Small Church Doing Big-Church Ministries
This article originally appeared in Issue 102 of Calvary Chapel Magazine, Winter 2025.
Photos by Tom Price
Pastor Sean Meagher teaches at Living Stone Calvary Chapel (LSCC) in Cañon City, CO. With the Rocky Mountains in the background, the whole congregation enjoys summertime’s outdoor services. In cooler times, indoor services are held Saturday afternoon and two on Sunday. Photo by Ryley Meagher
Saying “Yes” to Jesus Spurs Calvary Chapel Growth and Meets Needs in Colorado
When Sean Meagher took over as pastor of what was then called Calvary Cañon City, CO, in 2005, attendance was down to about 20 people. A nearby fellowship, Royal Gorge Calvary Chapel, CO, was also struggling. Wondering why they were two instead of one, the congregations merged. “That’s how Living Stone Calvary Chapel was birthed,” declared Senior Pastor Sean. “We became new wine into new wine skins.”
“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” Luke 5:37-38
Pastor Sean Meagher
Although the thriving congregation outgrew their building two years ago, they have been creatively making room by increasing the number of services and using their outdoor amphitheater in the summer. Sean revealed, “Growth has happened incrementally and organically. People know us in the community, and they are attracted. They want to be part of what God is doing.”
The Lord’s Yes-Man
The congregation sits in the shade of the trees and tarps that help block the sun.
Steven Doryk (right) enjoys chatting with a friend before Sunday service. Steven is part of the U-Turn for Christ ranch program, supported by Living Stone CC.
Though Living Stone Calvary Chapel (LSCC), in Cañon City, CO, is distinguished for their unique outreaches and ministries, Sean gives all the credit to God. “I’ve done nothing except say Yes to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and be faithful to what He has asked me to do.” Hearkening back to when he attended a Calvary Chapel men’s retreat, Sean recalled how clearly God spoke to his heart about trusting Him with his life. Thinking he already made that decision when he became a believer, God continued pressing, But I’m not Lord of your life. You are still lord over your home, finances, marriage. Sean testified: “I heard, You are to go and help plant a church in Colorado. For me, Lordship became leaving everything behind and trusting Him with my finances, family, all of it and starting over.”
Since leaving Washington State to help plant a Calvary Chapel nearly 30 years ago, Yes has been Sean’s steady response. “I tell the Lord I don’t want to get to a place where I become comfortable or reach a season in life where I don’t want to take these steps of faith,” Sean said. “I guard against that by saying Yes to that next adventure … that looks overwhelming as you stand in front of it. God wants to do things that are greater than us and more than we could ever think or imagine.”
Sean asserts that community involvement is integral in building relationships with people. He encourages his flock to participate in various activities from volunteering in public school classrooms as teachers’ aides to coaching youth sports. Their enthusiasm has been contagious. Youth Pastor Paul Angier observed, “Any given Sunday I look across our sanctuary, and I see big groups of people who are involved in a ministry … hospice, … children’s ministry, or The Bridge [youth center] volunteers. There is such joy and camaraderie as they serve together.”
God’s Presence in the Darkness
Debi Moore leads the congregation in worship.
Women study the Word at Living Stone CC on a blanket spread out on the grassy knoll.
Young attendees enjoy the time of worship at the church’s outdoor amphitheater.
At 5,300-feet elevation, Cañon City is nestled in a valley surrounded on three sides by the Rocky Mountains and is home to the Royal Gorge Bridge. This tourist attraction is America’s highest suspension bridge with breathtaking views as the Arkansas River rushes through the gorge 956 feet below.
Amid the beauty, spiritual darkness exists in Fremont County’s expansive prison system, rippling across family lines and into the community. Sean noted that when a mom or dad go to prison, the other parent or even grandparents will move there to stay close to their incarcerated family member—and brokenness follows. “We are a small town with big-city problems: homelessness, drug addiction, teen pregnancy, and high rates of sexual assaults on children,” Sean elaborated. “But God laid it on my heart to reach the community by going out and being a part of it. This helped us see their needs and begin to meet them.”
