What To Expect

We are located right in the heart of the city of Elgin, Illinois at 551 Arlington Avenue in a beautiful historic church that was built in 1912.

Our main service starts at 10:30 am on Sunday mornings.

Below, we’ve answered a few questions that visitors tend to have when looking for a church home.

Where can I take my children?

Kids are welcome in our services! We welcome all of the shuffles, squeaks, and noises that come with children—they are a blessing!

During our worship service we do have a children’s ministry for ages birth to 4th grade called Calvary Kids. Calvary Kids is not the church, but rather a ministry of our church for the purpose of reaching the next generation with the gospel of Jesus Christ. All of our children’s ministry volunteers are vetted and trained. If you would like to know more about this ministry click here.

What are your services like?

Our services tend to be pretty simple. Each Sunday at 10:30am we gather for worship. This is the central meeting for our church every week. It’s where we come to encourage one another, to listen to God’s Word, and respond to Him based on what He has told us. Our time together is always built around the Bible.

  • We gather to pray. We pray prayers of praise based on what the Bible says about who God is and what He has done. We pray prayers of confession and thanksgiving based on what we know of our sin and God’s promise to forgive us through Jesus. And prayers of supplication, where we ask God for what we need, as the Bible invites us to do.

  • We gather to sing. We sing because God is worthy of our praise. We sing old songs and new songs. Our songs unpack the good news about Jesus and give us a chance to respond to that news. They are aimed both at God, in praise, and one another, to remind each other to trust in His promises.

  • We gather to hear God’s Word preached. At the center of each gathering is a sermon that works verse by verse through sections of the Bible. If you join us, most likely we will be going through a book of the Bible with the goal of understanding clearly what God has said and how it affects our lives. Come open the Bible with us!

  • We gather to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel is the message of salvation for those who don’t know God and the message of strength for those who do know Him.

  • We gather to look to Jesus. We believe that the answer to our deepest need is Jesus. All of us are guilty of sinning against a holy God. But the good news is that Jesus Christ gave his life for those who receive him. When we gather we confess both our sin and our need for Jesus.

What style of music should I expect?

We are a singing church and believe that the music that we sing should be Christ-exalting, God-glorifying, and filled with Scripture. We use instruments to accompany and encourage the congregation to lift their voices. We also believe that there are many songs from various times in history that both honor God and build up the church. In light of this, it isn’t uncommon to hear a song from the 1600s in the same service with a song that was written today. We choose to sing songs that are committed to Biblical faithfulness, theological richness, and allow for congregational participation. Click here to access our Digital Hymnal to hear the songs that we sing.

What should I wear when I come?

Most of us dress casually on Sundays, but you will see everything from t-shirts and jeans to dresses and sport jackets. For us there is no dress code. We do ask that your clothing choice is respectful of others regarding modesty and not distracting to anyone’s worship experience.

What does it mean to be a Baptist church?

While being a Baptist church can have lots of stereotypes attached with it, we know that you will find that we are a Bible-teaching, Gospel-centered, Christ-exalting, God-glorifying church that believes baptism is for people who repent of their sins and trust in Christ.

Where do I park?

Our Main Parking Lot is located at the rear of our building off of May Street. We have Accessible Parking in the front of our building and there is also plenty of street parking available.

There is an entrance in the front of our building and a rear entrance near our main parking lot.