The Calvary congregation warmly welcomes you. We look forward to greeting you personally and hope that this brief introduction will help you feel at ease when you visit.
If this is your first time visiting Calvary Church, or for that matter, any Episcopal Church, you may want to check out the Episcopal Church’s Seekers Center to learn more about worship in the Episcopal Church.
This service uses more traditional “Elizabethan” language in a contemplative and intimate setting with a cantor and traditional hymns. It ends before 8:45 a.m., and many early morning worshipers gather for the parish breakfast, which follows in the Mural Room.
Faith formation classes are offered for adults, children, and youth on Sunday mornings following the 8 a.m. worship service. Calvary seeks to nurture the faith and spiritual growth of the Calvary community through inspirational and challenging formation offerings and plans classes for both Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings at Calvary. Classes are led by clergy, lay volunteers, and guest speakers from local colleges, seminaries, churches, synagogues, and non-profit organizations. Sunday morning classes for children use Godly Play as its foundation, while youth focus on learning to interact as a community of faith and learning how faith shapes their daily lives.
The 10:30 a.m. Eucharist with Children’s Chapel attracts a widely varied congregation of all ages, including a strong contingent of young families. Music is led by the semi-professional Calvary Choir with participation from our Boys and Girls Choir, St. Cecilia Choir (for students in second grade and younger), and the Calvary Ringers handbell choir.
Join us for a traditional Anglican choral liturgy in Calvary’s beautiful nave at twilight. Following the Book of Common Prayer service outline, Evensong gives weekend travelers an opportunity to worship or having been to a morning service, it offers a time of prayer and quiet reflection as evening falls.
Calvary Episcopal Church is located at 102 North Second Street, at the corner of Second Street and Adams Avenue in downtown Memphis.
Second Street is a one-way street south. B.B. King Ave. is a one-way street north. You may travel both east and west on Adams and Jefferson Streets.
On Sunday mornings, free parking is available in the Best Park lot directly behind the church, adjacent to the church’s east entrance. The parking lot is accessible from both Jefferson Avenue and Adams Avenue, between Second Street and B.B. King Avenue. The city’s streets are also free on Sunday mornings.
If you are attending a service or meeting at Calvary, Monday through Friday, see the Information Desk Officer inside the door under the porte cochere after parking in the lot directly behind the church.
During the Lenten Preaching Series and Waffle Shop, the lot behind Calvary’s buildings is not free due to the church’s incurred cost of reserving parking spaces. However, we do offer a free shuttle that runs continuously from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. from St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral at 700 Poplar Ave., where there is free parking. Also, during the Series and Waffle Shop, the city does allow parking on the east side of Second Street between Washington and Jefferson Streets between 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Additional Parking Information
View additional parking information and costs.
If you park in the east parking lot, you will enter the church through doors located under the porte cochere and continue into the Commons, where you will see a staircase to the second floor, where our sanctuary, nursery, and classrooms are located. There is also an elevator to your right after entering the building.
The seating at Calvary is not reserved, and there is always room for visitors. An usher will give you a printed order of service where you will find the scripture readings of the day, along with additional service music and psalms.
Children are welcome at all Calvary worship services.
Listen to recent sermons at Calvary.
You will notice that the clergy and lay people serving at the altar wear special garments to signify their different ministries. The congregation’s dress is quite diverse, with people dressed in everything from blue jeans to business suits.
When you visit Calvary Episcopal Church, you will be our respected and welcomed guest. You will neither be singled out in an embarrassing way, asked to stand before the congregation, nor be asked to come forward. We do ask that, along with all the other worshippers, you wear a nametag so that everyone may learn one another’s names. Nametags can be found on most flat surfaces around Calvary. We are a pretty informal place and address our clergy by their first names.
Calvary has several videos on our YouTube channel that offer a glimpse into life at Calvary.