CALVARY UCC

640 Centre Avenue
Reading, PA 19605
610.374.2109

History:

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Calvary Reformed United Church of Christ was formed by Doctor B. Bausman in 1888 at the corner of Centre Avenue and Oley Street. He planned to erect Calvary before there was a congregation or Sunday School to be housed there. He felt that the neighborhood would build up rapidly as the city expanded in that direction. The construction took a little over a year to complete and the church was dedicated on August 18th, 1889. In September 1890, Calvary was  organized with 46 members as the ninth Reformed congregation in the City of Reading. By 1905, the congregation would expand to include around 440 members.

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Congregation/Space:

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Today, the church continues to have a beautiful appearance in the neighborhood. The corner tower is sixty feet high. The windows are of fine stained glass. One of the windows is signed by “D’Ascenzo Studios”. D’Ascenzo was a well-known artist in Philadelphia; he is remembered for his designs of stained glass in various cities along the East Coast.

A stone mosaic in the sanctuary chancel designed by H. Hanley Parker is easily noticeable. H. Hanley Parker was born in Philadelphia and trained at the renowned PAFA institution.

The church hosts five smaller congregations and five outreach organizations. Calvary does not require a fee for the use of its spaces, but the current pastor, Steve Ohnsman, says that the other congregations are kind enough to give some type of donation for the use of the spaces. The five other congregations are All Soul Catholic Church, IPA, In His Hand, Path of Holiness Pentecostal, and Shalom Seventh-Day Adventist Church. The outreach organizations are Wisdom 31, which serves the community-at-large through the teaching of English as a Second Language and NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, a national grassroots mental health organization.

Programs:

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The church has countless programs for the community. It holds spaces for an organization called Family Promise on their 3rd floor. Family Promise addresses family homelessness and hopes to keep families together in times of hardship instead of separating them. The church is currently working on getting cots, gathering food, and providing fellowship services for temporarily housing homeless families.

There is also a food pantry that the congregation runs in the church. They have adult forums held on the 2nd floor in the church. They have annual music festivals on site to support the arts and culture of the church and neighborhood.

Calvary is the first Open & Affirming UCC congregation in Berks County, showing its commitment to God's justice and the equality of all people.