Calvary Baptist Church of Denver

What the numbers say about us

Calvary is one of the largest churches in the American Baptist Churches of the Rocky Mountain Region. A metropolitan church, drawing from a wide area, we are located at a major intersection in the southeast corner of the City and County of Denver. We have convenient access to the newly widened I-25, Denver’s main north-south artery, and to the new light rail system. The church is in a mature neighborhood—commercial on one side and residential on the other. We moved from our downtown location to our current site in 1966. Two additions were made to the original new building, the last being in 1988.

Over a number of years, Calvary’s membership has slowly declined in spite of adding new members each year. Present membership is 662 plus 192 non-member spouses and children of members. Additional regular attendees number 90 and there are always visitors. Average worship attendance in 2006 was 327, with an average of 80 children and 150 adults in Sunday church school classes.

About half of our members live more than two miles, but less than 10 miles, from the church. Two-thirds of our members drive from 11 to 30 minutes to get to church. Forty-eight percent have been members for 20 years or more. Calvary’s members are involved and committed. Only 23 percent do not participate in a group or committee, and 26 percent participate in two regular activities other than Sunday worship.

Thirty-five percent of our members are over 60 years of age; the majority of these are retired. Forty-one percent of members ages 30 to 59 are employed, primarily in professional fields. Seventy-one percent of our members are married, and more than half of working age spouses are employed. We have a large portion of college graduates, and 40 percent of our congregants have postgraduate credits or degrees. Twenty-four percent are less than 30 years old. We have 79 families with 127 children less than 12 years of age. Sixty-three families have more than one generation represented at Calvary. Women outnumber men 58 percent to 42 percent.

Although we celebrate and encourage diversity, 90 percent of the Pastoral Search Inventory respondents are from European stock. Sixty percent of congregants have Baptist heritage, and the rest are from a variety of faith backgrounds.

Half of the households responding to the inventory reported annual incomes of over $50,000, including about 20 percent over $100,000. The average of our 228 pledges for 2007 is $64 per week, or $3,330 per year.

Our 2007 operating budget is $918,200, excluding the Early Learning Center and Adult Day Services, both of which are revenue neutral. Bylaws require annual budgets to be balanced. We are No. 1 in giving to United Mission Basics among all ABC USA churches. We have an endowment fund of $627,000. A portion of the endowment income is transferred to the operating fund on an annual basis. With investments professionally managed, our endowment continues to grow.

Calvary’s neighborhood
In 2004, we conducted an extensive demographic survey, focusing on the 12 ZIP codes surrounding Calvary where most of our members live. More than 380,000 people live in this area; 143,000 live within a 10 to 15 minute drive. There is more ethnic diversity in our surrounding neighborhood than is represented in our congregation, who in many cases commute from less diverse areas of the city.