Our Story

Calvary Chapel Newnan began as a home Bible Fellowship with a small group of believers in early 2014. The initial Bible study was intended to be an informal gathering of about three families, but as word spread about the study, so did the number of people interested in attending. Our first Bible study was a gathering of 24 adults and a few children. The adults met in the living and dining room while the children met in the Florida room. Tables and chairs were removed from the dining room the second week to accommodate more seating, and even then, people were still sitting on the floor. Pastor Joel began to simply and methodically teach the Bible verse by verse, starting with the first verse of the Bible.  The group would fellowship, pray, and then study the Bible in a study circle.

Not long after the Bible study began, Pastor Joel attended a Pastor and Leaders conference at CC Stone Mountain GA.  It was there, at the 2014 Deep South Pastors and Leaders conference that God called Pastor Joel to start CCN.  When he shared that news with the Bible study group, many also felt God's leadership to participate in the new work.

At that time, Joel was working full time as a Real Estate Agent, and noticed a vacant little chapel near his home.   This would become the first public building for CCN.  The Bible study group went to work painting and preparing the little chapel and after a month of renovations and preparation, the group relocated from the living room to the little Calvary Chapel on Old Atlanta Highway.  Calvary Chapel Newnan had its first public service  on the first Sunday in September, 2014.

God began to bless the little group, slow at first, but the Lord's hand was upon them. In 2017 the group had outgrown the 80 person capacity of the little chapel and moved to two services. The church continued to grow and a year later was around 130 people with a small, but growing youth and children's ministry. Other groups had formed, such as a women's ministry and men's ministry. Volunteers from the church pioneered the church Student Ministry and Children's Ministry.

By the summer of 2017, the small church was looking for a larger building. One afternoon at the community swimming pool, a friend of Pastor Joel's mentioned that his church had just purchased a property, and that they would be vacating their leased building in downtown Newnan.  Joel was invited to come and take a look, which led to the relocation to the larger Savannah Street property in the summer of 2018.  The church held its first service in the Savanah building on the first Sunday of August 2018.  About the same time, Pastor Joel began to pastor the church full time.  The church continued to grow and topped the 200 mark in late 2019 and early 2020.  Ministries expanded and God raised up great leaders and volunteers.  

2020 of course brought the Pandemic...and though it was a year of challenge, God used it to strengthen the vision and structure of the church.    God's grace was on the church and Calvary Chapel began live streaming services, growing its congregation around the country and here in Newnan.  In March of 2021, the Savannah property was hit by the Newnan Tornado and the church was displaced.  By God's grace, the church was already prepared to function as a small groups driven church, with a weekend service.  CCN has been meeting in local schools since the tornado hit and is prayerfully looking for our next permanent location.  

We would love for you to be a part of the next chapter of this amazing story that God is still writing!   

During the early days of the 2020 Pandemic, our Staff and Elders began to meet as a small group weekly for worship and prayer.  We realized that God was leading us to a new focus on small groups.  We do everything possible to encourage everyone who attends to plug into a sermon based small group.  Sermon based small groups take a deeper look at the Sunday sermon and meet in three terms throughout the year.

To be honest, we are headed wherever the Spirit leads us.  The church belongs to Jesus...it is his Bride.  We will continue to focus on sharing the gospel, teaching the Bible, worshipping the Lord, serving others, and fellowshipping together in a vibrant Spirit filled community.  Our posture is to stay on our knees and to seek the Lord's direction.  We believe that God has the vision for CCN, and as we walk near to Him, that He will direct us into His perfect will for CCN.  That's our road map...to seek the Lord continually and to listen for His voice.