HISTORY OF
CALVARY EVANGELICAL FREE CHURCH

Calvary Evangelical Free Church is affiliated with the Evangelical Free Church of America and began as the result of three couples who had been meeting for Bible study and fellowship for about a year.

The church held its first service on May 20th, 1984, in the St. Paul Episcopal Church building at 406 - 3rd St. S.W. (St. Paul Episcopal Church had been closed for many years and currently houses Marilyn Niewoehner's Dress Museum.) Charter members were accepted on May 18, 1985, and the first baptismal service was held on July 12, 1987, at Adam Lake.

In 1991, the church purchased what had once been the USDA building at 305 - 4th St. S.W and held their first service there on April 21, 1991. The congregation completed the addition of a sanctuary to the building and held its first service in the new sanctuary on December 12, 2004.

Lead Pastors (and their wives) through the years have been:
Bill (Sandy) Culbertson         June 24, 1985 to August 18, 1991
Paul (Abby) Rathke               August 10, 1992 to July 2, 2000
Steve (Renee) Cooper          August 5, 2001 to November 26, 2005
Scott (Becky) Hershey          January 7, 2007 to November 22, 2009

Jason (Trista) Wood             November 1, 2011 to June 2016

Mike (Jodi) Lundberg           January 2018 to current

Pastor Don (Marla) Barsness served Calvary as the associate pastor March of 2014 - July of 2018. 

In addition to weekly Sunday morning services, ministries include AWANA (a children's Bible club), a men's Bible study, women's ministry, small groups, Youth Group (7th-12 grade), and Sunday School for all ages. We support a number of missionaries in fields at home and overseas.

Calvary Evangelical Free Church's motto is:
"Come to know Christ. Come to grow in Christ."

It is our desire to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to all who will hear and to serve and honor God within our walls and in the world in which we live.