Calvary Baptist Church: A 30-Year History

God’s vision for a fundamental, evangelical and Baptistic church in the White Mountains began to materialize in early 1978. That is when church planters Ron Youngs, Dr. Claude Moffitt of the Arizona Baptist Convention, and E. J. (Jim) Brown, conducted an organizational meeting at the then Maxwell House Restaurant (in front of Days Inn today).

During that initial meeting, plans were made to begin holding church services at the former site of the Lamanite Mission Stake Center and Boy Scout facility. The church was called Calvary Baptist Church and the first Sunday service was held on February 12, 1978.

On April 7, 1978, Reverend Youngs and Dr. Moffitt presided over a meeting to organize the church. Sixteen people signed the charter and the membership list that evening. The charter was held open for 90 days and at the end of that period 29 people had signed it. Reverend E. J. (Jim) Brown was called as the first pastor and application was made for affiliation with the Arizona Baptist Convention and the Conservative Baptist Association of America.

The Constitution and Bylaws were adopted on June 1, and the first baptismal service was held at White Mountain Lakes on June 4, 1978 (Pastor Brown and the two being baptized were very cold but it was a defining moment for the church). The first officers were elected on August 13, 1978 and shortly thereafter the church began supporting its first missionaries.

Pastor Brown resigned from Calvary Baptist Church in April of 1979. Though this was a trying time for the young church, God blessed the congregation with many excellent guest speakers.

Mike Ward was called as the next Pastor on June 24, 1979 and he and his family (wife, Barbara, and children, Andy and Betsy) moved to Show Low on August 12. Shortly after his arrival, the Reidhead Lumber Company (owners of the church building) decided Calvary Baptist Church could no longer be housed in the building, so church services were relocated to Show Low Junior High School in November of 1979.

Sharon Howard, then a student at Southwestern Conservative Baptist Bible College, spent the summer of 1980 working with Calvary’s youth. Various church families shared evening meals with her, enjoying getting to know her while she was here.

The church unanimously called an Ordination Council in August of 1980. The council met on October 25 with 21 voting delegates and recommended Pastor Ward’s ordination. An ordination service was held for Pastor Ward on November 16, 1980.

Calvary Baptist Church grew and continued to search for land on which to build. In the meantime, the Reidhead Lumber Company reinstated their offer for Calvary to use their building and agreed to lease it to the church for five (5) years free of charge (with the stipulations that Calvary was to repair and maintain the building and allow Alcoholics Anonymous meetings at the facility). Building repairs were completed and services resumed on East McNeil on June 13, 1982. God blessed the ministry and two services were soon required to accommodate the larger summer attendance. The church was also blessed to begin a radio ministry in 1983. The sermon was on the airwaves for 30 minutes each Sunday morning until 1985.

Pastor Ward resigned in early spring of 1984 and, as a result, the church underwent a period of testing and soul-searching. The Pulpit Committee struggled in their search for a new Pastor but the church was not lacking in its pulpit. Several excellent speakers filled in during the search. In the meantime the committee brought three candidates to the membership for consideration but each one was rejected.

After the third rejection, the church called Les Gentry out of retirement to serve as Interim Pastor. Pastor Gentry encouraged the church to become more of a “Community Church”, and people from backgrounds other than strictly Baptist began joining the church family.

Pastor Gentry and the church leadership encouraged the church membership to purchase a parcel of land on Owens that was to become the new church home. In November 1984, escrow closed on the property, but the land purchase proved to be a millstone about the neck of Calvary Baptist Church. The land had been misrepresented; there were problems with legal access, and the church was forced to purchase another strip of land to provide access so that it could then sell the land. The church sold part of the property that had a house on it in June of 1987 and continued to make payments on the rest of the parcel until it could be sold.

Pastor Les Gentry resigned from the interim pastorship early in 1985 for health reasons. The Pulpit Committee resumed the quest for a new pastor, and in May, God answered Calvary’s prayer.

Pastor Tom Brown and his family (wife, Margaret, and children, Angie, Clint, Jesse, and Andrew) were called to Calvary Baptist Church. Pastor Brown officially entered service to Calvary on July 5, 1985. Pastor Brown led the church to a more conservative slant, and as a result, a few families left the church to start community-type churches in the area.

By 1989, Calvary Baptist Church was experiencing growing pains. There were challenges with allowing AA to use the chapel, and improvements needed to be made to accommodate the growing Sunday school classes and worship services. The congregation decided that the lease agreement should be renewed with Reidhead Lumber before expenditures could be approved. God had other plans. When church representatives contacted Reidhead Lumber in the spring about extending the lease, they offered to sell the property for the value of the land, essentially giving the building to the church at no cost. They also donated $5000 back to the church, and even offered to carry the land note at 0% interest, but the IRS did not allow that arrangement. It was a powerful lesson in the Providence of God.

