The story behind the name, the voice, and the man teaching it.
The name Growing Undone is rooted in Isaiah 6 — the prophet’s encounter with the holiness of God in the temple: “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord… and I said, Woe is me! For I am undone” (Isaiah 6:1, 5).
Isaiah’s undoing was not destruction. It was encounter. He came apart in the presence of God and was remade for his calling. That is the vision for every reader here: not a more disciplined religious life, but a Spirit-wrought encounter with the living God through His Word — surrendered, shaped, and sent.
Not self-improvement, but surrender. Not performance, but encounter. Not fixing yourself — being remade.
Pastor Richie Cancel is the lead pastor of Calvary Life Brooklyn and the teaching voice behind Growing Undone. He grew up a Brooklyn kid tagging walls with a spray can in Sunset Park — came to faith, was called to pastor, and planted a church during a global pandemic. Growing Undone was born from the same gritty, honest encounter with God’s Word that produced Calvary Life: the pastor who has lived in the text and in the streets.
He has taught verse-by-verse through Matthew (50 messages), Exodus (27 messages), and Romans, and is currently teaching through the Minor Prophets — Obadiah complete, now working through Jonah — the active series behind the Growing Undone podcast and the forthcoming devotional book series.
Growing Undone and Calvary Life Brooklyn share one pastor and one theological foundation — but reach different rooms. Calvary Life is home: a church in Marine Park, Brooklyn, gathering every Sunday. Growing Undone is the movement layer — carrying that same teaching, verse by verse, to readers and listeners wherever they are. Where Calvary Life says “come as you are,” Growing Undone says “God is not done with you yet.”
Visit calvary.nyc →