Oldest Black church in Washington seeks to maintain its vital ministry
News Story by Cody Wendt | FāVS News
Having seen its 135th birthday this month, Spokane’s Calvary Baptist Church is known as the oldest Black church in Washington.
Since its founding in 1890 — two months after Washington attained statehood — Calvary has seen no small share of history. Originally pastored by the Rev. Peter Barrows, a former slave, it doubled as the first meeting place for Spokane’s Masonic Lodge and served for decades as a cornerstone for local civil rights activism, with then-Rev. Emmett B. Reed helping to start an NAACP chapter in the 1920s. The likes of Rosa Parks made appearances at Calvary in the 60s.
A public celebration of the 135th anniversary was held on Feb. 2. In addition to faith leaders, Mayor Lisa Brown and Spokane City Council President Betsy Wilkinson spoke at the event.
Keeping the faith fresh
Much as Calvary may so-far-in-this-piece have come off more like a historic site than an active congregation, deacon Terry Frazier explains that he and other members still strive to maintain the church in a fresh and vital condition in keeping with its timeless message.
“We had Pastor Curtis Taylor, and he brought a message of service, and the message was talking about how though we are 135, we don’t want our facility to look 135 years old,” Frazier said. “You don’t have to look 135 years old just because you are 135.”
Frazier, who grew up in Tennessee, became acquainted with Calvary when he moved to Spokane as a young man in the late 1980s after returning from military service in Europe. He volunteered at food drives and became a sort of “aide de camp” to Pastor C.W. Andrews. He also wound up working a job at Spokane Community College assisting Andrews’ wife Doris, who organized summer classes there at the time, and who is referred to in the congregation as the “First Lady” of Calvary.
“You know where God sends you, and the way you know it is because he lets you know he sent you there,” Frazier said. “By working for both of them, I saw that the calling to serve was for me here at Calvary.”
Frazier said that much of Calvary’s base of parishioners has historically come from its longstanding association with Whitworth University — a Christian institution founded in the same time period, and at which C. W. Andrews once served as a chaplain — and through outreach to military retirees like himself.
“(Whitworth) aligned with Calvary immediately, and they have been aligned ever since, which is really good,” he explained. “This was also kind of the focal point where people of color came to Spokane through the military when they really didn’t have anywhere to go, so Calvary was that place, and still is.”
Though it is Black in origin, the church welcomes people of all heritages and has seen a growing number of non-Black parishioners join its ranks in recent times.
Following the Word
Frazier’s 35-plus-year association with Calvary (22 of them as a deacon) might be impressive, but his tenure pales in comparison with that of C.W. Andrews, who has been involved in ministry there for nearly half the church’s long history and served as head pastor for 51 years. He is the longest-serving of the 14 men to have held the position, followed by Reed, who pastored for 42 years until his death.
Pastor C.W. Andrews and First Lady Doris Andrews came to Calvary together and have been married throughout the duration of his ministry.
Their son Chester Andrews Jr. — both a musician and an ordained minister himself currently active in Alabama — arranges music ranging from old-time standard hymns to contemporary Christian material and sends it to Calvary for use in Sunday services.
Frazier said that the emphasis at Calvary has always been a simple mission to faithfully preach the Gospel without adding to or subtracting from it.
“We follow the pastor, and he follows the Word, and he says, ‘Don’t follow me if I ain’t following the Word,’” Frazier said. “We’re not perfect, but we try to do our best to make sure that we walk it as well.”
One of Andrews’ projects aimed at walking the faith through the church within the last two decades has been to found a soup kitchen for Spokane’s homeless population, which Frazier said distributed around 10,000 meals per year at last count.
Thanks, Cody, for this reporting. It’s surprising to learn that the oldest Black church in Washington state is in Spokane. Glad to hear that its ministry is still vital.