Calvary Baptist Church sits on Joy Road in Canton, Michigan, right on the border where Canton meets Plymouth. The single Sunday morning worship service fills the auditorium at 10:45 AM, and from there the rest of the week fans out across a campus that includes a separate red barn, classroom space on multiple floors, and a cafeteria that doubles as an Adult Bible Fellowship classroom. Pastor Dave Riddle teaches most Sundays, and the church describes itself in one short phrase: "helping people follow Jesus together." That sentence shows up in giving materials and student ministry descriptions, and it is the thread that runs through every program the church runs.
Sundays at Calvary
The weekly Sunday morning service runs from 10:45 to 11:45 AM. The Calvary band leads two or three songs at the start, with lyrics projected on screens so visitors can sing along or simply listen. After the music, one of the pastors or a guest speaker brings a message from Scripture. Some weeks close with another song. The music itself is a deliberate mixture of modern worship songs and traditional hymns, chosen to emphasize who God is and the congregation's standing in Christ. Dress runs the full range from jeans and t-shirts to a coat and tie, and the church simply tells visitors to wear whatever is most comfortable.
For those who want to arrive a little early, Adult Bible Fellowship classes meet from 9:30 to 10:30 AM, before the main service. The current lineup of Sunday morning electives includes the App Class (Chinese Fellowship, studying Romans, meeting in the Art Portable with leaders Simon Shi and Daniel Wang), the Becomers Class (2 Thessalonians and Leviticus, Room 302, taught by Neal Murrin), the Bereans Class (Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, Room 401, taught by Paul Prong), the Core Class (Ecclesiastes, Cafeteria, taught by Paul Trulock), and the Cornerstone Class (the final chapters of Mark, Room 303, taught by Rod and Leanne Windle). Women's Bible studies and men's Bible study groups also meet at other times during the week and feed into the same fellowship hour on Sunday.
For first-time guests, the church recommends arriving about ten minutes early to stop by one of the visitor centers. Greeters there will point out the auditorium, the children's check-in, and the restrooms. Most parking is behind the building, but on Sundays there is also reserved visitor parking on the back side of the building close to the doors, and many regulars park by the red barn and enter through the big glass doors that face the east lot.
Calvary Kids
Children's ministry at Calvary is run by Carrie Macklem and a team of trained, background-checked volunteers. The Calvary Kids motto is "helping kids follow Jesus together," and the ministry serves three age groups during both the 9:30 ABF hour and the 10:45 worship service. Nursery care is offered for infants six weeks to 24 months, preschool classes are available for children ages two through young five, and elementary classes are offered for kindergarten through fifth grade. Yearly dues are $30 per child with a $60 family cap, and scholarships are available for any family for whom the cost would be a hardship.
The Sunday flow for elementary kids is designed to keep families together for part of the service. K-5 students begin the worship service with their parents. After the music, they are dismissed with an announcement from the stage or a video cue, and they meet Calvary Kids volunteers right outside the auditorium doors in the lobby. First-time families should plan to arrive five to ten minutes early to stop by the Calvary Kids check-in kiosk in the lobby, where a volunteer will register them. A pre-visit registration form is available online so families can get the check-in process started before they ever set foot in the building.
Calvary Kids also provides programming on Wednesday nights during Family Night, and a Tuesday morning Kids Care runs during the Women's Bible Study. Children's safety is taken seriously: every volunteer who works with minors has been with Calvary for at least six months, has attended the Calvary Partnership Class, and has passed a background check.
Calvary Students
Calvary Students is the church's ministry for sixth through twelfth graders, led by Jordan Baker. The student ministry splits into two groups that both meet on Wednesday nights from 6:30 to 8:00 PM. The middle school group, called Torrid, meets in Room 303 on the third floor of the church building. The high school group, called The Barn, meets in the big red barn on the east side of the property. A typical Wednesday night at either group includes time to hang out, a game, a time of teaching, a time of worship, and small group conversation.
Sunday mornings add a second touchpoint. From 9:30 to 10:30 AM, sixth through twelfth graders meet together in the Barn to study the Bible. They break into smaller groups to read and discuss passages in their biblical context, then join the rest of the church for the 10:45 worship service. High school students also have a small group option on Sunday evenings that runs about an hour and a half and focuses on accountability and discipleship. Once a month, the high school group offers an optional After Hours discussion from 8:15 to 9:15 PM, an open conversation about faith, life, and the harder questions of the Bible.
The student ministry calendar is packed. Highlights include a fall retreat at Bair Lake Bible Camp with a no-phones policy and access to a zip line, a weekend middle school retreat called Converge hosted together with Ward Church in Northville and several other area congregations, a one-day winter retreat that packs a full weekend of games and worship into a single Saturday, a free Blackout night with glow-in-the-dark capture the flag, an annual summer camp called Velocity held at Tiffin University in Ohio with fourteen other churches, and a week-long summer mission trip to Detroit. The Detroit trip partners with Unity Church, Metro Life Church, Central Detroit Christian, and Kirby Church, with mornings spent on neighborhood projects and afternoons leading VBS for local kids. Past trips have included painting, landscaping, building and removing fences, and block parties in the evenings.
