The Planted Pillar of Calvary Chapel Montebelluna, Italy
Photos provided by David Downs, Tyler Johnson, and Tom Price
Craig escorts his daughter, Abigail, down the aisle at her wedding held on the grounds of CC Montebelluna on June 11, 2021. Abigail is expecting her first child in July.
Hundreds of people came to Pastor Craig Quam’s memorial service on June 13, 2023, held at Calvary Chapel Montebelluna, Italy. Numerous video testimonials from believers around the world ministered to those in attendance. But it was Pastor Lorenzo Gemma of CC Ferrara who described Craig’s witness perfectly. He recalled one evening while they were driving home and the car, almost out of gas, began to sputter and die. Lorenzo offered to get out and push. “Craig kept pumping that gas pedal. He said, ‘The Lord will give us enough gas, you’ll see. We will make it.’ And we did. I look back at that day when I learned an important message from my brother Craig. We are not called to get out and push our own lives, but to step on that gas pedal having faith the Lord will provide enough fuel for us to make it home safe and sound to the Father’s house.”
Hundreds of people gathered at CC Montebelluna and numerous video testimonials gave honor to Pastor Craig and his nearly three decades of service to the people in the Veneto region of northern Italy.
For a decade, Craig battled cancer, but that did not deter his faith in the God of all creation nor did it slow him from sharing that faith with others. Craig continued working, teaching, preaching, and sharing right up to the end. Even in the hospital, he shared Scriptures and encouragement for the work that still needed to be done for the kingdom in Italy. When Craig left this earthly world at age 62 on Friday, June 9, 2023, he entered into the presence of his Lord and Savior Jesus—a fully healed saint.
And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God. Job 19:26
The Immoveable Rock
Craig came to northern Italy in October of 1996 at the behest of then director of Calvary Chapel Bible College (CCBC) campus in Austria, Frank Ippolito. While praying and waiting on the Lord’s guidance, Craig and his wife, Silvana, were given a verse by another missionary from Deuteronomy 8:7-8: “For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey.” They felt this distinctly spoke to them and after quickly raising $5,000, they moved from California to Montebelluna and began Bible studies.
Craig served the Lord full-time since 1985, traveling to many countries, including Italy, where he met his wife Silvana (left). The Quams moved to Montebelluna in 1996 where the church, as well as their family, grew. Pictured here with their children, Abigail (center), Joshua (left), and Josiah (right) all grew up in the faith into adulthood.
Called into full-time ministry in 1985, Craig served in Mexico and El Salvador. Eventually, he joined the evangelistic organization, Christ is the Answer Ministries, where he was a missionary to India, Pakistan, Nepal and, ultimately, Italy, where he met Silvana. The two were involved in a powerful tent ministry in southern Italy for several years before returning to California. While in the U.S., the Quams became acquainted with CCBC, where Craig worked and attended for a year before being led back to Italy.
There had never been an evangelical church in the city of Montebelluna, ever—until Craig showed up. Roman Catholicism has dominated the area for centuries; currently 95% of the population practices that faith, mostly in religious ritualism. This hard ground required a certain man of God—a planted, immoveable rock—who could work the fallow Italian soil to let God’s Word grow in the hearts of the Veneto people.
For centuries, Roman Catholicism has been the dominant faith throughout Italy. Calvary Chapel Montebelluna, the first Protestant church in the city, grew from two to now over 150 people. Craig’s wife, Silvana, stated, “Craig means strong rock, and he was one. He fought to have everything we have with the church today.”
“Craig was one of those trailblazer marine-type missionaries who the Lord used to knock down some of the huge barriers for ministry here [in Italy],” remarked Landon Rogers, pastor of Calvary Chapel Feltre, Italy. “The foundation set couldn’t have been done by anyone else or another type of person.”
Silvana shared, “Craig means strong rock, and he was one. He fought to have everything we have with the church today. He fought to preach a clean, no-nonsense Word, he fought for his family, and he fought through this terrible disease for 10 years—always trusting his God. His faith remained clear to the end.”
“For the Lord GOD will help Me; therefore I will not be disgraced; therefore I have set My face like a flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed.” Isaiah 50:7
Pastors David (left) and Craig enjoy a moment of fellowship at an outdoor caffè bar in Italy. David first met Craig at Calvary Chapel Bible College in Hungary where Craig taught a morning devotion on “Small Beginnings” based on Zechariah 4:10.
