Pastor Tells Story of How God Transformed Prayer Meeting into Fast-Growing Church
By Alex Murashko
Pastor David Ax of Calvary Chapel Star in Idaho gives God all the glory for successful church plant. PHOTO: CCS
Calvary Chapel Star began as a prayer meeting.
It’s not unusual for a church to start with a group of people praying about planting a church. However, the fact that a group of seven exponentially grew in numbers and each had a detailed story to tell as to how God led them to Star, Idaho, gives the church its own powerful testimony.
The lead pastor, David Ax, of the church that’s grown to more than 1,500 people in attendance on Sundays in less than two years, tells it this way:
“From day one, we really truly were prepared to do a home Bible study in our living room with 20 to 30 people. That was the plan. Typically, that's how Calvary Chapels start. That's been our heritage as a movement.”
For those of you who are old-enough to remember or have seen the movie, Jesus Revolution, you know that Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa was led by Pastor Chuck Smith and was a focal point for a spiritual awakening among the youth of the late sixties and early seventies. Time magazine published a front-cover article about the Jesus Revolution which told the story about a movement that witnessed thousands of people becoming Christ followers. Also, coming out of the movement, were hundreds and eventually thousands of Calvary Chapel pastors and churches.
Pastor David is part of the Calvary Chapel pastors lineage that has continued through the generations. He led several ministries at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in California during a 19-year period under Pastor Jack Hibbs, including for junior high students and college-aged young people. Pastor Jack, known nationally, mostly in the Christian community, for preaching the Gospel while also sharing current news events in relation to Bible prophecy, was mentored by Pastor Chuck.
In the early days of the prayer group that first met in January 2022, Pastor David was still at CC Chino Hills while attending the monthly prayer meetings held at “basically strangers’” homes in the area known as Treasure Valley in Idaho. Those in attendance expected that it would be two years before a church was planted.
“It became really evident during the early prayer meetings that the two-year waiting period we expected before a church would start was not going to be the case,” he said. “While we thought it would be about two years until we (wife and family) moved to start the church, it ended up being just 6 months.”
By the fourth meeting, there were close to 60 people at the prayer meeting. “These were truly just simply prayer meetings. There was nothing fancy about them. We prayed for close to an hour at each one.”
The first Calvary Chapel Star Sunday service was held at the River House community center in Star on June 12, 2022. Planned for an outdoor gathering, with lots of space, the church had to move inside because of rain and quickly decided to split into two services to accommodate everyone.
Less than four months later, the church began holding Sunday services at a charter school. On January 29 of this year, the church purchased 17 acres of land off Highway 16 and Floating Feather Road. The first architectural drawings of the church buildings, parking, and landscape have already been done. The land is officially “under the stewardship” of the church.
The moves of God have been quite evident.
“Nothing that's happened has been what we expected. Nothing that's happened has been what we planned,” Pastor David said. “I love that in the Bible it says, ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him’ (1 Corinthians 2:9). None of this was our thinking, or our planning, or our idea, or our imagining. It's all been His. It's been grand and amazing.”
When asked how Star, Idaho, got on his radar, Pastor David chuckled and said, “It was a long time, truly years of praying and asking the Lord and being patient. We were not trying to flee California. I know a lot of people ask the question, ‘Was a church plant your excuse to leave California?’ It really wasn’t. There are different counties in Southern California that we were praying about going to. Star came across our radar, in part because we had friends that moved out here almost 19 years ago. We would visit every 5-ish years. That’s how we knew of Star.
“What’s fascinating about many, many things [about planting a church in Star] is that there was truly divine intervention, including the craziest random phone calls, or texts, or face-to-face conversations and people who had no clue about what we were praying about were bringing up discussion about this little city called Star in Idaho. At the same time, I was reading some biographies about George Mueller and George Whitfield. Some things that these guys lived through, and the Lord did through them were very unique. Parts of their stories heavily convicted me.
“As we were praying and we were visiting our friends out here (in the Treasure Valley), having no intention to move out here, it was wild. As we talked to people in Star and Middleton and Meridian and Eagle… what was being expressed was to the tee, exactly what our convictions about ministry were. The Lord through prayer, divine interventions of phones, texts, and face-to-face conversations and these biographies, specifically George Whitfield, used those things to confirm where to go. And then we simply looked up ‘Calvary Chapel Star’ on Google and there wasn’t one… it was like ok, here we go.”
Pastor David first became interested in planting a church while at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills.
“The ember that started the fire was that I became part of a very, very healthy church and not everyone does. Something about that reality deeply troubled my soul. My thinking was that ‘If we get to be part of a really healthy church, how sad that some people don’t.’ If the Lord let us be here [CCCH] to see a healthy church, to learn what healthy ministry is, to learn leadership without abusing it or lording over people, then as much as I don’t want to go, I think we have to go and create the same kind of thing where people are loved, the Word of God is taught clearly, and should the Lord allow, that He would create through us the very thing that really shaped my family and I.”
Pastor David answered humbly that it’s about following what’s written in the Bible when asked about the reason for the church’s rapid growth.
“My personal pastoral convictions, whether about being the junior high or young adults pastor, or senior pastor, or whatever position, that if you're going to be a pastor, your absolute primary calling is to teach the Bible the way it is written. Don't change it. Don't soften it. Just teach the Bible and minister to people. Be with them so much that you know their needs, you can come alongside them and help them. That's it.”
Pastor David says that “at first glance, there's nothing really alluring about Calvary Chapel Star,” i.e. they meet in a gym, no jumbo screens, use fold-out chairs, etc.
“I know that, and that's fine. But what's truly genuine, is the conviction to teach God's word as clearly as we can and to be with the people and minister to them as best as we can,” he said.
Alex Murashko is a journalist and writing team leader for Think Eternity, a site for powerful faith content to help you live the fulfilled life in Jesus. He is also founder of Media on Mission.
Murashko attends Calvary Chapel Star.
Connect on X (formerly Twitter): @AlexMurashko