Calvary Baptist Church

A postmodern church holding the oldest consistently running Chinese ministry in New Haven, Calvary Baptist Church was built to replace what is now the Yale Repertory Theatre, to accommodate for the changing needs of its congregation. The building is a highly rectilinear structure, based around a main block with two towers. The smaller tower is to the back, seemingly emulating a chimney flue, and the larger is a bell tower that stands tall a small distance in front of the main face of the building. This bell tower emulates that of a traditional church but has a flat roof instead of a spire, and every level is left open for inspection through a cutaway corner next to the inset door. On the other side of the door, a dark wooden cross is affixed to the wall, balancing the structure and adding interest to the windowless front face. The exterior is covered in contemporary style brickwork of roughly cut light stone, irregularly jutting out from the surface, and a band of square concrete blocks sits atop the walls. (1) The northern wall also holds a single stained glass window, which is a rectangular bay with irregular panels of varying colors, adding a bright flourish to the nave.

The building was designed for Calvary Baptist Church and has not changed hands.

The previous building on the 100 Dwight Street site appeared between 1893 and 1901 (10) (11) and was a Victorian residential construction made of wood belonging to L. A. Coe, with a brick outbuilding at the rear. (12) Before this, the site was empty. (13)

Calvary Baptist Church grew from an initiative established by the First Baptist Church in 1860 at 179 Dwight Street, originally solely a mission Sunday school. This Sunday school became its own branch church, which then became Calvary Baptist Church on the corner of York and Chapel Streets. (3) In 1892, Calvary planted a Chinese Sunday school that began its Chinese ministry in New Haven and grew over the next century.

Due to residential changes within the congregation, especially those of older members, they decided to sell the church building to Yale University in 1967, in order to build a smaller, more modern place of worship. (4) Construction began at the current location of 100 Dwight Street almost immediately, and the church moved in officially on November 23^rd 1969. (3) The building committee was advised by Rev. A. King Boutwell under the chairmanship of D. N. Prescott. (5) The committee worked closely with the local architectural firm Lee & Crabtree Associates of Hartford to create a place of worship that reflected the needs of the congregation as closely as possible. (5) The estimated construction cost was $207,500 for a 2-story masonry structure with an integrated bell tower. Also in the designs was a fellowship hall with a kitchen, a library, administrative offices and Sunday school classrooms. The plans even provided for expansion into the second floor by leaving this section unfinished during initial construction, (5) giving the congregation more room to develop their mission under their new roof.

While construction was underway, Yale University quickly moved into the old space, an 1871 Gothic revival building designed by Rufus G. Russell (6) on the site of New Haven founder Richard Platt’s original home. (7) Within a year the building became the first and only site of the newly founded Yale Repertory Theatre. (3) Since its opening, the Repertory Theatre has seen over 100 premieres, 2 Pulitzer Prize winners and 17 productions that advanced to Broadway winning 10 Tony awards. (8)

Two years after construction was completed, in 1971 or Chinese year 4669, the year of the pig, Calvary Baptist Church installed its first full-time Chinese pastor, Rev. Fai Szeto. (9) At this point, they were the only church still ministering to the Chinese population of New Haven, with Sunday afternoon services in Mandarin and Cantonese, as well as a Friday bible study group and Chinese Christian Fellowship. (9) In 1994 the Chinese congregation inherited the CBCNH ministry and continues to witness to the gospel in the Greater New Haven area. (3)

The church is surrounded by residential buildings on the edge of the Dwight Street Historic District, an irregularly shaped district comprising roughly 20 commercial and residential blocks. (2) A key feature of the district is its high proportion of Victorian residential architecture, (2) from which Calvary Baptist Church sets itself apart with its distinctly contemporary style.