Church News, Wednesday, July 17th, 2024.

Historically, we have hosted an annual pastors’ conference here at Calvary Chapel of the Finger Lakes. With the challenges facing the church, effected by pastor Scott Gallatin’s tragic passing, we have decided not to host the event this fall. It is a gathering that our church, and many others, will certainly miss.

In His Love,

Pastor John VanScott

Church News, Monday, June 3rd, 2024.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We are still grieving over the passing of Pastor Scott a few weeks ago, but we look forward to seeing him in glory!  In the weeks following his death, the pastors have been praying and looking to the scriptures for the direction of our church going forward.  At our last board meeting I agreed to take the position of senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of the Finger Lakes.  This transition will take some time as the duties that I have had as an associate pastor will now be distributed to others on staff.  I hope that this transition will be completed by the end of the summer.  While there may be some difficult decisions coming up, our desire is to continue ministering to our local body with line upon line teaching of the Scriptures, and to follow the church model that has served us so well for nearly 50 years.

Concerning the women’s ministry, we would like to follow the pattern set by Pastor Bil and Rosemary at the outset of our fellowship. That example was also followed by Pastor Scott, with Shannon leading the women during his time as our pastor.  Now with the passing of Scott, I have asked my wife Cathy to oversee the women’s ministry.  We are very grateful to Shannon for serving the Lord in this leadership role for many years. We know that her life has touched others, not only inside our own church, but outside of it as well.  Of course, we will continue supporting Shannon as her life has changed dramatically with Scott’s passing.

Please pray for the unity of our body.  I appreciate your love and patience as we go through some changes and adjustments for His glory.

In His Love,

Pastor John VanScott