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History of Calvary GBCCalvary Grace Brethren Church (CGBC) finds its roots in the Church of the Brethren. The first public worship service of German Baptist Brethren in Hagerstown took place in the fall of 1883 led by Hiram Wolfe. Twelve people gathered in the Junior Fire Company Hall on North Potomac Street. The hall was condemned and torn down in 1889. In the spring of 1884 they moved to a large storeroom on East Franklin Street near the Market House. Later that year they bought the land on the corner of East Washington and Mulberry Streets. On March 7, 1884 the church was organized and incorporated according to the laws of the State of Maryland. Its official title was “The German Baptist Brethren Church of Hagerstown, Washington County, Maryland.” Calvary Grace Brethren Church (Calvary) was organized some time after October 1939 by several families who were dissatisfied with the spiritual direction of the Hagerstown Church of the Brethren (COB), formerly called The German Baptist Brethren Church, and First Brethren Church, located on the corner of South Mulberry and Antietam Streets. In October of that year Andrew Martin Dixon (A. M.) had resigned from the COB due to the poor health of his wife, Elizabeth Kline Dixon. He also believed in a pre-millennial, dispensational view of eschatology; teachings not held by the COB which caused some tension in the COB. He was invited to come back to Hagerstown to be the pastor of the Calvary group who met at Corbett Street Chapel (now The Hagerstown Church of God, Inc.). He had moved to Spring City, PA, a town near Reading, where he taught in a college and drove to Hagerstown each week-end to preach at Calvary until his wife’s death in 1943. After her death he moved to Hagerstown and began teaching at Hagerstown Junior College. He taught World History and other history courses at HJC until he retired. A.M. was born in Brooklyn, New York, October 4, 1890. He was married to Elizabeth Kline of Elizabethtown, PA. The major thrust of his ministry was prayer and spiritual renewal. He held many revivals during his lifetime and was a very animated speaker in his earlier years. While at the COB he had three prayer meetings a week. In 1938 in his annual report to the Church of the Brethren he stated that he had conducted twenty-one funerals, three child consecrations, seventy-six baptisms and had made about 1,400 pastoral calls. He was pastor of Calvary from 1939-1940 until either 1950 or 1951. Some of the early members of Calvary were Mr. & Mrs. Crosswhite, Gerald and Hazel George Reese and two sons, Mr. and Mrs. Isaac King, Mr. & Mrs. Lewis King, Mr. and Mrs.
Ezra Glenn & family, Mr. & Mrs. Harold Martin and two sons, Mrs. Ruth Moore & son, Mr.& Mrs. Gene McCauley, Ira Springer, Mr. & Mrs. Richard Dixon and three children, Mrs. Gladys
Daley, Mrs. Shipley, The Myers Family, Mrs. Bertha Hetzer, Daniel and Grace Eshleman and four children, Frank and Catherine Watkins, Mr. & Mrs. Preston Stine and son, Mr. and Mrs. After meeting at the Corbett Street Chapel for some time, we moved to the Howard Street Methodist Church on the corner of Howard and Chestnut Streets (now Potomac Lodge of the International Order of Odd Fellows). A.M. would preach one week and the Methodist pastor the next. That only lasted for a short time. Two cooks in the same kitchen just does not work and two pastors sharing the same pulpit, especially when one is Calvinistic and the other Holiness, did not work any better. The next place we worshiped was at Friendship Chapel, a small church in Halfway at 17339 Virginia Avenue just past Coffman Avenue. It is currently Saunders Financial Solutions. We met there until we built the lower level (Red Room) at our present location on Bryan Place at the corner of West Franklin Street in 1947. While we were in Halfway, Eddie Beckley was our pastor for a short time. A.M. felt he should retire but when Eddie left to, I think, become pastor of the Wood Point Gospel Mission on Broadfording Road, A.M. resumed his pastoral duties. While at Bryan Place he also shared the ministerial time with his son, Richard. Richard was our pastor from sometime in 1950 until 1954. Richard’s wife, Ruth and daughter Sue Taylor, still visit us from time to time. After an interval of some time, Jack Peters was contacted at Grace Theological Seminary and asked to consider becoming our pastor. He accepted the call in June 1955 with the understanding that he would be our pastor for a year. At the end of the year we would vote on becoming affiliated with the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches (FGBC). If we wanted him to continue to be our pastor, we would join the Fellowship otherwise he would resign and we would be free to look for another pastor. In 1956 we became affiliated with the FGBC. Pastor Peters continued to be our pastor until the spring of 1964. Following his resignation, Galen Lingenfelter was our pastor from 1964 until 1967. He was followed by Harold Arrington, 1968-1974, and by Curt Stroman, 1975-1982. J. Norman Mayer became associate pastor in charge of music under Stroman from 1980 to 1982. When Stroman left, Mayer became senior pastor from 1982 until he retired March 2,1997. William (Bill) Kesecker served as minister of youth and young adults from 1983 to 1987. In June of 1997 Douglas Courter became our Senior Pastor and continues in that position at present. During the ministry of A.M. and Richard, we built the sanctuary which was dedicated December 11, 1949. The three-floor addition behind the sanctuary was dedicated November 30, 1958 and the educational unit south of the sanctuary was dedicated May 13, 1962 during the ministry of Jack Peters. While Harold Arrington was here the sanctuary and foyer, as we know it today, was remodeled and dedicated May 14, 1972. The comb roofs and steeple were installed and dedicated June 9, 1996 under the ministry of J. Norman Mayer. During Pastor Courter’s ministry, the pulpit area has once again been changed to its current design and many improvements made throughout the building. In 1973, during Harold Arrington’s ministry, a group left and started Maranatha Brethren Church. Calvary has been a sending church when it comes to thrusting young people into the ministry. The ones who come to mind are: Robert Bitner, Dan Eshleman, Richard Martin, Larry Sowers, Bill Kesecker, Richard Bell, Jack (Jr.) and Steve Peters, Bill Crowe, Don Smith, Harry Mullinix, Ray McCoy and Jim Brown. Rev. Paul Hawbaker was also a member here for a few years. Not all these men went into the ministry while attending Calvary and not all remained in the ministry; but they attended here at one time or another. Oh yes, Eileen Robinson Mullinix was a member here, too. Paul Hawbaker attended here for some time but I think he was ordained when he came. Some Summary Lists: Pastors:
Dedications:
Sunday School Superintendents:
Sunday School Secretaries:
Assistant Secretaries:
How did we get four Grace Brethren Churches in Hagerstown? Hagerstown Grace Brethren is a result of the 1939 split in The Brethren Church. Valley Grace Brethren came out of Hagerstown Grace Brethren (1956). Calvary Grace Brethren is out of Hagerstown Church of the Brethren (1940). Maranatha Brethren is out of Calvary Grace Brethren (1973). Since April 1, 2010
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History of Calvary GBC
How we got to where we are now!
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