Calvary Fellowship

Calvary Fellowship excels in many things. It is a gospel church that is focused on Christ. The purpose is for those who are looking for a church in CT so you will know some of their strengths and weakness going in. It’s hard to find a church in CT if you are a transplant from somewhere else. Many churches here are so loosely christian, it’s hard to find Jesus and others are so conservative, that can also be challenging. Community is often elusive. So here goes: If you are looking for a Sunday morning experience, then Calvary will exceed your expectations. The music is very contemporary, upbeat and truly a great worship experience. The kids program is out of this world. It’s fun and organized and the gospel is taught in a way that is really relevant for kids. The preaching is funny, relevant and from the bible. It’s not overly conservative preaching and definitely not watered down. They tend to preach on series of topics (discipleship, Grace, etc.). They believe in adult baptism and it’s required for membership (infant baptism does not count). And women are not allowed in leadership ministerial roles. The thing that is really lacking at Calvary is community. The church is large and is full of transient people who live here for few years and then move. So that might be perfect for you if you are temporarily in CT. The «community» I’m speaking of is in the sense of people that really know each other and live life together, as a family– dinners, friendship, and overlap with children and adults. The church is set up to have small groups in cycles. You attend a small group for 12 weeks and then there is a break and then you can sign up for a new small group. This works for some things, but can inhibit people from getting to know each other in the long term. There are a lot of people from west hartford, but many people travel to attend Calvary too– because it is a unique CT experience since it’s so contemporary and techno savy (big screens, band, online presence). I always found it so disappointing that once I finally felt like I was getting to know someone, the group would end and then a new one would start. While it was possible sometimes to go to a group that has some of the same people, often only a few of the people remained and it was like starting all over. As a transplant to CT, I needed more long term relationship than that. I was looking for family. The other thing that one should know about Calvary Fellowship is their policy on children in the services. Kids are systematically always separated from adults. In small groups, in church and in pretty much everything. Kids get taught very well there, but separately from the adults. This is different than many churches. Many churches have programs from time to time with kids and adults together– and kids are often in the service for singing and special events. Recently they have shifted a tiny bit on this, but ultimately, the rule is that children, including infants are not allowed in the service, ever. Newcomers can come in one time with their child. I think it’s around 3^rd or 4^th grade that they are allowed to come in for singing. I found this policy so disappointing. While I loved my kids going to kids church and would honestly want them to every week, I really felt like my kids were missing out on seeing their parents worship during the music time and understanding things like what communion is and the seasons of the church. I will say that the policy is not meant to be as horrible as it sounds. I mean, who prohibits kids from ever setting foot in a sanctuary? It’s from a place of wanting to create an adult service that doesn’t have disruptions and allows for non-​believers to hear the word clearly. There is a room for parents with babies with a t.v. In total fairness, the kids program is so fantastic that many people find they can overlook this policy. The church is brimming with young families. We eventually decided that we were looking for another place to attend after a year and ½ of attending and not really feeling like we could make friends there. We felt like it was like facebook. We knew 100 really nice people– we had attended four small groups and special events. But we didn’t really «know» anyone. There just wasn’t a space in the church for that– with ever rotating small groups and no events with parents and kids together. Ultimately we needed something different. But our decision to leave has come with a cost– it’s one of the only churches around that is contemporary and has as good a kids program. In the end, we wanted relationships. In closing, it is a church definitely worth checking out for yourself– for sure. Hopefully this helps you. God Bless.

Calvary Fellowship Church seeks not to be perfect but EXCELLENCE! Calvary Fellowship makes sure that God’s love meets you at the door. We found a church that is attentive to the needs of the people of Connecticut. A great Word based on the Bible, you will leave service with definite next steps on how to apply the word to your life. The children’s ministry is awesome, the children are learning simple bible messages and they actually brought homework home to share with us.