Calvary Baptist Church finally had a permanent home! The building addition and improvements were started almost immediately, adding siding and a new roof, and building a church office and foyer. This area today is Pastor Chase’s office, the music office and children’s storage area.

The next display of God’s Providence came in 1990. The church wished to prepare for future growth, and so representatives contacted two nearby property owners. Bill Ironside owned land directly next to the church, and John Fowler held property on the other side of Mr. Ironside. It happened that Mr. Fowler wished to sell his property, but Mr. Ironside did not. The church decided to step out on faith and purchase Mr. Fowler’s property on May 9, 1990. Not long after that, members of the church stepped up and contributed the entire purchase price. Then in September, unexpectedly, Mr. Ironside phoned the church and indicated he was ready to sell his property. Negotiations were undertaken, and the property belonged to Calvary Baptist Church as of November 29, 1990, growing the entire church property to 1.6 acres.

As church attendance grew, the need for additional facilities became more apparent. There was disagreement, however, within the body as to what needed to be built first—a larger chapel to be used exclusively for worship services, or a multi-purpose facility that could be used for recreational, social, and worship needs. Unfortunately, the disagreement escalated, and caused a split within the body. A confidence vote of Pastor Brown was called in January 1992. He received sufficient votes to be retained, but it seemed as though the Spirit was quenched within the fellowship.

Pastor Brown announced his immediate resignation after delivering his sermon on the morning of March 1, 1992. Approximately 25 members left the church with Pastor Brown to establish another church within the community. The remaining members met that evening, appointed new officers, and established a Pulpit Committee. The committee brought retired pastor, Don Gagnon, to serve during the search so that Calvary could continue to meet on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings.

The Pulpit Committee found a pastor in Dr. Marvin Boyer. He was teaching music at the High School in Globe, so he originally agreed to alternate preaching on Sunday mornings with Pastor Gagnon, but he quickly sensed the hurting body and agreed to be considered for the pastorate. He and his wife, Sue, moved to Show Low and began ministering full time in July 1992. He had lung problems, however, and as winter set in, they worsened. It became obvious that the church would soon be looking for another pastor. In June 1993, Dr. Boyer accepted a position in Oregon, and the search begun yet again for a permanent pastor.

Don Gagnon again agreed to fill in during the search, and not even an elk running into his car could stop him from faithfully delivering his sermons! He stayed until the church called the next pastor.

In God’s timing, the name of Stephen C. Hair was presented to the Pulpit Committee. He was a youth pastor from Tucson who was also working for Pima County Sheriff’s Department. He had a desire to become a full-time pastor, he came recommended. The church voted unanimously in October to call Pastor Hair and his family (wife, Nancy, and children, Craig and Caleb) to service. He fulfilled his obligation to his employer, and was able to move to Show Low in January 1994. Since coming to Calvary, the Hairs have added Cameron and Charity to their God-honoring family.

Two weeks after calling Pastor Hair, the church body voted to construct a Christian Education addition that included fellowship space, a new kitchen, and restrooms. There were challenges along the way, but with God’s hand in it, the walls were raised the weekend after Easter 1994. For the first time in three years, the church resumed a two-service schedule for Sunday sermons. Due to the need for worship space, the fellowship area was transformed to become the sanctuary. On October 1, 1995, the first service was held in that new space.

The expansion continued at an incredible pace. Another addition to the sanctuary was begun in the spring of 1996 that included the children’s classrooms we have today. A parking lot was poured, and a wall was erected. The other half of the Owens property was sold. Plans were soon underway to build the sanctuary we have today, and a generous gift of $150,000 served to accelerate those plans. The building was begun in June 1997 with the help of True Foundation Builders. God continued to provide people who would donate building supplies and their precious time so that the building was completed early in 1999 debt free.

Meanwhile, 1998 was marked by the first Calvary Baptist Church Missions Conference.

Back to 1999: With the sanctuary finished, the church took a much-needed breather from the pace of building to concentrate on ministering in the community. Sunday School classes grew along with the youth group. A need was identified for a paid Youth Pastor.

Leonard Dueck was called to Calvary in June 2000 as a paid part-time youth and music pastor. He soon became the full-time pastor to the youth and college-age adults, as well as taking over the music department, and grew those ministries in wonderful ways for the Lord. Pastor Dueck founded Students with a Testimony (SWAT), Calvary’s youth ministry, and established fundamental principles that have since been updated for  todays church  here at Calvary.

