Remembering Ross Reinman
Pastor Ross Reinman and his wife, Barb.
Lead Pastor Ross Reinman of Calvary Chapel the Rock in Santa Rosa, CA, passed into eternity on June 5.
His church posted the following day: Our beloved Pastor Ross went home to be with Jesus yesterday evening. We have heavy hearts but are overflowing with joy knowing that [he] is experiencing only bliss in the unveiled and unhindered presence of His Savior.
Though many of us knew he was bravely fighting cancer, his passing came more suddenly than we anticipated. He continued to inspire us and make us laugh and even to his last days was full of love and faith in Jesus. He will be greatly missed by his family, friends, and the flock at the Rock.
We will have time to grieve together but are not disconnected from hope like this world; for we have the blessed and living hope that is tied to a resurrected Savior and tied to eternal life. We know that Pastor Ross has stepped into the fullness of eternal life, and into the ever-loving arms of our Heavenly Father—completely healed and whole.
Pastor Ross is survived by his wife, Barb, and their children Jordan, Zack, and Wylder.
The church got its start in 2003 when Pastor Ross, his family, and a handful of folks from Calvary Chapel Petaluma, CA, rented a hall in Sebastopol to begin a new church. From that point, the fellowship continued to grow exponentially until in 2007 they eventually leased the building they currently occupy and became Calvary the Rock.
“Pastor Ross was and is greatly loved by God when he was healthy, when he was sick, and now when he’s completely whole and completely new,” Youth Pastor Joe DuCharme assured the congregation on June 8. “[He] is not dead—he is very much alive … because of what Jesus provided by giving His own life. [He] is not wearing grave clothes; he is clothed with robes of righteousness in the presence of our Savior.”
But as it is written: “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
Picking Up Where Pastor Ross Left Off
January was the last time Pastor Ross spoke from the pulpit—from John Chapter 10, intending to come back to continue. Pastor Joe picked up with John Chapter 11 where Ross left off.
“I was listening to his last message and the last verse he taught on in Chapter 10:42: In that place, many believed in Jesus. That’s the legacy I know that Pastor Ross would want to leave behind here—that in this place, many would believe in Jesus,” Joe declared. “That was his heart, that was his life: his faithfulness in being faithful to God’s Word and him being faithful Sunday after Sunday to deliver God’s Word to the people that God put underneath him. [That’s the] legacy he’s going to leave behind—that is going to continue.”
Referring to John 11:1-6, Joe recalled what Ross had said about this passage emphasizing that Jesus loved his friend Lazarus before raising him from the dead. “Sometimes God will allow what He hates to accomplish that which He loves. And His glory would be seeing God’s grace, seeing His power, seeing His mercy through hard situations. And that’s the truth. How many of us—through suffering, through pain, through brokenness, through loss—come to know the Lord for the first time? God uses those situations to glorify Himself.”
Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”John 11:40
Joe continued, “My encouragement is that you would run to meet Jesus as well. We run to His Word. As Pastor Ross was always teaching us, when things like this happen, you can find yourself on your knees and your nose in the book. We go to God’s Word for comfort, … for strength.”
At age 19, Pastor Ross was in a disco, Joe explained. “He kept hearing this voice: Why would you go to hell if you don’t have to? And he couldn’t shake it. That was where God was calling him, … where he met Christ. And that’s where he died and was raised to a new life that would never have to go to hell. Because Jesus is the Resurrection, he walked out of that disco a new man, a man that’s alive, and man that’s still alive today. That’s our hope as well.”
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” John 11-25-26
An Enduring Legacy
During the first service on Sunday, one soul was brought into the Kingdom, Joe joyfully shared. “God brought a young woman—whose father was just diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer—to our church. God used this situation and the Word to bring this young woman to salvation. Pastor Ross was an amazing evangelist, and He is still using Ross to bring people to Himself.”
Member Francis Faurot learned the news of his pastor’s death while photographing a mission trip in Uganda for Calvary Chapel Magazine. “When he first started the church, Ross had cancer, and it came back two decades later,” Francis recalled. During the months going back and forth from a San Francisco hospital, “he was known to minister and preach the Gospel to staff and patients alike. He had a way of teaching the Bible that felt like he was there—partly because of his Jewish descent and upbringing, and partly his application to everyday life. He was loved by the church and will be missed.”
Pastor Joe described for the congregation the first time he came to the church on a Wednesday night 10 years ago. “What drew me to this place was the faithful teaching of God’s Word that Pastor Ross, filled with the Holy Spirit, did so well.”
The Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, June 21, at 11 a.m. at Spring Hills Church in Santa Rosa.
Pastor Ross Reinman baptized Francis Faurot several years ago.
Francis Faurot, photographer for Calvary Chapel Magazine, was on an assignment at a Calvary Chapel conference in Uganda, Africa, when he learned about his pastor’s passing.
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