Our History

Tents, Houses, and Vans

Calvary Temple Assembly of God held its first service on Christmas day, 1975. Over the years, services were held in different homes, the Masonic Temple, Jonas Hall at BHSU, a tent on church property, and our current building.

During the "time of the tent," ladies would come on Saturdays and repair rips that had happened the week before. The men would arrive early on Sunday mornings to set up chairs and "raise the roof," then go home and change for service. Sunday school was held in the church van, on the grass, or wherever there was room. Seats were taken out of the church bus to make accommodation for a nursery, and one Sunday, a large stock tank was brought in for a baptismal service.

As cool weather set in, the building was enclosed enough to keep the rain and snow off, but it was not completely finished. In October 1979, the first service was held in our own building. With just cement floors, surrounded by walls with no drywall, the pastors and musicians climbed a cement-block staircase to a bare wood platform. In December 1979, four years after holding the initial church organizational meeting, the dedication service in the mostly complete building. Since that time, the church has had many additions, including a fellowship hall, education wing, and different remodels. The building may have changed, but the mission is still the same; reaching people and training them for the ministry of the Gospel.

We are students and retirees, parents and grandparents, new Christians and long-time believers. Some of us are white collar workers; others of us are blue jean die-hards. We're all over the map when it comes to stages of life, but we're all on the same page when it comes to God. Our heart is to be a church that looks outward as much as we look upward. Forty-five years of ministering, and we give all the glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. May the history of Calvary Temple always be in the Lord.