CALVARY LUTHERAN CHURCH
History of Calvary
Calvary began its journey in 1968.
The area to the west of U.S,. Highway 41 was growing and presented an opportunity to form a mission church to serve that new growing community. Pastor Alan Madson arrived at Calvary in January of 1969 to serve the fledgling church. The first church service was performed March 2, 1969. The church dedication took place June 22, 1969 with 65 families in attendance.
In 1972 Good Samaritan Catholic Church (now St. Raphael) requested and was granted permission to hold services at Calvary with Father David Barrett presiding. Pastor Madson went on to serve his new flock until 1973 when he accepted a call to Vancouver, WA.
Pastor Robert Rosenberg accepted the call to Calvary May 1973 and held. his first service June 3 of that year. Under Pastor Rosenberg's guidance and service, Calvary continued to grow and serve the west side of Oshkosh. Calvary observed the final celebration of St. Raphael's service in its sanctuary in 1987.
Between the years of 1987 and 2003 Calvary experienced the development of various ministries; soup suppers, a live nativity, and the formation of the Forte and Chime choirs to list a few. Growth continued as an education and fellowship hall were added to the church in 1989. The year 2000 brought the largest addition to Calvary. A new sanctuary, church offices, and a nursery were built. After 32 years of dedicated service, the year 2005 ushered in the retirement of Pastor Rosenberg.
In July of 2006, Pastor Timothy Routh accepted a call to come to Calvary. Calvary continued to steadily grow its membership under Pastor Routh. During Pastor Routh's time with Calvary, he served as a chaplain in the U.S. Army Reserve and was deployed to Iraq in July 2008. He returned to Calvary in September 2009. Under the guidance of Pastor Routh, Calvary developed and solidified its mission statement, "Nurture Discipleship to Serve Our Community³ with GOD's Love and Forgiveness". In the fall of 2017, Pastor Routh accepted a call to St. Cloud, Minnesota. His final service was October 29th.
Pastor Doug Holtz accepted the call from Calvary in December 16, 2018 (just in time for Christmas). Pastor Holtz brought his experience as a music teacher and media enthusiast to Calvary. He was instrumental (no pun intended) in helping Calvary navigate through the COVID epidemic by innovative ideas such as Drive-In Worship (even during snow) and solo YouTube sermons. His leadership moved Calvary towards a paperless church worship which we still enjoy today. For 5 years Pastor Holtz lead Calvary until he decided in May of 2023 to become an Intentional Interim Pastor to help congregations in critical transition.
Calvary continues to minister families in the Oshkosh and surrounding areas. We are a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Within that association, we proclaim Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and regard the Holy Scriptures as normative for our faith and life.