A synopsis of the history of Calvary Church

Forging the foundation
On May 21, 1939 the doors to the Bible Presbyterian Church Unaffiliated opened in what is now uptown Charlotte. Early services were held at the old Central High School. The first church building was two years away. The first pastor was Edgar Archer Dillard, who had come from Tenth Avenue Presbyterian Church. Pastor Dillard combined a strong basis in evangelism and biblical exposition.

A founding elder
A founding elder of the church was Frank Graham, father of Billy Graham. By July 6, 1941, a handsome brick church building was built at 1800 East Fourth Street, where Presbyterian Hospital now stands. Everyone pitched in to build the 750-seat church. Each member of the Ladies Bible Class contributed 35 cents a week to pay for carpeting the worship center.

Many famous preachers such as Dr. J. Oliver Buswell, Dr. Allan MacRae, Dr. Jack Murray, and Dr. Harry A. Ironside made a stop at the church. These men were on the cutting edge of the battle for the Bible in the face of dominant theological liberalism. Billy Graham, and the Wilson brothers, T.W. and Grady, preached some of their first sermons from the Fourth Street pulpit.

When Pastor Dillard resigned in 1946, Lon Hitchcock briefly became the pastor. Between 1948 and 1958 the ministry of Calvary prospered under the leadership of Dr. L. Pointdexter ("Dexter") McClenny.

Commitment to teens
Dr. McClenny's commitment to teens is seen in his work to establish Calvary Christian Day School in 1950. This later grew into the significant ministry of Charlotte Christian School, with a reputation for quality education from kindergarten through high school graduation.

In 1958, Dr. McClenny was called to be pastor of College Church in Wheaton, Illinois. As 1960 dawned, Dr. J. Allen Blair assumed the pastorate at Calvary Presbyterian Church. Simultaneous with the change in pastors was the construction of an education building to handle the growing needs of families.

An evangelistic preacher with a successful radio ministry, Dr. Blair placed heavy emphasis on the foreign missionary outreach of Calvary Church. Due to the demands of his radio and Bible Conference ministry, Dr. Blair resigned in 1966.
Rev. Dean Ballard and his wife, Jody, came from Champaign-Urbana, Illinois to the pastorate of Calvary Church. Like many of his predecessors, Dean Ballard had a passion for missions. In 1969 Pastor Ballard resigned to work as a counselor and teacher for World Radio Missionary Fellowship, the parent group of HCJB.

Students became main emphasis
When Ralph Norwood assumed the pastorate in 1970, students became his main emphasis. Plans were made to pay off the property on Sardis and Randolph Roads. The Christian School was merging with Charlotte Christian High School, becoming Charlotte Christian School. Ralph Norwood's tenure as pastor ended in 1972.

Waking the sleeping giant
"Calvary Church is a sleeping giant," said Grady Wilson, as he eyed the growth of his home church. Evangelist Ross Rhoads and his wife, Carol, had settled in Charlotte with their young family, and Calvary became a basis for Ross' extremely effective evangelistic ministry.

In February 1973, Ross commenced his pastorate at Calvary Church. Billy Graham was keynoter for the installation services. "Charlotte needs Calvary Church," Billy said, "and Calvary Church needs Ross Rhoads."

In 1974 the church had 400 members. Within two years an all-purpose building had been erected at Sardis and Randolph. In 1975, the church moved into its temporary home, which could accommodate 600. Within three years the church had exploded to 2,000. In 1977, the first "Singles Again Ministry" in Charlotte was begun. During the next 15 years, over 100 couples were married out of this group. A sanctuary seating 1,500 was erected and dedicated in 1978. In 1981 the Family Life Center was built in a vain attempt to keep up with expansive growth. By 1982 there were four services filled to capacity.

A larger congregation
A larger congregation opened the door to expanded ministries. A preschool ministry was soon founded, and it has thrived since inception. The ministry to families was enhanced by the addition of a counseling center. Also, youth ministries were strengthened to reach both high school and junior high school students.

A text, which was prominently displayed in the Fourth Street Church, was likewise displayed in the foyer of the new church. The text read: "For the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ," and it has become a golden thread wending its way through the years of Calvary Church. The taught Word and the evangelistic witness are the twin pillars of Calvary Church.