Calvary Men and Calvary Women
Men's and women's ministries at Calvary are built around the same conviction: that following Jesus happens in community with other believers of the same sex. Calvary Men gathers for a morning prayer meeting every Tuesday from 7:00 to 7:30 AM in Room 401, led by Randy Crites, and several men's Bible study groups meet at various times and locations around the area. Once a year the men head up to Camp Barakel on Shear Lake in northern Michigan for a fall retreat, and the men's ministry has also organized group trips to events like Home Plate at Comerica Park, where current and former Detroit Tigers players share about their faith.
Calvary Women, directed by Heidi Fulk, runs four Bible study classes each fall along with a Moms Together group. The current fall offerings include a Tuesday morning class on Joshua led by Leanne Windle, Melissa Blazo, and Beth Rhodes; a Tuesday morning class on James led by Heidi Fulk, Kate Bruner, and Brittany Cutler; a Tuesday evening class on 1 Samuel led by Gina Murrin; and a Wednesday evening class called Faith Essentials, which covers eight foundational doctrines from the Everyday Theology workbook by Mary Wiley, led by Laura Malcolm. Childcare is available on Tuesday mornings; on Wednesday evenings, kids and students can attend their own programming at the same time as the adult class. The women's ministry also runs a CW Prayer and Worship Night each spring, a Christmas gathering in December, and a quarterly email update.
Calvary Young Adults and the Chinese Fellowship
Calvary Young Adults is a ministry for people ages 18 to 25 that meets Tuesday evenings at 7:30 PM in the Barn, led by Ryan Cormier. The group follows an alternating pattern of in-depth Bible discussion one week and open topical conversations the next, tackling the hard questions of faith, life, and the Bible. Newcomers are asked to bring a Bible and a friend.
The Chinese Fellowship, also known as the App Class, meets as one of the Adult Bible Fellowship options on Sunday mornings at 9:30 in the Art Portable.
Adult Education and Discipleship Pathway
Calvary describes its Adult Bible Fellowship hour as a critical part of an overall CBC Discipleship Pathway. The goal of ABF is to give every adult a place to connect, build long-term relationships, and study Scripture together. The classes are organized around five growth areas: a biblical framework for applying the wisdom of Scripture, a theological foundation for discerning truth from error, spiritual formation in the pursuit of Christlikeness, relational skills for living out love, and a stewardship mindset for the time, gifts, and resources God has entrusted. Anyone who has never been part of an ABF is encouraged to try one, and those who have been part of one are encouraged to invite an unchurched friend to experience Calvary in the smaller, less formal setting of a class.
Plymouth Christian Academy
Calvary maintains a long-standing partnership with Plymouth Christian Academy, a pre-K through 12th grade school that is governed in part by a group of Calvary members who serve as Regents on the school's board. The school sits in the broader Plymouth-Canton community and is part of how the church invests in the next generation beyond its own walls.
Global Partners and Missions
Calvary's missions philosophy is rooted in the Great Commission and the book of Acts. The church believes that local churches are responsible for selecting, sending, and supporting partners to evangelize and disciple in other cultures with the goal of planting and maturing other local churches. The current Global Partners list includes families and individuals serving with SEND International, SERGE, ABWE, CRU, the Association of Baptists for World Mission, TEAM, the Coalition for Christian Outreach, Reaching and Teaching International, Laban Ministries, Greater Europe Mission, Hungarian Ministries International, Athletes in Action, and Village Missions. Calvary is the sending church for several of these workers, and the church also maintains a list of retired partners who served in years past.
The church raises an annual Global Partner Christmas offering to send a year-end gift to its active partner families, many of whom serve on support levels well below what they need. The Missions Emphasis Week in October includes guest speakers from partner organizations, daily prayer emails focused on the partners, and a Mission Cry Bible Drive that collects new and used Bibles for distribution overseas.
Community Care and Outreach Partners
Calvary's Community Care ministry, directed by Bobbie Lee Barr, is the church's local arm of mercy. The Benevolence Ministry helps meet tangible needs for people inside the church and out, including help with utility bills, rent, counseling, funeral costs, car repairs, and food. Funds come from donations within the church family. Blessing Bags are also available upon request, with three categories: household cleaning, personal hygiene, and non-perishable foods, and requests need to be made twenty-four hours in advance.
On Wednesday nights from 6:30 to 8:00 PM, Calvary hosts an English language learning class in partnership with SEND Diaspora. The class serves a community of Afghan refugees living in the Westland area, most of whom do not drive, and the church provides drivers (especially female drivers) to bring students to and from class. The class meets during the school year and serves students at beginner, advanced, and citizenship-prep levels.
