Thomas Joseph Swope is a Pastor at Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia since 1991. Presently there are over 8000 adults and 4000 children who attend the weekly services.
In order to assist members grow spiritually Pastor Swope recognized that there were also physical and emotional needs that needed to be addressed. So, Pastor Swope obtained Doctorate degrees both in Medicine and in Psychology. Sometimes when you just look at a person you can see that something is physically wrong. By pointing them to the right care and subsequent health many times their spiritual and emotional problems automatically clear up. In addition, when someone comes in and spouts off Psychological terms, I am in a better position to see what path they have already traveled, and with the Grace of our Precious Holy Spirit steer them into one, becoming a believer, or secondly placing their trust totally in our Wonderful Adoni Yeshua – our Lord Jesus Christ.
A unique ministry that Pastor Swope was encouraged by our Awesome Jehovah Elyon to do was create for the kids in the Philly area is ‘Snappy’s Back Yard’. Through actors and puppets [ Dr. Swope playing the key puppet Snappy] thousands of kids are taught their bible lessons. The team has ministered throughout the US and has also traveled to Russia and Hungary with future international countries scheduled in the future. The biblical performances are presently on DVD and has been used as a evangelistic tool to reach kids and their parents. In the near future all the shows will be able to be watched from the church’s web site, ccphilly.org.