The harvest is plentiful, but the labors are few; ...

John Cartwright started Calvary Independent Baptist Church by faith in 1977. From the beginning, God's hand was on this group of believers and began to do something exciting in Delaware County. The church started out meeting in a Masonic Lodge, and moved in 1983 to an old elementary school building. In that same year Calvary Baptist Academy was born, now Calvary International Christian School (CICS) which is a Christian school for grades K-4 through 12.

The church has become diverse with many ministries including: Sunday School for all ages, a Shepherd's class for the mentally handicapped, a bus ministry, a prison Bible study, "Operation Grace" for those with addictions, a Faith Promise Missions program which supports 30 missionaries and organizations, the "Overcomers" for ages 55 and up, Word of Life clubs for children and teenagers, a Ladies' Ministry, "Operation Go" soulwinning course, and "What's Next?" discipleship course.

Calvary Independent Baptist Church has far outgrown it's present facilities, and after much prayer and waiting for God's perfect timing, has proceeded to pursue a piece of property just 3 blocks away from it's present location. Calvary is in the midst of making settlement on this 4.5 tract of land and has plans to build a beautiful new building for our church and school to further expand this ministry that God has begun.

Pastor Biography
John Cartwright graduated from Sharon Hill High School in 1964. He was a scholar-athlete, earning ten varsity letters in football, baseball, and basketball. John received offers from over thirty colleges and universities, and from the then Kansas City (Oakland) Athletics. He chose to further his education, and his athletic career, at the U.S. Naval Academy. In his sophomore year, John seceeded Roger Staubach as quarterback, went on to break 13 of Staubach's records, and set 7 other records of his own.

In 1968, John was commissioned an officer in the U.S. Navy. That same year, he married his childhood sweetheart, Thelma Themens, and began his tour of duty, which included a long deployment in Vietnam.

In the early days of Liberty University's existence, John became assistant football coach under Lee "Rock" Royer, and seceded him as head coach at Liberty in 1973, after Rock's sudden death in a plane crash. He graduated from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary in 1976. He returned to his native Delaware County in 1977, and founded the Calvary Independent Baptist Church.

Important Dates