Pastor and missionary David Downs of Calvary Torino, Italy, knew Craig to be a determined man. “A verse that comes to mind when I think of Craig is Isaiah 50:7 which refers to Jesus setting his face as flint. Jesus had this clear objective—nothing would deter Him from the cross. And no one could convince Craig away from something that he was convinced God wanted him to do, good or bad; he was a decided man.”
Small Beginnings
David worked with Craig for eight years after he came to Italy in 2006. He first met Craig while attending CCBC in Hungary. As a visiting missionary, Craig shared a morning devotion with the students on Zechariah 4:10: “For who has despised the day of small things?” He recalls, “Craig was a man that just planted himself and didn’t despise the days of small beginnings. From the small Bible study that started with two people in Montebelluna that turned into a church plant, to him driving 40 minutes to the mountains to do a Bible study for a small group of people. That was the biggest—and constant—lesson I learned from him in that study of small beginnings.”
“For who has despised the day of small things?” Zechariah 4:10a
Craig’s life of service to the people of Montebelluna was evident by the fruit produced from those he ministered to. Craig went on to plant two more churches in the Veneto region and opened Calvary Chapel Bible College Italy in 2008 out of his passion to equip students in the ministry.
What started out with two new believers in Christ has now blossomed to almost 150 regular congregants nearly 27 years later. The impact of Craig’s steadfast faith on numerous missionaries and students is evident through their fruitful lives; some even planting churches. Under his pastorate evolved a strong leadership team of six men—one being Pastor Tyler Johnson—the primary leader through the last year of Craig’s illness.
Having assisted Craig since 2014, Tyler said, “The biggest teaching I learned from Craig was how to be a servant leader. In Mark 10:45, Jesus said, ‘For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.’ Craig exemplified that verse so well; giving his life for people and serving in so many different ways.” After a unanimous vote by the congregation, Tyler now serves as the pastor of CC Montebelluna.
Pastor Tyler (top left) has served under Craig (seated center) for nine years in a variety of ministries from youth to college, even leading worship. “He has been very much like a Joshua to a Moses. Tyler is a faithful guy and has been the main leader over the last year as Craig fought this cancer,” noted David. Silvana (right) met Craig the first time he served in Italy with Christ is the Answer Ministries.
Abundant Fruit
Craig planted two more churches in the Veneto region: CC Feltre in 2003 and CC Padova in 2007; CC Treviso, CC Ferrara, Calvary Torino, and CC Syracuse in Sicily were all planted by individuals connected to and influenced by him through the ministry at CC Montebelluna.
David (left) and Craig (right) baptize a new believer in the refreshing waters of the Piave River just north of Montebelluna. Enzo (center, right of Craig) has long been a leader at CC Montebelluna, assisting Craig in the ministry.
Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. Philippians 4:17
David stated, “Everything I do in life will be connected to his legacy. Like Paul says in Philippians 4:17, it’s credited to your account.” Continuing his tribute to Craig, “So our church in Torino is very much fruit of Craig’s audio archive that ended up on the Christian radio station in Torino. People were listening to that over 12 years ago, so there was already a bit of interest and preparing of the soil when I arrived there. The sheer fact that a person be planted for [almost] 30 years in one place, there is so much that happens, whether directly or indirectly, that is connected to the life and legacy of a faithful planting and sowing over time.”
In 2008, Craig founded CCBC Italy as an outreach of CC Montebelluna. Serving as president, he was actively involved in the college’s leadership out of his passion to see students be raised up and equipped in the ministry.
Craig Quam, pastor of Calvary Chapel Montebelluna, Italy, since 1996, passed away on June 9, 2023. Craig was “a planted pillar. That’s the kind of guy God needed to ‘stick it out’ where Protestant Christianity had never been planted,” stated Pastor David Downs of Calvary Torino, Italy.
New Life
Craig’s wife messaged the congregation the morning of his death: “Pastor Craig returned to his Father’s home. I witnessed his last breath as he flew into cielo [heaven]. In an instant he was gone, with him flew away my dreams and plans to grow old together, to serve in ministry together, to see our grandchildren be born and grow.” The Quams have three grown children. The oldest, Abigail, is expecting her first child July 1; it was all their desire that Craig would have been here to meet his first grandchild. In closing, Pastor Tyler observed, “Even in the loss of Craig, it is a delight to see the Lord bring new life.”
Learn more about CC Montebelluna at: ccmontebelluna.com
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