Lead Pastor: Craig and Lisa Riportella married in August of 1993, that same year they began ministry together. They have an amazing family of five children who range in age from three to twelve years old. They both attended Southeastern University in Lakeland Florida. This is where they began dating and got married soon after graduation.
Craig received his ministerial credentials with the Assemblies of God in 1996 in the State of Maine where he was serving as the youth pastor of Calvary Temple. Since that time he has had the wonderful privilege to travel extensively in ministry both stateside as well as overseas. The majority of his youth ministry years were spent in New York State where he was on staff in one of New York’s premier churches. He oversaw a large and thriving youth ministry there which had an incredible impact in the community and inner city of Binghamton. The Riportella’s moved back to Southern New England and settled in Sturbridge Massachusetts where Craig served on the executive administrative team for the Southern New England District of the Assemblies of God. He was the District Youth Director and oversaw the youth and Christian education ministries of approximately one-hundred and sixty-five churches. He was primarily responsible for providing training, networking and resources for the churches as well as large scale youth events such as camps, conventions, retreats, and mission trips.
Craig and Lisa moved back to Waterville Maine in January 2006 with their family to lead the church that they began youth ministry in some fifteen years earlier. The Lord has used them in a wonderful transformation of the church. The church was in need of revitalization and that is exactly what God has done. Make no mistake; Craig and Lisa fully realize that unless God builds the house, we labor in vain. However, God was looking for someone to partner with to re-establish a vibrant, healthy, and effective 21st century balanced and biblically grounded Pentecostal church in Northern New England. Craig and Lisa are thrilled to be a part of what God is doing in this church and the community. Lives are literally being transformed for the glory of God! Craig and Lisa both say… “We are privileged to be a small part of what the Lord is doing and so excited to see what God still has ahead”
Over the years a trademark and passion of Craig’s is raising up leaders. He has a passion to train, equip and mobilize an army of warriors who will take back the ground that the enemy has stolen. Craig says, “My goal is to train people up for works of service; the Northeast has been in a spiritual slumber far too long. It’s time for us to take back ground that the enemy has stolen”.
Craig and Lisa do not claim to be perfect or to have all the answers. They are both to quick to acknowledge, we are JUST REAL. We are all very REAL people, just sharing life together. We are all on a journey and we are called to help each other along the way. “Real People Sharing Real Life Together”, that’s what we’re all about!  [Contact Pastor Craig]


Youth Pastor: Rebekah  [Contact Pastor Rebekah]









Our Children’s Director: Angela has been married to her husband, Tim, since March 29, 2002, and they have two children, Katharine Grace (7/20/06), and John Timothy (12/19/09). Angela grew up in Dallas, Texas, and moved to Maine in December of 2004. She became a Christian on July 4, 1994 and felt called to ministry her Senior year in high school. She graduated from Liberty University with a Bachelors of Science in Religion, and has been serving in children’s ministry since she was 16. Her biggest passions (besides her family) are teaching children and evangelizing, which is why she loves children’s ministry and especially Vacation Bible School!  [Contact Angela]







Danielle became the director of Wee Count in June of 2007. She fills in both the infant/toddler and preschool rooms when needed. She brings a wealth of skills to the position including experience in center and home-based child care. She also has several years experience as a nanny in the private sector. Most recently, she has held a Director's position at a large childcare facility overseeing all aspects of personnel, including budgeting and payroll, and childcare enrollments. Danielle is Infant CPR and First Aid Certified.
[Contact Danielle]








Denise  can be described in one word as passionate! She is in passionate love with her Lord Jesus Christ and with her husband Jeff of the past 15 years, together they have a beautiful son named Evan. She is passionate about people and seeing young and old alike on fire with the love of Jesus Christ! She is passionate about life in general and loves people! Denise comes to us with over 20 years of successful management experience and is a graduate of Deliverance Bible, focusing on theology and Christian education. She currently serves at Temple Academy as our lead administrator.
[Contact Denise]





 
Rachel serves as the office manager of Calvary Temple overseeing and coordinating all of the secretarial and administrative duties of Temple Academy, Wee Count Day Care and the Church office staff. Rachel is married to our facilities director Greg Tuttle; they have two beautiful daughters Olivia and Amelia, both high school graduates. She has served with tremendous diligence in this office since 2005. With the unique demands of a ministry that must coordinate numerous very busy calendars and shared facilities Rachel’s job is of utmost importance. She is the glue that helps hold all particulars together, and does a wonderful job.




 
Greg is our Facilities Director and oversees all of the facility and property needs of our three buildings and land. Prior to joining our team here, he served at a local company as their maintenance supervisor. He has been full time with us since November of 2006. Greg handles the demands of everything from replacing broken pencil sharpeners in the classroom to coordinating the installation of playground equipment and so much more. Greg is an invaluable member of our team. With nearly 200 people in and out of our facilities on a daily basis Greg plays a vital role in the smooth and successful operation of this ministry. After all, what would we do without Mr. Tuttle to fix the broken toilet!






Patty serves in the bookkeeping office, a critical role in all of the ministries of the church; including Temple Academy, Wee Count and all of the particulars of the church budget. She is currently part time here in the office but accomplishes a full time job on a part time schedule. She oversees the entire payroll of staff here in the ministry, part time as well as full time employees totaling over 30 individuals. Between the school accounts and church matters Patty is incredibly skilled and gifted in balancing all of the financial demands of the ministry. Patty worked several years in a law office prior to joining our team. We are honored to have her as such an integral part of the ministry.






Steve is our IT and Sound technician of the ministry. His formal training is an Electrical engineer and he has his hands full maintaining and sustaining the equipment here at our facilities. From Temple Academy’s computer lab to the sound board and our internet presence, Steve is the master mind behind it all. He has helped bring this ministry from the dark ages technologically into the 21st century. He is intricately involved with every area of technology within ministry. Without Steve working tirelessly behind the scenes our Pastor would still be trying to log-in. Thank the Lord for individuals like Steve who are gifted and talented in the area of technology, a critical tool being used for the Kingdom of God.






JB: Jon is our Media Technician. He is responsible to oversee the tech team and make sure everything that you see on our large screens on Sunday morning is “up-to-snuff”. His job is very important, from the video clips, to worship songs, pictures, sermon slides, announcements, and much more, he makes sure you can see and know what is going on. JB also serves on our Youth ministry leadership team and has a number of teens that work with him on the tech team.








Jeff is our Worship leader. He is an amazing musician who plays a variety of instruments, he’s been in various traveling bands, and has experience in a wide genre of music. Most importantly, he has a passion to worship through the venue of music. Jeff is a very gifted and anointed worship leader with a passion to honor God in all he does. He works with an incredible team of musicians here at Calvary Temple and loves to help others develop and use their gifts to worship the Lord through music. Jeff is married to Denise who serves as the lead administrator for the academy. They have one son, Evan who is in the first grade. Evan is following in his father’s footsteps and loves to make a song out of everything. If you have a passion for the Lord and love music, and are looking to use your gifts to serve the Lord, get in contact with Jeff.