Get to know us!
Ben Lindsey is the Youth Director of Calvary Chapel Windsor.
He began serving in ministry in 2023. Ben stepped into his current role in June of 2024.
I was born in East Michigan and spent about 8 years there. My dad has been a pastor since before I was born and had been running a church that I got to grow up in. He has continued to pastor even up until this day. When I was 7 years old, I “gave my life to the Lord” but didn’t fully understand what I was saying no to in order to say yes to the Lord.
I struggled through sin for many of my teenage years, unable to truly say no because I had not truly given my whole life to God—only a piece of it. Days before I turned 16, my dad told me that he believed I was not saved and that I was missing the love of the Lord. The Lord took the proverbial scales off my eyes and helped me to see just how true my dad’s statements were. I felt the full weight of my sin and rebellion for the first time, and it was at that moment that God called me to open my Bible and read John 15. While reading, I felt the overwhelming weight and magnitude of God’s love for me, in contrast to the weight and magnitude of my sin. A few days later, I led my family in a small devotional about John 15 and what it meant to me.
At the age of 17, the Lord called me to Calvary Chapel Bible College, so I got my first job to make the money I needed for both semesters. In my first semester, my heart was set against the idea of being a pastor. Having grown up with my dad pastoring, I saw how busy his schedule was, how heavy ministry weighed on him, and how much stress it all was. The Lord convicted me that first semester, showing me that I wasn’t willing to hear if the Lord would call me to be some sort of pastor—essentially theoretical disobedience. So I said, “Ok Lord, if you called me to, I would do it, but I wouldn’t like it.” During my second semester, the Lord again convicted me that I shouldn’t obey with an unhappy heart. So I told the Lord, “Ok fine Lord, if you called me to be in ministry, I would try my best to be happy about it.”
Just before my third semester, I was praying about which classes to take when I stumbled across a homiletics course. Homiletics is the study of how to study and preach the Word of God. I immediately chose to take the class, but when I did, I saw another optional course that offered weekly teachings from us, the students. I thought the idea sounded pretty cool, but I was terrified of public speaking. I remember talking to my then-girlfriend (now wife), and she slapped some sense into me. She said, “I didn’t give up 2 years of my life with you for you to not do what the Lord has called you to do.” And man, did I need that, because there was no greater joy to me at that time than those mini sermons I got to study and preach weekly for those 4 months.
After having studied the first passage for my first sermon, I practically preached the sermon to anyone who would listen—at the dining hall, at the coffee shop, in the dorms. I just couldn’t wait to share what God had taught me. And that’s when I knew God had called me to teach in some fashion. I even had the idea that God might want me to be a teacher, still against the idea of being a pastor. About midway through my semester, I had a random kid I didn’t know from the college come sit next to me during dinner. They said to me, “God told me that you’re going to be a pastor,” and I, understandably, was like, “What??” Dismissing it, I went about my day—until the next day at dinner, another kid came up to me saying, “God told me that you’re going to be a youth pastor.” And this sort of occurrence happened every day in some way for the next 2 weeks, until I finally told the Lord, “OK! I get it Lord! You want me to be a youth pastor. I submit!”
My last semester—my fourth one—the Lord had Pastor Mike reach out to me in Bible college. We got connected and agreed that the Lord was calling me and my now-wife, Sarah, to Calvary Chapel Windsor. The Lord spoke so clearly and so strongly that I accepted the job before I even met Mike or knew the name of the church—haha.
Now, me, my wife, and our new baby Penny live in Colorado and lead the youth group here at Calvary Chapel Windsor. We are blessed all the time by the privilege it is to work for the Lord and lead kids to Christ through faithful Bible teaching. The Gospel and direct application are the focus of our ministry here, as well as making personal connections with the young men and women that God is raising up as the next generation of Christians. We thank God all the time for bringing us here and the blessing that this leadership team is!
You can reach me at: Ben@CalvaryWindsor.org
I struggled through sin for many of my teenage years, unable to truly say no because I had not truly given my whole life to God—only a piece of it. Days before I turned 16, my dad told me that he believed I was not saved and that I was missing the love of the Lord. The Lord took the proverbial scales off my eyes and helped me to see just how true my dad’s statements were. I felt the full weight of my sin and rebellion for the first time, and it was at that moment that God called me to open my Bible and read John 15. While reading, I felt the overwhelming weight and magnitude of God’s love for me, in contrast to the weight and magnitude of my sin. A few days later, I led my family in a small devotional about John 15 and what it meant to me.
At the age of 17, the Lord called me to Calvary Chapel Bible College, so I got my first job to make the money I needed for both semesters. In my first semester, my heart was set against the idea of being a pastor. Having grown up with my dad pastoring, I saw how busy his schedule was, how heavy ministry weighed on him, and how much stress it all was. The Lord convicted me that first semester, showing me that I wasn’t willing to hear if the Lord would call me to be some sort of pastor—essentially theoretical disobedience. So I said, “Ok Lord, if you called me to, I would do it, but I wouldn’t like it.” During my second semester, the Lord again convicted me that I shouldn’t obey with an unhappy heart. So I told the Lord, “Ok fine Lord, if you called me to be in ministry, I would try my best to be happy about it.”
Just before my third semester, I was praying about which classes to take when I stumbled across a homiletics course. Homiletics is the study of how to study and preach the Word of God. I immediately chose to take the class, but when I did, I saw another optional course that offered weekly teachings from us, the students. I thought the idea sounded pretty cool, but I was terrified of public speaking. I remember talking to my then-girlfriend (now wife), and she slapped some sense into me. She said, “I didn’t give up 2 years of my life with you for you to not do what the Lord has called you to do.” And man, did I need that, because there was no greater joy to me at that time than those mini sermons I got to study and preach weekly for those 4 months.
After having studied the first passage for my first sermon, I practically preached the sermon to anyone who would listen—at the dining hall, at the coffee shop, in the dorms. I just couldn’t wait to share what God had taught me. And that’s when I knew God had called me to teach in some fashion. I even had the idea that God might want me to be a teacher, still against the idea of being a pastor. About midway through my semester, I had a random kid I didn’t know from the college come sit next to me during dinner. They said to me, “God told me that you’re going to be a pastor,” and I, understandably, was like, “What??” Dismissing it, I went about my day—until the next day at dinner, another kid came up to me saying, “God told me that you’re going to be a youth pastor.” And this sort of occurrence happened every day in some way for the next 2 weeks, until I finally told the Lord, “OK! I get it Lord! You want me to be a youth pastor. I submit!”
My last semester—my fourth one—the Lord had Pastor Mike reach out to me in Bible college. We got connected and agreed that the Lord was calling me and my now-wife, Sarah, to Calvary Chapel Windsor. The Lord spoke so clearly and so strongly that I accepted the job before I even met Mike or knew the name of the church—haha.
Now, me, my wife, and our new baby Penny live in Colorado and lead the youth group here at Calvary Chapel Windsor. We are blessed all the time by the privilege it is to work for the Lord and lead kids to Christ through faithful Bible teaching. The Gospel and direct application are the focus of our ministry here, as well as making personal connections with the young men and women that God is raising up as the next generation of Christians. We thank God all the time for bringing us here and the blessing that this leadership team is!
You can reach me at: Ben@CalvaryWindsor.org