Members of Calvary Chapel have Bible study Wednesday night at their church on Old Louisville Road. The church will host a concert by Kyle Matthews on Sunday. Photo by Clinton Lewis

Christian recording artist Kyle Matthews will perform Saturday at Calvary Chapel, formerly known as Joshuas Place. The concert will kick off a 17-city tour by Matthews promoting his album, See for Yourself, on Benson Records. Price for admission is a canned good item for H.O.T.E.L. I.N.C., a community organization helping families in need, according to pastor Mike Wilson. Well also take a love offering for Kyle, he said. A pass the hat sort of thing. The building that houses the church was originally a night club, Beckys Place, owned and operated by Becky Lowe. After Lowes son lost his life in an accident, the club was converted into a Christian youth center and named in his honor Joshuas Place. Relocating Calvary Chapel from an office building on Nashville Road to Joshuas Place, 2107 Old Louisville Road, was a miraculous event, Wilson said. We were out of space for our childrens classrooms, he said. Becky had closed down Joshuas Place and my wife said, You ought to call her and see what shes going to do with the building. Then my secretary said I ought to call her, so I said, OK Lord. I called Becky and she said she felt like God wants it to be a church and she only wanted the money she owed on it. When the bank would not finance the loan for the building unless the church board co-signed the note, Wilsons religious convictions were put to the test. I teach my people not to co-sign loans so I couldnt go to the board and ask them to co-sign for this, he said. I finally just said were not going to do it and then a Christian businessman financed it. It was a real God thing. The building has undergone significant remodeling since Calvary Chapel started services there in February, Wilson said. Wilson, also the general manager of the Christian radio station WCVK-FM, decided to bring Matthews to Bowling Green in concert at the suggestion of Geoffrey Powviriya, the music director and afternoon drive disc jockey at the station. Kyles song, Been Through the Water, has been a huge song here for the last three months, Powviriya said. Kyle stopped by the station and said he would love to set up a concert and we thought people from the area would want to see him. Matthews has been a successful songwriter in the Christian music industry for 15 years and decided to release a solo album, See for Yourself, in August of 2000, Powviriya said. Hes been a major songwriter for sometime, he said. This is the first time hes recorded his own project on a major label. Some of Matthews well-known songs covered by other artists are, We Fall Down, recorded by Bob Carlisle and also by Donnie McClurkin, whose version just made the Billboard Urban Top 40 for the second time since April; God Forbid, by Point of Grace; If You Want Me To, by Ginny Owens; I Want to Sing, recorded by Darla Pierce and also by Scott Krippayne; and If You Want to Lead Me to Jesus, by Grover Levy. A lot of people know his music, Powviriya said. But they may not know his name. Wilson said he would like to bring more concerts to Calvary, but very few are willing to come for just a love offering. Matthews is coming for just a love offering, he said. For somebody with a hit song to come for just a love offering is a pretty big deal. A lot of the artists want a guarantee. Establishing long-term relationships is a driving force behind Matthews willingness to play without a guarantee. Its an investment, Matthews said. I dont want to go and take from some community and never go back. I want to be able go every year for 10 years. Ive got opportunities in Nashville where people can come and help me renovate some housing for transitional families. So Im trying to invest in the people I meet and you have to earn that right by the love offering things. Helping to rebuild an abandoned military base in Smyrna, Tenn., into homes for low-income housing is a major project of Matthews. The military housing neighborhood had been left to rot for 30 years, he said. Theres a lot of transitional families that need help. Jesus said wed find Him whenever we serve the least of these. We do a lot of searching for Him without doing any serving. Calvary Chapel is a non-denominational church and modeled after a well-known California ministry, headed by pastor Chuck Smith, who also has a reputation of helping those who are down-and-out. He started in about 1965, Wilson said. (Chuck Smith) let the hippies come in and sit in the floor bare footed, long hair. Hed teach them the Bible and they started getting saved. He was baptizing 500 and 900 at a time. About 100 people attend the Bowling Green church and there are no traditional requirements for church membership, Wilson said. If youre born again and you feel like Gods calling you here then, Praise the Lord, he said. As long as your name is on His roll, thats the only one that counts.