Calvary Baptist Church

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.