Calvary Baptist Church

fter very positive feedback from last year’s Advent series that included daily devotional readings and group gatherings, we will once again celebrate the season in this way, this year using the devotional, “Advent at the Welcome Table.” It is written by a group of 4 sisters, one of whom is an American Baptist minister. Advent begins Sunday, December 1, and the daily readings begin same that day. The diaconate has purchased 50 copies of the devotional, which are available in the church narthex starting today. We are happy to provide them to you free but will accept donations. Please take only one per household, and if you typically read books digitally, you are encouraged to purchase your own in that format to leave the physical copies for others. We may purchase more if needed. The authors also wrote two companion journals/workbooks to go with the main devotional, one for adults and one for children/families. We are not purchasing these companion books but you might consider getting one for yourself to enhance your experience of the series. There will be 4 group gatherings for discussion at the dates and times noted in the graphic below. You can click here for the full series calendar.

Our permanent Senior Pastor, Rev. Dr. Corey Fields, is on sabbatical leave for the summer of 2023 (May 29 to August 28). In his place, Rev. Dr. Phaedra Blocker comes to serve Calvary and provide essential pastoral leadership on a part-time basis. Phaedra is a preacher, teacher, spiritual director, consultant, and singer who has a passion for empowering individuals and organizations to move toward wholeness and actualize their potentional. An ordained minister, Phaedra has served in pastoral roles of both large and small congregations. Currently, she serves as Director of the Center for Care, Formation & Vitality at Palmer Theological Seminary, and as Affiliate Professor in Leadership and Formation. She teaches in the Masters and Doctoral programs, as well as Eastern University’s Marriage and Family Therapy program. She is a graduate of Temple University (B.A., Communications), Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Div), and Northern Theological Seminary (D.Min). Phaedra is a voracious reader, gets recharged by quiet places in nature, and believes that dark chocolate is one of God’s better ideas. A guiding verse for her life is Micah 6:8: “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

The Calvary Baptist front lawn will be the site of an interfaith vigil for peace and justice in Ukraine on Wednesday, March 23, 7:00 p.m. It is sponsored by the Newark Interfaith Leaders, of which Pastor Corey Fields is the current convener. In case of inclement weather, the event will move indoors to the Calvary sanctuary. The vigil will include a personal testimony and update from Vadim Medvedev, a Roman Catholic resident of Ukraine. On hand to share words, readings or prayers will be several clerical leaders from multiple faith traditions, local and state elected officials, and Kevin Smith, the CEO of Habitat for Humanity of New Castle County and a recently ordained deacon in the United Methodist Church. The vigil will be livestreamed on Calvary’s normal streaming site: calvarybaptistnewark.online.church. Look for more details and let us know you’re coming on the Facebook event page.