Calvary Baptist Church

Welcome to Calvary Baptist Church, located in the heart of the college town of Newark, Delaware! Our American Baptist church has nearly 200 members who are diverse in culture, united in Christ. We look forward to meeting you, whether you are just passing through, attending college nearby, or are a new resident of the area. "Come, Grow, Go and Serve!"

COME worship our God and Savior.

GROW spiritually as an individual in Christ and numerically as a faith community

GO out into the community and world = our individual and collective mission field

And SERVE Christ where we are.

Our Church Community
A small group of Baptists, anxious to have a church, welcomed Marshall P. Watson, a Baptist seminary student, to Newark. Under his leadership, Newark Baptist Church was established in April 1950. In December of that year, the church was chartered with a membership of 12 and a new name—Calvary Baptist.

For a period of time, worship services were held in rented facilities. In early 1953, members broke ground for a new church building, which they dedicated in November 1954. The education building was added in 1960.

After extensive study of church and community growth, ground was broken on January 28, 1990 for an addition, which enlarged the sanctuary and provided the narthex.

Today, Calvary has a medium sized congregation who travel to church from Newark, Middletown, Bear, Wilmington, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Church members also come from a variety of faith backgrounds and have a variety of perspectives on issues facing contemporary Christians. We are, as our motto says, diverse in culture, united in Christ. Our love of God makes us eager to serve God by serving others–and to inspire and empower others to do likewise.

What does it mean to be American Baptist?
American Baptist Churches of the USA is comprised of 1.5 million members and 5,800 churches, which are located in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Our Baptist roots date back four centuries to Roger Williams and a people seeking the opportunity to worship God as individual members of freely organized and freely functioning churches. As it was in the 17th century – the local church is our lifeblood today. As articulated in the American Baptist Affirmation of Mission:

We believe that the local congregation is the fundamental unit of mission and our priority as a denomination is to affirm, support and challenge congregations as they live out their mission in “Jerusalem, Judea and the uttermost parts of the earth.”

American Baptist congregations are called by God through Jesus Christ to be communities of faith–empowered by the Holy Spirit to live as witnesses and agents of God’s love and justice in the church and the world, vital in worship, dynamic in proclamation, effective in teaching, loving in fellowship, faithful in stewardship, and compassionate in service.

Because this is God’s call to all churches, it needs to be considered through the lens of American Baptist heritage and present distinction as a people who are evangelical, ecumenical, multi-racial, multi-cultural, mission minded, committed to social justice, and informed by a global perspective.

American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware (ABCOPAD)
ABCOPAD serves as a support organization for over 300 American Baptist Churches in Pennsylvania and Delaware. In this capacity, it effectively and efficiently maximizes resources to provide training, sponsor mission trips, operate summer camps, organize trips to the Holy Land, and empower churches to lead a variety of other ministries. ABCOPAD also serves as our liaison to the national organization of American Baptist churches.

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