Calvary Baptist Church

On September 20, Deacon Pam Hart led another amazing Ladies Devotional Luncheon with dozens of Calvary women in attendance. Pam led an Egypt themed devotion talking about holy living in an unholy world, complete with a delicious fresh lunch, and a $25,000 Pyramid themed game. Pam hosts these events about 4 times per year; be on the lookout for the next one!

Last Friday night, 23 members and friends of Calvary enjoyed a night out at the Blue Rocks game!

Last week 5 students from Calvary’s Youth Group along with 2 adult leaders took part in a mission trip to the Philadelphia Project! We spent 3 full days serving in the community of North West Philadelphia. We handed out flyers at local businesses and to residents in the neighborhoods inviting people to summer worship nights at a park and a Vacation Bible School happening the next week. We built outdoor workout equipment at the church and concreted in a post for a shade canopy over the church playground. We also started drawing and painting a canvas backdrop that will be used for the VBS. In addition to the work projects, there was plenty of time for eating (including stopping at local ice cream parlors), games, worship, Bible lessons, and team huddles. The theme for this summer was “brotherly love” and we learned that Philadelphia is not just the name of a city in Pennsylvania, but also a Biblical term meaning brotherly love. As Christians God has called us to “Philadelphia” (Gk. philios) those we come in contact with. Thank you Calvary congregation for your prayers and financial support to make this trip possible for our students and the community in North West Philadelphia!

At the request of those who advocate for cycling and those who get to church that way, the Trustees have installed new bike racks outside the main entrance. Feel free to make use of these and encouage others to do so, and don’t forget to lock your bike!

On Saturday, May 17th, more than 100 Calvary members and special guests celebrated our 75 years as a church, hosted at the Newark Senior Center and catered by Akeem Washington. Upon arriving, attendees could take fun and crazy pictures at a photo booth. After singing a hymn and eating delicious food, we recognized former and current pastors. We read 3 celebrations / proclamations we received from the American Baptist Historical Society, ABCOPAD, and DE State Representative Cyndie Romer. After being introduced to a new challenge campaign to raise money for the endowment, we heard reflections on Calvary’s history in 25-year segments from three different members, and ended by singing Blest Be the Tie. The program was video recorded and that will be made available soon. We will also host a condensed version of the celebration at a luncheon after worship on June 8th.

April 30 was our last Wednesday night meal and programming of the season (although youth group continues through May 21). We thanked all of those volunteers who help make it happen, including the kitchen crew, and Kyle and his team of leaders with the youth group. But we reserved a special thank you for Erica, who is stepping down from teaching Kids for Jesus after doing it for more than 10 years. Many of our children know their Bible and their God better because of her faithful leadership.

Easter Sunday was a great day at Calvary. We started with an 8:30 acoustic service on the lawn with great weather. We heard two inspiring testimonies from Cynthia Carter-Wedgewood and Jade McMurray in response to the question: “How has God met you at the tomb?” Following that we had our beloved Easter breakfast, and then a full 10:30 a.m. worship service. You can view the 10:30 service at our normal archive site, and the 8:30 service is at https://bit.ly/CBC830Easter2025.

On Friday April 11th the church was abuzz with activity all-night as 26 of our youth and several adult chaperones took part in the youth group’s annual spring all-nighter. We traveled to SkyZone Trampoline Park for 2 hours of jumping fun and a pizza party. Back at the church we were locked-in for a night filled with games, an Easter egg hunt, 3AM ice cream sundaes, crafts, a movie, and more. During part of our time together we had a message from Pastor Corey on love, a time of worship and reflection, and our students took part in the “love looks like” project. A great time was had by everyone and a few of us even made it the whole time without falling asleep!

This past weekend 16 youth and 3 adult leaders from Calvary’s Youth Group joined up with over 65 students and adults from our ABCOPAD region for the annual Winter Blast Retreat at Camp Ichthus. The weekend was filled with fun and fellowship, crazy games, powerful worship, and Biblical teaching. The highlight of the event is evening snow tubing at Blue Mountain Ski resort. What a great time to get away from the world for the weekend and grow closer to Jesus and each other!

On Sunday, Feb 2, as we kicked off a new worship series and the start of Black History Month, we welcomed ABC-USA General Secretary Rev. Dr. Gina Jacobs-Strain as our guest preacher. The worship service featured not only her inspiring message but a guest vocalist and our new choir director’s debut. Afterwards, we filled out the fellowship hall to eat scrumptuous food at our 3rd annual Soul Food Luncheon. Rev. Dr. Jacobs-Strain gave a short presentation about American Baptists and answered a few questions