Calvary Chapel WestGrove sits on Knott Street in Garden Grove, a few blocks south of the city’s industrial stretch and not far from the homes and apartment complexes that fill West Grove’s residential blocks. The church describes itself as a family of transformed people who love God and love others, and on any given Sunday as many as four services unfold from the same property. The motto across the top of the church’s homepage - "You belong here" - is meant to be taken literally: the church runs three English services in the morning, a Spanish-language service in the early afternoon, and a Wednesday evening gathering that has been a part of the church’s rhythm for years.
Three Sunday Mornings and a Spanish Service in the Afternoon
Sunday services are held at 8:00 AM, 9:45 AM and 11:30 AM, with the doors opening early enough to grab coffee and find a seat. Services are described as friendly and encouraging, built around live, band-led worship music and Bible teaching aimed at life application, and they typically run about an hour and fifteen minutes. There is no dress code, the music is louder toward the front of the room, and Bibles are projected on screen for anyone who did not bring one, with paper copies available to keep.
At 1:00 PM on Sundays the same building hosts a Spanish-language service in the Fellowship Room. Calvary Chapel WestGrove calls it "Servicio en Español," and it is one of the most distinctive offerings on the campus - a fully Spanish gathering rather than a translation of an English service.
Wednesday nights add a fourth gathering to the weekly rhythm. The 7:00 PM service is led by the pastoral team and has historically been a place where students, young adults and anyone wanting a midweek touchpoint with the church gather for worship and teaching.
Sr. Pastor Eric Nelson and the Ministry Team
Eric Nelson became Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel WestGrove in December 2020 after serving the church as an assistant pastor leading students, young adults and the Wednesday night services. He and his wife Naomi have been married since 2003 and have three children. The pastoral team around him includes Tyler Ninh (Junior High), Aaron Garcia (High School and Missions), Sophia Lopez (Kids Ministry Director), and John LaBelle, who travels the country as the church’s stateside Disaster Relief Pastor coordinating relief efforts after natural disasters.
The team is rounded out by Bernadette Nusslock, who serves full time on the mission field and is still listed among the missions staff at the home church, and Pastor Jim and Delia Broughton, who lead the Breaking the Chains recovery ministry. The Kids Ministry team includes Corrine Garces, Joanna Vandyken and Benjie Jellicoe alongside Sophia Lopez.
Kids from Infants Through Fifth Grade
Kids Ministry at Calvary Chapel WestGrove is built around the conviction that no child is too young to know God personally. The ministry serves infants through fifth grade and runs at every weekly gathering - Sundays at 8:00, 9:45 and 11:30 AM and Wednesdays at 7:00 PM - with age-appropriate rooms, trained and background-checked volunteers, and a peanut-free environment.
Beyond the weekly rooms, two monthly rhythms extend the ministry. On the first Sunday of each month from 12:30 to 2:30 PM, third, fourth and fifth graders gather separately as girls and guys groups in Room 10 for a meal, hang time, worship and Bible study. On the third Friday of the month from 7:00 to 9:00 PM, Kids Ministry opens its nursery through fifth-grade rooms for an evening gathering.
First-time families check in at the Kids Check-In area near the south entrance through the Families entrance. Parents and children receive matching printed nametags and a pick-up tag with a security code, and check-in opens thirty minutes before each service. Nursery and special-needs families receive a pager so they can be reached during the service. Children with allergies or other needs are accommodated case by case, and a special-needs classroom is available during the 9:00 AM service.
Junior High and High School Ministries
Junior High ministry serves students in sixth through eighth grade. Junior High students meet during the Sunday services at 8:00, 9:45 and 11:30 AM and on Wednesday nights at 7:00 PM, and they also gather for Youth Nights on the first and third Fridays of the month from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. Tyler Ninh pastors this group.
High School ministry is led by Aaron Garcia and meets Wednesdays at 7:00 PM and Fridays from 6:30 to 9:00 PM with dinner provided. On Sunday mornings high schoolers sit together in the sanctuary during the 9:00 and 11:00 AM services. A monthly Guys Group meets Tuesdays at 4:00 PM at MoonGoat Coffee next door to the church, and a Girls Group meets on the first and third Mondays of each month at 6:30 PM, with location updates on Instagram. Youth Nights for both junior high and high school run on the third Friday from 7:00 to 9:00 PM.
Men’s Ministry on Tuesday Nights
The Men’s Ministry gathers at the church every Tuesday night. Doors open at 6:30 PM for fellowship and the meeting begins at 7:00 PM. The evening is structured around worship, a follow-up message that goes deeper into the previous Sunday’s text, and small-group time for prayer, praise reports and honest conversation. The ministry is built around the verse 1 Corinthians 15:58 - "stand firm, let nothing move you, always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because your labor in the Lord is not in vain" - and frames itself as iron sharpening iron, with men sharpening each other as husbands, fathers and neighbors.
