Pastor John Ilko III

Senior Pastor

John was born and grew up in Craig, Colorado where his parents have lived since 1970. John’s heart is to live for Jesus every day, and be authentic and transparent in and out of the pulpit. His desire is to only glorify Jesus and emphasize what Jesus gave up and accomplished to save mankind. To point people only to Jesus and the Bible. He truly desires for everyone, from all walks of life, to embrace Jesus Christ in a personal relationship as their Lord and Savior, and grow in His truth, love, grace, and knowledge. 

Although John grew up the “Good ole American boy’s life”, thinking this was what life was all about, deep within himself he discovered he lacked something and became hungry and thirsty for something of which this world couldn’t satisfy. The thirst within everyone's soul, a personal relationship with God. In the summer of 2000 and throughout his childhood his mother and he, listened to audio tapes by pastor Joe Focht of Calvary Chapel Philadelphia which their family sent to them. He began to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord through the teaching of the Bible by pastor Joe Focht of Calvary Chapel Philadelphia. John grew up going to various local churches, attending Sunday mornings and youth groups during the week. Yet became confused, deceived by, and tired of his emotions, denominationalism, dead orthodoxy, church emotionalism, Mankind’s doctrinal extremes of Sensationalism and Cessationism, religiosity, legalism, personality cults(“celebrity pastors”) and was never taught the whole Bible, nor how to have a relationship with God. John never knew who God, Jesus, The Holy Spirit, the Gospel, or what the Bible was all about. Except unknown to him, in the summer of 2000, God was planting seeds of the Gospel and growing him as he listened to Pastor Joe and other Calvary Chapel pastors and teachers as they taught the whole Bible. Verse by verse, chapter by chapter, and book by book.

On April 29th 2001, John’s life changed for eternity as he finally came into a personal relationship with His Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,and was born again while spending the weekend with family in Grand Junction as they attended Calvary Chapel Grand Junction, Colorado. The Holy Spirit convicted John’s heart of his sins and he came to Jesus Christ by faith and was Born Again. John finally understood the love and the grace of God, and the Gospel for the first time for himself by the simple verse by verse teaching of the Bible resulting in a transformed reborn life. John finally experienced the grace of God. Having a relationship with God through Jesus, and not following a church denomination, not the religion of American Christianity,  Christian consumerism, a pastor, a movement, religion, legalism of man’s religious rules, rituals, regulations, tradition, ceremony, or doctrines of man, but simply personally knowing and following Jesus Christ.

While attending University of Wyoming his faith was challenged, yet God’s grace strengthened his faith. John met his now wife Laura in 2007. In 2011, after both graduating, they married. From 2008-2013 John and Laura served at Horizon Christian Fellowship (an affiliated Fellowship of Calvary Chapel) in Laramie, Wyoming. They both served in children Ministry, John led a Home Fellowship, and was an interim pastor in 2013. Within this time the Lord called John and Laura to no longer pursue their careers which they attended college for and to take a venture of faith and  serve the Lord in full time ministry and moved back to his home town of Craig, Colorado in the summer of 2015 to start Calvary Chapel Craig. John is a man of God is simply teaching the Bible simply. He is simply following Jesus and His Word and only points people to Jesus and His Word and no one else. Calvary Chapel Craig became officially affiliated with the Calvary Chapel Association in 2017. John was ordained as a Calvary Chapel pastor in 2020 by the late pastor Scott Cox of Calvary Chapel Windsor.