Ten years ago, the congregation recognized a famine in early child education programs like daycare, preschool, and afterschool. “There weren’t enough facilities to meet the needs of the community,” commented Sean. In response, they opened Royal Gorge Preschool where they’ve had a waiting list since. “Every year, 95% of the students have parents who don’t attend our church. It’s truly an outreach ministry. … God has grown our church through them. Instead of staying within the walls of our own church saying, ‘Come to us,’ we love and serve them.” Sean envisions an onsite Christian school, grades K-6, with future expansion to high school once they secure a larger facility.
A Community Youth Center
Pastor Sean (left) encourages congregants after Sunday service.
For nearly nine years, The Bridge Youth Center has “bridged the gap” between the church and the secular world in Cañon City. Pastor Sean had pictured a small facility where kids could hang out, “but God gave us a 12,000-square-foot building on Main Street. Miraculous!” he exclaimed.
The building, located in a depressed section of the city’s downtown business district, sat vacant for years. After opening its doors in 2016, the youth center fast became a fixture in the area, taking on a life of its own, and is supported by many organizations, churches, and individuals who believe in the ministry’s mission and vision. “We have close connections to the schools, so they have events and banquets for their teams at the center. It’s an intricate part of our community,” Sean shared.
We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. … He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children; that the generation to come might know them, the children who would be born, that they may arise and declare them to their children. Psalm 78:4-6
Prior to the youth center, kids would roam local parks, walk the streets, or gather in remote areas engaging in illegal activities. “There was no safe space where they could go to moderate behavior or learn how to have fun without getting into trouble,” stated Paul, LCSS youth pastor and The Bridge director.
Paul came to Cañon City in the summer of 2020 as part of a six-week Christian outreach. “I’ve had a love of youth ministry as long as I can remember, from middle school all the way through college,” he reminisced. “I love connecting with them and helping them have a deeper relationship with the Lord.” When an internship at The Bridge opened, Paul applied and was selected. Finishing his undergrad degree while serving, he was then offered the youth pastorate at LSCC. While his first year as youth pastor was very full, even becoming ordained as a CC pastor, he assures, “Now in 2024, I’ve done almost everything for every season of ministry within youth ministry and The Bridge at least two to three times. I learned from a lot of mistakes, but I grew through it.”
Sean calls it a youth center to and for the community, run by Christians. “We present Christ through us to the kids,” he vouched. Between 15-30 volunteers, many from LSCC, serve on a rotating basis and are committed to building relationships with the youth. “This is a place where life happens,” beamed Sean. “People walk in and go, ‘I can’t believe this is in our community!’”
Responding to the Call
Several years ago, Fremont Regional Hospice (FRH) asked Sean to be their chaplain. He declined, explaining, “I wasn’t looking to do that because I was focused on organizing a chaplaincy for the first responders.” But when he hung up the phone, he heard God speak: Why did you say No? “It wasn’t audible but very close to it,” Sean disclosed. “I thought, Well, I’m pretty busy. But He said: I put an open door before you; now call them back.” Sean did and agreed to an interview.
“... I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it.” Revelation 3:8a
“As a chaplain, you minister to people of all religions and faiths, and you do it in a non-evangelistic way,” reported Sean. He cautioned them that though he wouldn’t use the position to evangelize, “the only hope people have when they are dying is Christ, and I’m not going to tell them any different.” Fully expecting that he had “blown” the interview, he was surprised to be offered the job.
Through his three years of service as hospice chaplain, Sean officially organized the Fremont County Chaplain Corp, comprised of four nationally certified chaplains who now also minister to first responders. Sean remains involved in FRH after stepping down as chaplain. “He became a board member [now chairman] and has been an advocate and huge supporter,” said FRH President Michelle Quinn. The hospice’s reassuring guarantee—“We can’t give you more days, but we can make your days better”—is attained in partnership with LSCC where, remarkably, more than half of the organization’s 11 staff members fellowship.
Sean acknowledged, “We are a little church that does big-church things—taking steps of faith, having no idea how we are going to get from here to there. Like with the pregnancy center or hospice, God opened the door; our church stepped into those places, filled the gap, and met the needs. God just keeps doing that over and over.”
Thank you for reading! If this story inspired you, we invite you to partner with us in continuing the ministry God started over 27 years ago. We appreciate your prayerful consideration in joining us to reach more souls for Jesus.
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