Our History
How We Started
On May 31, 1976, Calvary Baptist Church held its first meeting in the home of Pastor Rick Whitlock in Espanola Ontario. In the following week, the pastor began door-to-door visitation and initiated the first of two van routes. As a result about twenty attended the next Sunday. The pastor continued door-to-door visitation and had a second van route up and running early in the summer. Near the end of that first summer, CBCE held a Vacation Bible School, resulting in nearly thirty children by the end of the week.
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Radio Broadcast
Later that first year, a radio station started in town and CBCE had one of the first locally generated gospel programs every Sunday morning from 8:45 to 9:00 a.m. The church began youth meetings on Friday nights at the Webbwood School gym in the fall. At the end of September 1976, CBCE started to meet in the A.B. Ellis Public School gym for the morning service and the Mitchell home in Webbwood for Sunday evening and Wednesday prayer meetings. The following year the use of the A.B. Ellis gym for Sunday evenings began. Then after a few years, CBCE was permitted to hold Wednesday meetings in the Webbwood School gym.​​​​​​​​​​​​​
Building
On October 28, 1978, CBCE was officially constituted with seventeen
charter members. Before long, the church supported four missionaries: from Japan, Ivory Coast, Brazil and Quebec. CBCE later joined the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches and received pastoral support from some churches. The church purchased its property on Barber Street, erected the church sign on the property, and began deliberations about the kind of building that would best suit the church’s needs.
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In 1990, the Fellowship’s Home Missions chose CBCE as one of four churches to receive a building. The criteria were they had to own a property to build on and have a credible amount in their building fund. Each church would receive a share of a special offering taken among Fellowship churches and receive assistance to build their church in one week through the Baptist Builders under the leadership of Stu Sylvester and his contractor son-in-law, Bruce Fitter. In 1991, around seventy volunteers, some of them expert tradespeople assisted in the construction of the CBCE church. The Fellowship project offerings across the country added $30,000.00 toward the cost and the volunteer labour cut the building costs approximately in half.
The sign raising, November 14, was the first step in the construction of the Calvary Baptist Church. Church officials purchased the 11-acre site on Lee Valley Road about two years ago. Built, the new structure will accommodate between Sunday service at 11a.m. and 7p.m. Putting the sign in place, from left, are Chris Pattenden, Pastor John McFarlan and Leigh McGrath, all of Espanola.​
Growth
One man who worked at the Espanola lumber yard was impressed with the demeanour of those from the church with whom he came into contact. He and his wife came, professed faith in Christ, were baptized and joined the church. In time, people continued to come and CBCE saw people come to Christ, join bible studies and be baptized. Six years after the church was built, the church assumed full responsibility for pastoral support and a year later finished paying off the debt on its building.
Today
Throughout the years, CBCE has seen pastors come and go, each adding their own touches to what God has been doing. Today, CBCE continues in its efforts to be a church that preaches God's word, loves the community and is known as a people of prayer.