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ebook History of Watertown, Wisconsin
Calvary
Baptist Church
1960
- Raymond
L. Tessmann was a church builder with Wisconsin
Independent Baptist Missionary Grant Rice.
Ray was instrumental in starting and pastoring in a
number of churches including, in 1960, Calvary Baptist Church in
Watertown. Began in the basement of his
home at 1500 Center St., Watertown, where he was a charter member. WDT, 08 03 2009 Raymond Tessmann
obit
07 21 A special service held
here last night marked the signing of the charter of Watertown's newest church -
Watertown Calvary Baptist Church. Announcement of the new church was made some
months ago. The Rev. George Cable of West Bend was the guest speaker last
night. He delivered a challenging message on the subject of “Pattern of
Christianity.” The congregation is meeting temporarily at 1500 Center Street,
but construction of a permanent meeting place at Spaulding and Prospect Streets
is underway. WDT
1963
03 01 The Calvary Baptist
Church, Prospect and Spaulding Streets, plans to construct a new church building
this year. The church has voted to
accept plans presented by Alfred Siewert, architect, Milwaukee. The plans call for the moving of the present
unit to be used for educational purposes and a new church edifice to be erected
on the corner of Prospect and Spaulding Streets. This unit will consist of an auditorium,
lounge, general office and pastor’s study. The Calvary Baptist Church was organized
three years ago this coming Easter and has been meeting in the present building
for two years. The congregation has
grown so that the present building is no longer adequate. The members of the building committee are
Marvin Goetsch, Del Pederson, Bud Wollin,
Louis Foerster, Edgar Goetsch. WDT
08 23 The Calvary Baptist
Church, at Spaulding and Prospects Streets, of which the Rev. Charles R.
Sanders is pastor and which announced plans for a new
building some months ago, on Sunday broke ground for the new edifice. The
building will include an auditorium, pastor’s study, general office, nursery and mother’s room. Also, there will be some
classroom space provided. WDT
1964
05 01 DEDICATION OF CHURCH BUILDING
The Calvary Baptist
Church, Prospect and Spaulding Streets in Watertown, will dedicate its new
building Sunday. The regular services of
the church will be held as usual with Sunday school at 9:30 o’clock and morning
worship services at 10:30 o’clock and the evening evangelistic service at 7:30
o’clock. The facilities in the new
church building include an auditorium which seats 300, a narthex and lounge area,
fully equipped nursery, a mother’s room, study and
church office, baptistry, Sunday school rooms, a large fellowship hall and a
future kitchen. WDT
1968
09 25 FINANCES FOR A BIBLE SCHOOL ADDITION
The Calvary Baptist Church,
located on the corner of Prospect and Spaulding Streets, in Watertown, is
launching a food program to provide the finances for building a Bible school
addition and to more than double the seating capacity of the present
auditorium. Calvary Baptist Church had
its beginning in a Bible class. The
first Sunday services were held April 17, 1960, with 32 charter members. In May of the same year the membership
purchased the lot located on Prospect and Spaulding Streets, on which a
building was erected that would seat 100 people. Because of growth in the church, another
building program was launched in February, 1963, at which time the present
building was erected. In January of this
year, the church members realized the need of launching another building
program to nearly triple present facilities.
WDT
10 27 BUILDING A BIBLE SCHOOL ADDITION
The
Calvary Baptist Church, located on the corner of Prospect and Spaulding
Streets, is planning soon to begin construction of a building expansion that
will more than double their facilities.
This expansion will include more than double the auditorium space and
will include an educational wing with some twenty Bible school rooms, plus
nursery, restroom and kitchen
facilities. The money for the project has been raised through the
efforts of a bond drive with Providence Church Plan, Inc. of Atlanta,
Georgia. Some bonds are still available
in denominations of $250, $500 and $1,000 with
maturity dates from six to 12 years, drawing 6 1/2% compound interest, plus additional
interest benefits available at this time.
WDT
1969
03 07 CONSTRUCTION OF BIBLE SCHOOL ADDITION
09 12 DEDICATION OF BIBLE SCHOOL ADDITION
A dedication service
and open house will be held at the Calvary Baptist Church, Prospect and
Spaulding Streets, to dedicate the new building addition at 2:30 o’clock Sunday
afternoon. Rev. Eric Folsom, pastor and
evangelist from St. Petersburg, Fla., will be the dedication speaker. He will also sing. Rev. Edward Burckart
will play a special number on his violin.
The Calvary Baptist
Church had its beginning in a Bible Class held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ben
Musser, 118 North Seventh Street, with Rev. Grant Rice, teacher. As interest increased a larger place was made
available at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ray Tessmann,
1500 Center Street. The first Sunday
services were held April 17, 1960, and the church was organized on April 22,
1960, with 32 charter members. In May of
1960, the lot located where the present building stands on Prospect and
Spaulding Street, was purchased and building began.