Women’s Ministry, Bible Study and the Flourish Conference
Women’s Ministry at Calvary Chapel WestGrove gathers women of all ages and stages around Bible study, prayer, worship and small-group discussion. A women’s Bible study meets on Monday nights at 6:45 PM and Tuesday mornings at 9:45 AM in the Fellowship Room, breaking into smaller groups in classrooms around the church. Study materials and childcare (nursery through fifth grade) are provided at no cost.
Once a year the ministry hosts Flourish, a free women’s conference held on a Saturday morning in the sanctuary. The conference includes worship, an encouraging message, vendor shopping and a photo booth.
Local Missions: Monday Nights Feeding the Homeless
The Missions ministry at Calvary Chapel WestGrove is divided into local and global work. On the local side, a team of volunteers serves every Monday night, bringing warm meals and a short gospel message to unsheltered neighbors in local parks. Disaster relief is the other local ministry, and John LaBelle serves as the church’s Disaster Relief Pastor, traveling the country to coordinate relief efforts with local organizations and volunteer teams in the wake of natural disasters. The church maintains a dedicated disaster relief fund and accepts financial partners for that work.
Global Missions from Italy to Nepal
Calvary Chapel WestGrove financially supports and walks alongside a network of missionaries and church-planting families. The church’s missions page lists partners in Italy, Mexico (four distinct works), and Nepal, along with the missions pastor Aaron Garcia and missionary Bernadette Nusslock, who was sent out from WestGrove in February 2015 and now serves alongside Calvary Chapel Homex in Mexico.
Amy Hernandez has served since 2018 with Calvary Torino, a Calvary Chapel church plant in northwestern Italy, where she oversees children’s ministry, leads worship and is involved in refugee ministry and discipleship. In Mexico, Eddie and Jeanette Mijares were sent out by Calvary Chapel Rosarito to serve the Homex community, where they recently opened a small women’s shelter. Mike and Sarah Vincent moved from Orange County to Rosarito in 2002 and now lead Calvary Rosarito, which ministers to more than 1,200 people weekly and has helped launch twenty-nine church plants across North and Central America. Luis and Delia Areyzaga moved to Morelia in January 2022 to plant a church there. Anand Choudhary oversees a Bible college in Nepal, teaches on the radio twice a week and pastors Calvary Chapel Nakhu.
Breaking the Chains Recovery Ministry
Breaking the Chains is a recovery ministry for men and women eighteen and older who are dealing with addiction or other self-destructive patterns. The ministry is led by Pastor Jim and Delia Broughton and meets on Monday nights from 6:00 to 7:30 PM in Room 13 for worship, introductions and Bible study, followed by gender-specific small groups for prayer and accountability. A more intensive Breaking the Chains Step Study meets Thursdays from 6:00 to 7:30 PM in the same room and walks participants through a biblical approach to the twelve steps; that study is closed and runs in cycles, with new groups opening periodically.
Faith Foundations and What We Believe
Calvary Chapel WestGrove identifies itself as a non-denominational church that holds the Bible as God’s authoritative revelation and as the final authority for faith and life. The church’s Faith Foundations statement walks through the historic Christian doctrines in some depth: belief in one eternal God who exists as three equal Persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), the full deity and full humanity of Jesus Christ, the virgin birth, sinless life, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection and ascension of Jesus, and the present ministry of the Holy Spirit who convicts, regenerates and empowers believers.
The church teaches that salvation is received by grace through faith in Jesus, that water baptism by immersion is a public symbol of that salvation, and that communion (the Lord’s Supper) is an ongoing practice for followers of Jesus in remembrance of his death. It teaches a literal heaven and a literal hell, the literal return of Jesus Christ, and the believer’s ongoing growth in Christlikeness through the work of the Holy Spirit. The statement affirms the gifts of the Holy Spirit as available today and the historic Christian belief in divine healing, and it holds that God instituted monogamous marriage between one man and one woman as the foundation of the family.
The church is explicit about being a non-denominational body of believers from many different church backgrounds and welcomes honest disagreement on non-essential doctrines, naming examples such as the dating of events in Genesis, the order of events associated with the Lord’s return and the degree of separation from worldly practices.
Coffee, Donuts and the Vibe on Sunday Morning
Calvary Chapel WestGrove tries to make a first visit as unpressured as possible. Visitors are encouraged to arrive fifteen minutes before the service to park and grab a seat, and a little earlier if they need to check kids into Kids Ministry. Free MoonGoat Coffee (roasted and served next door) and donuts are part of the hospitality table. The church calls itself "Jesus people, not religious people" and makes a point of being a diverse church family - "all ages, stages and walks of life." Hugs are optional.
Livestream, Podcasts, the Church Center App and Giving
Services are livestreamed for those who prefer to join online, and sermons are archived for later listening. Audio is also distributed through the Calvary Chapel WestGrove Sermons podcast on Apple Podcasts and the church’s Spotify show. The Church Center mobile app, available on iPhone and Android, gives members access to the livestream, sermon archive, event registration, online giving, prayer requests and a connection card. Giving can also be made online through the church’s giving page, by check mailed or dropped off at the church office, or through AmazonSmile when shopping online.