon, and an evening study follows on Thursdays from 6:30 to 8:00 PM. Both groups work through books of the Bible and are open to women at any stage of faith. A book club, monthly breakfasts on the first Saturday at 9:30 AM, retreats and an annual December soiree round out the year.
The men's side meets for breakfast on the first Saturday of each month at 7:00 AM, with food from 7:00 to 7:30, followed by worship, Bible study and prayer. A separate Saturday Men's Night meets weekly around a bonfire for Bible reading and encouragement. The breakfast is designed to wrap up in time for men to join the 8:00 AM hour of prayer that follows.
Prayer is a central thread at the church. A senior adults prayer group gathers on Thursdays at 10:00 AM with Kathy Ward, the Saturday Hour of Prayer meets in person at 8:00 AM, and Greg Parker leads an online prayer meeting on Zoom. A prayer request form and a prayer update sign-up are available for anyone who wants the church to pray for them or to receive ongoing prayer notes.
Small Groups, Training and the Bible Institute
Small groups are described by the church as the primary way members connect. New groups launch in the winter, spring, summer and fall, with leaders drawn from within the congregation. Group topics range from Bible study to marriage and parenting, and groups meet in homes across the region. A women's Bible study called "Rooted in Christ" and the Saturday Men's Night both serve as ongoing groups outside the quarterly round.
For members who want to go deeper, Calvary Training offers a structured pathway. The Foundations track meets on Monday nights from 6:30 to 8:00 PM across three ten-week courses - Inductive Bible Study in the fall, Calvary Distinctives in winter, and Theology in the spring. A year-long Teacher Training track follows, along with specialized tracks in church planting, biblical counseling and missions.
The training ladder tops out at Calvary Bible Institute, a one-year program taught by Calvary Chapel pastors that prepares students for full-time ministry or church planting. CBI students are paired with a mentor, work through reading assignments and graduate with a clearer sense of calling.
Scripture Memory and Bible Resources
The church runs a church-wide Scripture memory program that aims to gather sixty verses a year. Verses are organized into series, and members who can recite a verse to a pastor or leader receive a wristband as a marker of progress. Tools include the Verse Locker app, a YouTube playlist of Scripture songs and the Navigators' card system. Bible resources recommended by the church include the Bible App, the Bible Project videos, the Read Scripture app, Blue Letter Bible and the Streetlights Audio Bible.
Outreach in Kent and Around the World
Outreach is woven into the identity of the church, and the building is the hub of several ongoing ministries.
The Community Meal runs on the fourth Saturday of each month from January through September and on the third Saturday in October, November and December, opening its doors at 11:15 AM for a free lunch. Walk-ins are welcome. Guests also have access to free clothing, baby supplies, free haircuts and a short musical message. Volunteers begin checking in at 9:00 AM.
The Baby Pantry serves families with infants and toddlers up to one year old, providing free diapers, wipes, postpartum supplies and nursing essentials. It opens on the first and third Wednesday of each month from 6:30 to 8:00 PM, with no qualifications required.
The Tutoring Station, directed by Sydney Kieswether, offers free math and reading help to students in grades one through five. Sessions meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:00 to 5:15 PM, with a curriculum tailored to each child and time set aside for reading the Bible.
Calvary Chapel South also partners with Olive Crest and a Medical Outreach team, and the church works with CarePortal, an online platform that connects the congregation to families in crisis identified by local social workers. A Foster and Adopt Ministry hosts a monthly Foster Support Night with a free family dinner, prayer and a separate kids' program; the church shares a parking lot with the Department of Children, Youth, and Families and twice a year hosts appreciation breakfasts for social workers.
We Love Kent, led by Outreach Event Director Matt Roark, is a network of local churches and organizations that runs citywide outreaches including the Fourth of July Splash at Lake Meridian, Concerts in the Park and the Festifall Food Giveaway.
Globally, the church supports a team of missionaries and ministry partners in places as varied as Niger, Southeast Asia, Panama, the Balkans, East Africa and the Caucasus, alongside a Bible translation team in East Asia and a medical outreach team in Iraq. Vision Trips offer members a chance to visit these partners in person.
Baptism, Baby Dedication and Next Steps
Calvary Chapel South practices full-immersion baptism as a public declaration of faith. Baptisms are scheduled several times a year, and the church walks each candidate through what to expect and which Scriptures to study beforehand.
For parents of infants, Baby Dedication is a separate ceremony in which parents commit to raising their child in the knowledge of Jesus. The dedication is not a baptism and does not take the place of one later in life.
For newcomers, CCS 101 is a relaxed, one-session class held during the 11:00 AM service that introduces the church's history, vision and staff over light refreshments, with children's ministry available for kids.
What Calvary Chapel South Believes
The church's statement of faith centers on a Trinitarian view of God. Members affirm that there is one true God existing eternally as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, equal in power and glory, who created and now upholds all things. They confess the full deity and the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, his sinless life, his substitutionary death, his bodily resurrection, his ascension and his personal return. The Holy Spirit convicts, regenerates, indwells and sanctifies every believer, and the church believes the gifts of the Spirit are for today.
The church holds the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments to be the inspired, inerrant and authoritative Word of God, using the New King James Version to establish doctrine. Two ordinances are observed: full-immersion water baptism and the Lord's Supper. Laying on of hands is practiced for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the ordination of pastors, elders and deacons, and the receiving of spiritual gifts.
On humanity, the church teaches that all people are sinners by nature and in need of regeneration through faith in Christ. Marriage is defined as the legal union of one man and one woman, and the church teaches that biblical sexual relations are reserved for that union. The church will not perform or recognize same-sex marriages.
On the end times, members affirm the personal and visible return of Jesus Christ, the rapture of the church, the resurrection of the body, final judgment, the eternal blessing of the righteous and the conscious suffering of the wicked, and the reality of a literal heaven and a literal hell.
Calvary Distinctives
The church's approach is in language familiar to the wider Calvary Chapel movement. The book of Acts is treated as the model for the church, with the early practices of apostles' doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer as the four basic functions. The senior pastor, aided by a Board of Directors, leads the congregation, and the church looks for the mind of Christ in its decisions. The teaching ministry is expositional, walking verse by verse and chapter by chapter through books of the Bible. Worship is kept Christ-centered and unhurried, with an effort to avoid hype. The church expects a threefold work of the Holy Spirit in the life of each believer: the Spirit alongside, the Spirit within, and the Spirit overflowing. On non-essential matters, the church aims to strike a balance that does not divide the body of Christ.
A Generational Handoff
Pastor Kevin has shared with the church that the congregation is in a season of intentional leadership transition. After more than three decades as founding pastor, he is stepping back from the lead role and asking Executive Pastor Gerrit Hoeks, who joined the staff in 2013, to step into the position of Lead Pastor. Gerrit holds a Master of Biblical Studies from Calvary Chapel University and has served as Executive Pastor since 2017. The Operations Board, the staff and the church have affirmed the move, and the church has framed the change as a way to keep the ministry healthy for the next generation. Pastor Kevin and his wife Charlotte plan to continue in the congregation and to support Gerrit and the staff in any way they are needed.
Getting Connected
Visitors who want to attend a service can simply show up on Sunday morning at 9:00 AM or 11:00 AM, or on Wednesday night at 6:30 PM. The address is 1340 W Smith Street, Kent, WA 98032. The phone number is 253-852-7030 and the general email is email@ccskent.org. Giving is available online through the Church Center app, by mail or by stock transfer, and the same app keeps members connected to groups, events and the church calendar.