A step of faith
As a result, Ross Rhoads and the elders eyed property in rural Mecklenburg County. Studies revealed that is was the growing edge of Charlotte, and in 1985 a developer gave the church 100 acres on a rural road, Highway 51. With 100 acres, a worship center with over 5000 seats was not only feasible, it was appropriate. In 1984 ground was broken for the project, but it would be five more years before the project was completed. The building and relocation effort ran into a number of obstacles and difficulties, but God's providence prevailed. At last the building was completed, and the church was dedicated in December 1989.

A major feature of the new building is the massive Möller pipe organ. Dedicated in 1990, it contains 205 ranks, 11,499 pipes, and is one of the largest pipe organs in the world.

In 1992, the church faced a financial crisis. The Lord once again supernaturally provided. The congregation also rallied to the challenge that they could not only survive, but also impact the metropolis of Charlotte and the ends of the earth. As residential areas sprang up along the Highway 51 corridor, new strategies of evangelism were formed to reach the neighbors of Calvary Church.

In 1995, twenty-one years after he began, Dr. Ross Rhoads resigned as senior pastor. Soon, he was swept up into the multiplied ministries of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. His protege, Franklin Graham, was chosen to be chairman of the Association in addition to the compelling ministry of Samaritan's Purse.

Being the church
After two years, the Pastoral Search Committee was led to invite Dr. E. Glenn Wagner to assume pastoral leadership of Calvary Church. Glenn and Susan Wagner, together with their children Haven and Justin, arrived by June 1997. Coming from the thriving ministry of Promise Keepers, Dr. Wagner brought not only fresh vision but also a commitment to building a relationally-driven church.

Over the next seven years, under Dr. Wagner's leadership, Calvary Church reached out to Charlotte's ethnically and racially diverse population, establishing a Spanish congregation of nearly 300 members, as well as smaller Asian-Indian and Korean ministries. Dr. Wagner left Calvary in September 2004 to pursue other ministry opportunities.

A preacher of grace and a shepherd of souls
On December 18, 2005, the congregation of Calvary Church voted overwhelmingly to call Dr. John H. Munro as its next Senior Pastor.

John Munro came to Charlotte from Kalamazoo, Michigan where he had served as Senior Pastor of Calvary Bible Church for ten years. Prior to his pastorate in Kalamazoo, he served congregations in Pittsburgh, PA and Nova Scotia, Canada.
A graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary, where he received both his Master of Theology and Doctorate of Ministry degrees, Dr. Munro is a native of Scotland and was a practicing attorney in Scotland before being called to full-time ministry.

In accepting the call, Dr. Munro described himself as a "preacher of grace" and "shepherd of souls." When he commenced his ministry at Calvary Church Dr. Munro emphasized three important themes: unity, stability, and clarity of direction. He preached and taught on these themes and began to build a pastoral team sharing the vision and mission of Calvary Church. A visible demonstration of this unity was the commencement of one united Sunday morning worship service in June 2007.

Imagine 2008, a new phase of Calvary's capital campaign, was launched in March 2007. At that time the outstanding mortgage over the facilities amounted to $4 million. The congregation enthusiastically agreed that in God's grace this debt would be reduced to zero by December 2008.

2008 Themes
Now with Calvary Church united and stabilized, the themes for 2008 are:
     Displaying and Proclaiming Christ's Love and Truth
     Serving the Lord with Gladness
     Trusting God for the Impossible
These are exciting days at Calvary Church as we see the Lord at work in incredible ways. Existing ministries have been revitalized and a number of new ministries begun. All are within Calvary's vision and mission as we seek to be authentic followers of Jesus Christ, displaying and proclaiming His love and truth.

Positioned for the future
Calvary Church has been blessed in both growth and ministry since the early days on Fourth Street in uptown Charlotte. At each stage, there has been a commitment to a deepening discovery of God's Word. Scores of our young people have entered Christian ministries as pastors, teachers, missionaries, and other leadership positions. This is the meaning of living "For the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ."