Mount Calvary Presbyterian Church stands along Walnut Grove Road in Roebuck, South Carolina, about twenty minutes north of downtown Spartanburg. Founded in 1846 and now approaching its 181st year, the congregation has grown from six charter members meeting in a pioneer's parlor into a bilingual fellowship that fills two worship spaces each Sunday morning - one English, one Spanish - and pours itself into ministries for children, youth, college students, women, men, seniors, and missionaries around the world.
Mount Calvary describes itself as a loving fellowship passionately committed to serving Jesus Christ through discipleship and missions. Its goal is to worship God for His glory, according to the Scriptures, thereby being relevant to all people, for salvation and growth in Jesus Christ.
Founded on the Tyger River in 1846
On August 23, 1846, the Reverend C.B. Stewart organized Mount Calvary Presbyterian Church in the home of Mr. James Nesbitt near Roger's Bridge on the Tyger River in lower Spartanburg County. The six charter members were James M. and Elizabeth D. Nesbitt, Martin O. and Jane Miller, and Robert and Jane Caldwell McCarley. As its first order of business, the congregation elected ruling elders. Mr. Miller and Mr. McCarley were duly elected, ordained, and installed in this office. On October 2, 1846, represented by Mr. McCarley, Mount Calvary was enrolled in the Presbytery of South Carolina, a member of the then Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.
For four years the small group worshiped in the open air and in the Nesbitt home. By their combined efforts they built a simple thirty-by-forty-foot wooden structure at a cost of $2,000, and that first building served as their house of worship for thirty-five years. Through those decades the pulpit was filled by faithful Gospel ministers including Rev. C.B. Stewart, Z.L. Holmes, A.A. Morse, Z.M. White, and A.L. Miller. The church grew considerably under the able ministry of Rev. R.H. Reid and Rev. E.F. Hyde, and thirty members were added during those first thirty-five years.
A Fire, a Fourth Sanctuary, and a New Denomination
In 1881 the congregation moved three miles north to the Walnut Grove Post Office. The second house of worship was dedicated on August 26, 1882, during the pastorate of Rev. A.A. James. By the early 1900s the building had been outgrown, and a third Mount Calvary sanctuary was completed in 1904 and dedicated on August 27, 1905.
The year 1953 brought a milestone: Rev. Ray D. Davies became Mount Calvary's first full-time pastor. Growth under his ministry made possible the O'Connor Memorial Building for Christian education. Then on August 7, 1963, a bolt of lightning struck the church and the resulting fire completely destroyed the building. While services were held in the O'Connor Memorial Building, the congregation planned a fourth sanctuary a few hundred yards north of the original site. Construction began in July 1965 and the new facility, built at a cost of roughly $200,000, was finished on August 28, 1966.
In the years that followed, a new educational wing was added, and a Family Life Center with a gymnasium and classrooms was built. Under the long tenure of Pastor Richard M. Thomas, who was installed in August 2001, the existing sanctuary was expanded to add a balcony and additional seating on the main level, and the sanctuary was rededicated to the glory of God.
By 1973 the Presbyterian Church in the United States had drifted in a theological direction Mount Calvary's members could not follow. The congregation voted to withdraw from that body and unite with Calvary Presbytery in the newly organized Presbyterian Church in America, initially called the National Presbyterian Church. In the half century since, the church has continued to hold to the historic Westminster Standards and to expand its work in the Upstate.
That expansion included a church plant. Planning meetings beginning in 2009 focused on reaching the central Spartanburg community. Bible studies commenced in downtown Spartanburg in January 2010, and Grace Presbyterian Church was particularized in Calvary Presbytery on January 23, 2017, with Rev. Justin Kendrick installed as pastor.
One Church, Two Languages
Mount Calvary's most distinctive feature today may be that it is, quite literally, one church that speaks two languages. A Spanish-language Sunday school class began in 2002 under the name Monte Calvario. Over the years the group grew, members joined the church, and a Spanish worship service followed. In 2018 Mauricio Herbas was ordained as a ruling elder, the first church officer from the Spanish-speaking part of the congregation. In 2023 Mount Calvary called Rev. Andrew Hane as the first assistant pastor for Spanish ministry.