It looked as though AWANA would not be continued in 2000, but God provided a leader in Ray Badger, and the program continued with zeal, ministering to 50 clubbers. The radio ministry was also restarted in 2000, with a full hour now heard on Sunday mornings to minister to the community at large, including all of the part-time residents and visitors to the mountain.

The year 2000 also ushered in the entry into the Information Age of Calvary Baptist Church, with the launch of the church website.

The events of 9-11-2001 forever marked every person who calls the United States home. However, the resulting return of many people to church that was witnessed soon went back to normal, and, 2001 unfortunately denoted a new low for missionary giving. All things working for good in the eyes of God, however, this need birthed the plan for Faith Promise missions giving, which has outdone itself every year since. And speaking of birth, Calvary Baptist Church welcomed its very own set of triplets -- the Fousel girls!

Building projects, with their nature of never being completely finished, brought the pouring of the concrete parking lot in 2002, and the completion of the parking lot lights in 2003. The project brought a dramatic change from the muddy, slippery mess of years past. The Missions Commission saw the end of the construction project for the Kaibito Baptist Church, and rejoiced with them during their dedication service. The vision to build a Family Life Community Center came about in 2002, and the building fund was officially closed and merged into the general fund (with the designation, New Building Fund) in 2003.

Pastor Dueck initiated the first Bible College Tour, taking the college-bound youth on a whirlwind tour of four Bible Colleges in ten days during the summer of 2003, and in October 2003, it had been ten years since Pastor Hair had been called to Calvary Baptist Church.

The church voted to call a full-time, paid youth pastor. Pastor Dueck resigned in the summer of 2004. The church called Pastor Chase Ward (along with wife, Gina) to become Youth Pastor. He took over the youth group he grew up in with great enthusiasm. Pastor Chase and Gina now have three children, Chastity, Harmony, and Evan.

Construction on the New Discipleship Classroom, now called the Berean Room, began in July 2004 with each phase being completed as funds were given. It was complete and ready to use in 2005.

Also in 2005, Brandon Monahan (wife, Dawn, and children, Kelden, Ireland, and Aiden) joined Calvary Baptist Church. With a passion for children, a deep love for the Truth, and a degree in Early Childhood Education, he was asked to head up the children’s ministries at Calvary. Brandon Monahan was now “Pastor Brandon”. Pastor Carl Neilson began the S.E.A.SONS Ministry for our “seasoned saints” and Pastor Steve Harrington began Old West Chapel once a month on Saturday evenings. 

The Church called Pastor Richard Finney and his family (wife, Maryann, children at home, Brendan, Caitlin, Mackenzie, Delaney, Liam, and Ishabel) to be its Family Pastor in 2006. He came on with eagerness and immediately began counseling families, leading a Bible Fellowship, and teaching evening classes. All this, plus he held a secular counseling career!

The last year and a half has brought a bit of trial, a bit of course correction, and a number of blessings. Calvary Baptist Church has had a vision for a Family Life Community Center since at least 2002, if not earlier. The question came up in the 2006 annual meeting, and a vote was taken to allow a search commission to form and search for land for the project. After much comparison-shopping, the commission went ahead and entered into contracts with two landowners that owned property next to ours. Many things conspired to make this a sore subject with some of the membership: there was a lack of communication between the commission and the church body. The church leadership admitted to falling into a cycle of skipping regular business meetings and duly repented of that practice. 

The questions were addressed and a vote was taken at the end of 2007 to affirm the purchase of the land. Pastor Rick was also affirmed to full-time service at the Annual Meeting in January 2008. Calvary Baptist Church now owns a parcel of land large enough to see the Family Life Community Center come to fruition and has a full-time Family Pastor to minister to Calvary’s families.

At present, the empty lot serves as overflow parking. Lord willing, when the land is paid for the building project can begin.

Spring 2008 saw the radio ministry expanded to 90 minutes on 96.5 FM. This means that listeners can finally hear the end of Pastor Steve’s sermons! As a bonus, the radio station now airs the Institute for Creation Research’s 16-minute show “Science, Scripture and Salvation” after the sermon each Sunday.

June 1, 2008 marks the 30th Anniversary for Calvary Baptist Church. As in all of Christian life, there have been joys and sorrows within the church body while striving for the goal of keeping our focus on Jesus Christ. Calvary Baptist Church looks forward to serving the White Mountain community for as long as the Lord allows.