The Calvary Chapel Cooperative is a fellowship of Calvary Chapel churches working together to see Calvary Chapel flourish.

The life of the Cooperative extends beyond the churches that formally join it. Cooperative gatherings, events, and the work of Cooperative ministries are open to all who would benefit from them. We want to serve, encourage, and build relationships throughout the broader Calvary Chapel family.

Joining the Cooperative, however, is for churches rather than individuals. It represents a church's decision to become part of the fellowship and participate in its common life and work.

For that reason, a church may only join through its pastoral leadership, acting on behalf of the church.

Joining means more than adding your church to a directory. It means becoming part of a fellowship of churches and committing to a shared life and work together.

Churches joining the Cooperative affirm our Doctrinal Statement, Core Values, and Clarifying Convictions.

Together, these express the theological convictions and philosophy of ministry we hold in common. They provide clarity about what defines our fellowship while allowing freedom in matters that do not.

Churches that join the Cooperative embrace six expectations of our life together. These expectations are not intended to make joining burdensome, but meaningful. They give substance to what it means to belong to the Cooperative.

Shared Identity

We know who we are.

Cooperating churches understand themselves as part of Calvary Chapel and willingly identify with its shared theological and ministry heritage.

Mutual Recognition

We recognize one another as belonging.

Cooperating churches receive one another as part of the same fellowship. We extend that recognition beyond existing friendships, relationships, and geography, receiving one another as part of the same family.

Meaningful Commitment

We remain committed to what we hold in common.

Cooperating churches commit to embodying and promoting our shared convictions, values, and philosophy of ministry and to continuing in our shared mission. Should a church no longer be able to hold these commitments in good faith, it should withdraw from the Cooperative rather than remain in a fellowship whose defining commitments it no longer shares.

Relational Responsibility

We take responsibility for one another.

Cooperating churches seek the good of one another through encouragement, prayer, support, generosity, and reconciliation. We build one another up, address difficulties relationally, and avoid conduct that unnecessarily damages trust or divides the fellowship.

Active Participation

We work together.

Cooperating churches actively participate in the Cooperative through relationships, gatherings, shared initiatives, partnerships, and other opportunities to contribute to the flourishing of the fellowship and its churches.

Recognized Governance

We discern and decide together.

Cooperating churches commit to seeking God's leading together, establishing structures that enable us to make decisions and steward our common work, and working within the structures we establish together. Governance exists to facilitate our shared life and mission, enabling cooperating churches to discern, decide, and act together for the good of the whole. Each church remains self-governing, and the Cooperative exercises no authority or control over individual churches.

These expectations give substance to what it means to belong to the Cooperative. We are seeking more than churches with similar beliefs or a shared history. We are seeking a genuine fellowship of churches that identify with one another, recognize one another, keep meaningful commitments, accept responsibility for one another, actively participate together, and recognize a shared way of making decisions.

These commitments are not intended to be burdensome. They are intended to make our fellowship meaningful. They describe what it looks like for churches not merely to stand alongside one another, but to belong and work together.

If your church shares these commitments and desires this kind of fellowship, we invite you to join us.