Today the English service meets in the sanctuary at 9:30 a.m. and the Spanish service, Monte Calvario, meets in the gym at the same hour. Because of the language barrier, the two congregations usually worship separately, but they gather a couple of Sundays a year for bilingual services. They share the same fellowship time, Sunday school hour, Wednesday supper, and children's and youth ministries. The English-speaking and Spanish-speaking parts mingle freely in church events and ministry. The congregation describes this arrangement as a foretaste of the day described in Revelation 7:9-10, when a great multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language will praise God together.
Monte Calvario's first pastor, Andrew Hane, came to faith in Jesus as a child and sensed a call to pastoral ministry while reading and teaching the Bible in high school. He moved to South Carolina for college, where the church he attended introduced him to presbyterianism. That church later sent him to Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte for an MDiv and a degree in biblical counseling. After his ordination in 2018 he taught seminary and pastored in Honduras, then returned to South Carolina in 2022 as an interim youth pastor, where he married his wife Catie. In 2023 he became the first pastor of Monte Calvario. Spanish worship services are also livestreamed on the Monte Calvario PCA YouTube channel.
Sunday Morning and Evening Worship
Sunday is the heartbeat of the week at Mount Calvary. Morning worship begins at 9:30 a.m., with English in the sanctuary and Spanish in the gym. From 10:45 to 11:00 a.m. the congregation gathers for a brief fellowship time. At 11:00 a.m. Sunday school classes meet for all ages. An evening service is held at 6:00 p.m. The Lord's Supper is celebrated on the fourth Sunday of each month, alternating between the morning and evening services.
The order of worship is centered on the preaching of God's Word. Songs include a mix of hymns and contemporary selections. The congregation prays together and reads a confession of faith aloud. Before the service each Sunday morning an offering basket sits at the back of the sanctuary.
When visitors arrive at the church, they can park in either of the two parking lots beside the church. Most people come in through the main glass doors at the sides of the sanctuary, where they are welcomed by a friendly face and given a bulletin. Worshipers are welcome to sit wherever they feel comfortable.
Wednesdays at Mount Calvary
On Wednesdays the church offers a community supper at 5:30 p.m., with sign-up required, followed by a packed slate of activities from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.: a youth group, a children's catechism class during the school year, a Spanish Bible study, a women's Bible study, and a Psalms study and prayer meeting. At 7:00 p.m. a college-aged Bible study meets, and at 7:45 p.m. the choirs rehearse.
Other weekly touchpoints include a men's Bible study that gathers at a local business, a women's Bible study on Thursday mornings, and on Monday evenings a Tyger River prison ministry, a youth girls' study, and an open gym for pickleball.
Children, Youth, and Family
Mount Calvary welcomes children in the worship service and considers corporate worship a family endeavor. Children are encouraged to pray with the church, sing with the church, and hear the Word of God alongside everyone else. A nursery is available throughout the morning for children under the age of three, and during the later half of the morning service a children's church meets for three- and four-year-olds. The nursery is also available during Sunday school, the evening service, and Wednesday nights.
The children's ministry is led by Robert and Marsha Ross, both career educators, who describe their mission as helping children know that they are precious in the sight of God and growing in faith through the Word. Sunday school classes for all ages meet at 11:00 a.m., a children's choir rehearses on Sunday evenings in the fall semester, and on Wednesday evenings during the school year the catechism class gathers, with Wacky Wednesday taking its place in the summer. Vacation Bible School and Family Fun Nights round out the year.
The youth ministry is led by Malcolm Fary, a son of the PCA whose father served as a chaplain in the U.S. Army for twenty years. Malcolm studied Christian Studies at Anderson University, served three summers on staff at Ridge Haven Camp and Conference Center, and is pursuing a Master of Divinity from Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte while serving at Mount Calvary. The youth meet for Sunday school at 11:00 a.m., youth group on Sunday afternoons from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m., and youth group again on Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Annual trips include Awanita Fall Retreat, Ridge Haven Middle School Camp, and High School Summer Camp.