09 14 CALVARY BAPTIST
DEDICATION SERVICE AND OPEN HOUSE
Construction of
additional educational facilities and auditorium space was completed recently.
Gary Joslin, Jack
Meyer, Marvin Goetsch, Bud Wollin,
Ben Dams, Ronald Fehrmann, Rev. Erie Folsom, (St.
Petersburg, Fla., dedication speaker), Rev. Charles Sanders (pastor), and Del
Pederson.
2000
07 17 REV. DR. LINCOLN
RETIREMENT
The Rev. Dr. William
Lincoln, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Watertown, has announced his retirement
after having served 49 years in the ministry.
The occasion will be observed with several activities this weekend. On Saturday night, Calvary's staff and school
faculty will gather to recognize his service at Calvary Baptist Church and
School. A special time of testimony is
planned for the Sunday morning Bible School Hour. The pastor will preach his final message
during the 10 a.m. service. A special
recognition service will be held Sunday evening followed by a time of
fellowship for the entire church family.
Lincoln and his wife, Barbara, have served four congregations during
their 49 years. They ministered to
churches in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana before
coming to Watertown, where they are completing their 27th year. The Lincolns have four daughters, Becky,
Beth, Christine and Rachel. WDT
2005
02 10 A MORE SPACIOUS CHURCH
Twenty five years ago the
members of Calvary Baptist Church had a vision of a new church building. A building that would comfortably hold the
growing congregation. The new church
building, costing approximately $4.6 million to construct, is located at 792
Milford St. and more than meets the needs of the congregation. Entering the new church building gives a hint
of how large it actually is. The lobby alone is 2,800 square feet and
holds 560 people. Although the lobby is
large, the auditorium makes it look quite small. The auditorium is U-shaped, with rows of pews
surrounding a platform in the front center.
The entire building is 34,420 square feet and the capacity of just the
auditorium is 1,060 people. The original
church seated a little over 400 people, which brought a schedule of two morning
and two night services every Sunday to accommodate the
almost 700 members. WDT article
2008
04
02 POLICE
CHAPLAINCY PROGRAM
The
Watertown
Police Department has formed a police chaplaincy program and the Rev. Mark
Moore of St. Paul's Episcopal Church and Pastor Doug Stein of Calvary Baptist
Church will be serving the community in this new ministry. The police chaplains will be available on a
24-hour basis to offer support to residents in need, which includes comforting
grieving families during death notifications and assisting police during other
traumatic incidents.
2015
05
27 BLUE AND WHITE SUNDAY
On Sunday, May 17, Calvary Baptist Church
held its annual Blue and White Sunday.
This Sunday is set aside each year to honor those men and women who
serve in law enforcement. The Rev. Dr.
Bob Loggans welcomed 50 law enforcement guests as
well as the other 500 people in attendance.
The guest speaker for the 9 a.m. service was Chaplain Darryl Sturgill of
the Watertown Police Department. Special
recognition was given to Crime Prevention/ D.A.R.E Officer Stacy Schroeder of
the Watertown Police Department for her 13 years of dedicated service. Schroeder was given a plaque and a
Bible. Police Chief Timothy Roets wholeheartedly recommended Schroeder and praised her
for allowing “members of the public to see the individual behind the uniform
and badge.”
2018
04
26 BLUE AND WHITE SUNDAY
The Rev. Dr. Robert Loggans
welcomed 24 law enforcement guests and their families, as well as elected
officials and their families. Milwaukee
Sheriff Richard Schmidt spoke in the 9 a.m. hour. In the 10 a.m. hour,
Watertown Mayor John David read the mayoral proclamation declaring April 22,
2018, as Blue and White Sunday in Watertown. Each honored guest introduced
themselves and their family, and the congregation gave them a standing ovation.
A special offering was taken on behalf of
the Watertown Police Department. The offering totaled $2,611 and will be used
to help purchase K-9 squad car cages to help those like Officer Tony Namio and his K-9 partner, Oczi. Special recognition was given to Sgt. Ben
Olsen during the service. Loggans read Olsen’s
nomination letter, written by Chief Tim Roets, which
highlighted the areas Olsen has served in the Watertown Police Department. Olsen has served at the Watertown Police
Department for over 11 years. He has served on each patrol shift and as
detective. Olsen was promoted to sergeant in 2014 and serves as the supervisor
for the city’s late shift. He also serves as a department instructor for
defense and arrest tactics.
Cross References:
Maranatha
Baptist Bible College offers a full high school curriculum on the campus
and has enjoyed rising enrollments at both the high school and college
levels. In addition, the college has a
close affiliation with Calvary Baptist Church which operates a Christian
elementary school. As a result, children
can be educated in the Baptist philosophy from preschool all the way through a
master's degree.
History of Watertown,
Wisconsin