Beyond its own ministries, Calvary partners with a handful of local organizations that its members can serve through. Central Detroit Christian works to educate, employ, and empower neighbors in Detroit. Hope Clinic welcomes volunteers in food and basic needs, medical, dental, and first impressions. Care Net serves women and men facing unplanned pregnancies at their Berkeley and Detroit locations. Breakthrough Enrichment provides after-school programming for first through fifth graders in Detroit, and the church regularly lifts up the need for volunteers across all of these partners. Care Net is also seeking licensed medical professionals, client advocates, and Spanish-speaking volunteers.
What Calvary Believes
Calvary's Statement of Faith begins with the conviction that all of Scripture, Old and New Testament, is given by divine inspiration and is of supreme and final authority in faith and life. The church teaches the Trinity: one God in three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, sharing the same nature and worthy of the same worship. The Statement affirms the deity of Jesus Christ, his virgin birth, his substitutionary death on the cross, his bodily resurrection, his ascension, his present intercession for believers, and his personal, bodily, and pre-tribulational return for his church, followed by his return with the redeemed to establish a millennial kingdom of righteousness and peace.
The church teaches that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, indwells every believer at the moment of salvation, baptizes them into the body of Christ, and empowers them to live a godly life. Salvation is by grace alone through personal faith in Jesus Christ, accomplished by his blood and secured by the Holy Spirit so that nothing can separate the believer from the love of God. The church observes two ordinances, baptism by immersion and the Lord's Table, until Christ's return. The church holds that man was created in the image of God, fell into sin, and is in absolute need of the new birth for salvation.
The gospel itself is summarized in three lines that the church repeats often: we are worse off than we could ever imagine, what Jesus Christ did is greater than we could ever know, and we who are in Christ are better off than we could ever dream. Anchoring everything is Jesus' answer to the question about the greatest commandment: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.
Leadership and Church Structure
Calvary is an elder-led church. The Board of Elders leads the congregation, and Dave Riddle serves as a vocational elder on the board in addition to his role as Teaching Pastor. The current roster of elders includes Brandon Bahr, Ryan Bruner, Don Chamberlain, Ryan Cormier, Chris Gregory, Jeff Rautiola, Anthony Retli, Paul Trulock, Tim Wieland, and Dennis Woodman. The Deacons board and the Trustees board, which includes the church's Business Manager Michael Roy, support the work of the elders across operations, finances, and benevolence. A Regents board oversees the partnership with Plymouth Christian Academy and includes the school's Interim Head of School, Leanne Windle, as a non-voting member.
The Ministry Staff team is led by Dave Riddle, with Dan Arbitter serving as Executive Pastor. Jordan Baker leads Calvary Students, Bobbie Lee Barr oversees Community Life, Heidi Fulk directs Calvary Women, Carrie Macklem leads Calvary Kids, and Emma Prong and Rich Rich share leadership of Calvary Worship.
Getting Involved and Giving
Calvary runs on a deep bench of volunteers. The church says plainly that volunteers are the heart and soul of its ministry. The current round of immediate needs includes Language Learning drivers for the Wednesday night ESL class, Calvary Kids volunteers for the Friday morning Kids Care during Moms Together, the Tuesday morning Kids Care during Women's Bible Study, and small group leaders for Wednesday nights. Other ongoing opportunities include the welcome team, hospitality for special events and funeral dinners, the worship and tech team, outreach partnerships, the missions committee, and tech operations and IT support. Anyone who wants to work with kids or students must have attended Calvary for at least six months and completed the Calvary Partnership Class.
For those who want to take a next step toward membership, the church encourages visitors to first attend a Sunday service, then try an Adult Bible Fellowship class, and then move toward formal membership. Members are able to serve in various ministries, vote in church matters, and are expected to financially support the work of the church. Online giving is available through Pushpay, and gifts can also be placed in the collection boxes at the back of the auditorium. The church works with an independent CPA firm for an annual audit and describes giving as an act of worship and obedience rather than an emotional appeal.
The Property and the Barn
Most of the action at Calvary happens on a single campus at 43065 Joy Road, between Lilley and Morton Taylor Roads. The main building houses the auditorium, a cafeteria that doubles as the Core ABF classroom, Rooms 302, 303, and 401 used for classes and student ministry, the Art Portable that hosts the Chinese Fellowship, and the main office where Women's Bible Study workbooks are available Monday through Friday. Across the east parking lot stands the red barn that gives the high school ministry its name. The barn is also the venue for the Blackout night, the One Day Retreat's main sessions, the 8th Grade Goodbye and Freshman Welcome nights, and many of the student ministry's combined events. The back field and the woods beyond it host the fall retreat, capture the flag, and a busy summer of student ministry.
Texts with announcements and cancellations go out under the keyword CBCJOY to 48767, and a weekly one-text-per-week update for parents of students is available by texting Hello to 833.288.2079. Visitors who want to plan a visit can fill out a form online, and the church office is reachable at 734-455-0022 or info@cbcjoy.org.