Music That Bridges Generations
The music ministry at Mount Calvary aims to guide God's people into worshiping Him through song, drawing on psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs from across the centuries. The musical style is intentionally mixed, anchored in the church's traditional roots while introducing contemporary music and modern settings of classic hymns. David Pierce directs the choir and serves as worship leader. He is a longtime product of Mount Calvary's ministry and a devotee of the reformed tradition, and he brings both a cello player's ear and a curator's love for hymns to the work.
Catie M. Hane serves as organist for the English services and is actively involved in the music of the Spanish service as well. A graduate of Bob Jones University in Church Music, she previously served as Director of Music Ministries at Westminster Presbyterian in Clinton, South Carolina, and has been involved with the Greenville American Guild of Organists and the S.C. Bach Choir. Jim Stephenson, the assistant pastor of visitation, also serves as the church's pianist. He holds degrees from Bob Jones University, Northern Illinois University, and Reformed Theological Seminary, and previously planted Horizon Presbyterian Church, where he pastored for twenty-three years.
Senior Saints, Women's Studies, and Discipleship
Senior Saints, led by Marshall and Phyllis Holder, gathers on the second Tuesday of each month at noon in the Fellowship Hall for a shared lunch, devotion, prayer, and fellowship. The women's ministry offers both morning and evening Bible studies, facilitates one-to-one discipleship connections, and hosts special events for teaching, fellowship, and encouragement of all the women of the church.
Discipleship at Mount Calvary takes many forms. The church runs Sunday school for all ages, women's and men's Bible studies, a leadership development group that Pastor Thomas teaches on a three-year cycle, and a college-aged study that meets weekly at the pastor's home. A women's Bible study meets on Thursday mornings.
Missions Locally and Globally
Mount Calvary supports ministries locally including Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) at area campuses, a local crisis pregnancy center, and a local rescue mission. Globally the church partners with missionaries involved in church planting, pastoral training, and works of mercy around the world. Members participate hands-on in ministry projects across the Upstate and periodically send short-term teams to visit their missionaries abroad.
What the Church Believes
Mount Calvary is part of the Presbyterian Church in America, an evangelical denomination in the Protestant and Reformed tradition. The congregation accepts the historic Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms as a summary of the system of doctrine taught in Scripture. The church's published statement of belief runs through eight articles: the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments as the inspired and inerrant Word of God; one God eternally existing in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; humanity created in God's image and fallen into sin through Adam; Jesus Christ, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, who lived a perfect life, died for sin, rose bodily, and ascended to heaven; salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone; the work of the Holy Spirit in the new birth and the ongoing transformation of the believer; the return of Christ, the resurrection of the body, and final judgment; and the Church as the body and bride of Christ, with baptism and the Lord's Supper as the two signs and seals of his covenant.
Senior Pastor and Pastoral Team
Senior Pastor Richard Thomas was born and raised in the Upstate and came to saving faith while at Clemson University. His early years of marriage were marked by the books of Richard Baxter, G.I. Williamson, and R.C. Sproul, which led him into a Reformed understanding of the Bible. He pursued theological training at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi, and has served churches in Mississippi, West Virginia, and the Upstate. His passion is preaching and teaching God's Word to see people in Spartanburg come to saving faith in Jesus Christ and grow in grace and the knowledge of their Lord. Pastor Thomas and his wife Lisa have four children.
The pastoral team also includes Assistant Pastor for Spanish Ministry Andrew Hane, Assistant Pastor of Visitation and Pianist Jim Stephenson, Director of Youth and Family Ministry Malcolm Fary, Director of Music Ministry David Pierce, Directors of Children's Ministry Robert and Marsha Ross, Directors of Senior Saints Ministry Marshall and Phyllis Holder, Organist Catie M. Hane, Nursery Coordinator Sara Belden, and Pastoral Intern Benjamin España.
A Welcome for Visitors
Visitors are warmly welcomed at Mount Calvary. The parking lots sit beside the church, and most people enter through the glass doors at the sides of the sanctuary, where greeters hand out bulletins. The focus is on the Word preached; worshipers are welcome to dress as they feel appropriate and to sit wherever they feel comfortable. Children are welcomed in worship. The church livestreams morning services and posts recordings on its YouTube channel, and online giving is available through the PCA Foundation. The Monte Calvario Spanish-language service is also livestreamed on its own YouTube channel.