A Gospel Presence on Cincinnati's East Side Since 1950
For more than seven decades, Calvary Alliance Church has gathered on Nordyke Road in the eastern reaches of Cincinnati as a multi-generational congregation centered on Jesus and grounded in Scripture. The church's stated purpose is to "fully embrace and passionately extend the life-changing hope of Jesus," and every corner of its ministry, from Sunday worship to a grocery co-op that serves dozens of neighborhood families, is shaped by that calling. Since 1950, Calvary Alliance has served the east side as a church family where people of all ages are invited to encounter the hope of Jesus and live it out in meaningful, everyday ways.
Calvary Alliance belongs to The Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA), a global family of churches united around Jesus and His mission. The Alliance is marked historically by a passion for the deeper life in Christ and a bold commitment to taking the gospel to the least-reached peoples of the world. Locally, that same impulse shows up in tutoring at a nearby elementary school, a community center called Calvary's Place, and monthly evenings spent serving at Cincinnati Gospel Mission.
Sundays at Calvary: Coffee, Kids, and Worship
Sunday morning at Calvary has a gentle, unhurried rhythm designed to make first-time guests feel at ease. The day opens with an Adult Bible Study Class at 9:00 AM, giving adults a chance to gather around Scripture before the main service. At 10:00 AM, free coffee and donuts are served in the fellowship area, an open invitation to grab a warm cup, meet a few faces, and settle in. Calvary Kids check-in begins at 10:15 AM, and the corporate worship service starts at 10:30 AM, typically wrapping up around 11:45 AM.
There is no dress code. Visitors will see everything from jeans and sneakers to business casual, and no one is singled out or put on the spot. Greeters are ready to welcome, walk people in from rough weather, and pour the coffee, but if a guest prefers to keep a low profile, that is welcome too. The worship gatherings include music that helps the congregation fix its eyes on Christ and a message rooted in Scripture that speaks to real life, not just Sunday mornings. After the service, an Altar Prayer Team is available at the front of the sanctuary to pray with anyone who would like it, whether they are walking through something heavy or simply need encouragement.
Children are cared for in Calvary Kids during the 10:30 AM service. The team is background-checked and trained, and the rooms are described as fun, safe, and clean. Parents can pre-register kids online before their first visit or use the Church Center app for pre-check-in on Sunday morning to make arrival smoother.
Calvary Kids and Calvary Youth
Calvary Kids is led by Brianna Misch, the Director of Children's Ministry, who is passionate about helping children know Jesus, grow in their faith, and feel loved every time they walk through the doors. The ministry meets every Sunday during the 10:30 AM worship service and is organized by age: Nursery for children from birth to two-and-a-half years, Little Lambs for ages two-and-a-half to five, and Calvary Kids for first through fifth grade. With songs, lessons, and games, Calvary Kids encourages children to grow in their love for God, become familiar with key characters, events, and the organization of the Bible, and learn that the Scriptures are divinely inspired, literally understood, and practical to everyday life.
Calvary Youth, led by Student Ministry Director Josh Walker, is the middle and high school ministry of the church. The group meets every other Monday night at 6:30 PM at 986 Nordyke Road, and is open to students in grades 6 through 12. The ministry's heartbeat is captured in 1 Timothy 4:12, that students are not the church of tomorrow but the church of today, and it challenges teens to apply the Scriptures to the situations of a challenging world while also challenging adults to live a passionate life in Jesus. Beyond his work at the church, Josh writes and performs Christian hip-hop under the name Jerycho, using music to point people to Jesus.
Calvary's Place and the Call to East Cincinnati
Calvary's Place is a family community center outreach that launched out of Calvary Alliance Church in January 2017. The program serves more than sixty families in the community by providing groceries and diapers at a significantly reduced cost, along with childcare, snacks, games, and various self-improvement classes for adults. More than fifty volunteers power the ministry each week, and what they offer, beyond the practical help, is the love, acceptance, and hope found in Jesus Christ. Anyone interested in volunteering or learning more can reach out to Pastor Barry Baker, the Pastor of Community Engagement, who oversees the work.
Beyond Calvary's Place, the church's community engagement extends into a number of ongoing partnerships. Each week, volunteers partner with Summit Elementary School to provide one-on-one and small-group tutoring, offering academic support, encouragement, and a consistent adult presence to students who benefit from extra help. The first Thursday night of every month, a group carpools from the church at 6:15 PM to City Gospel Mission's in-resident addiction recovery program, where they share dessert, laughter, a Bible devotion, and group games with the men and women in recovery. The fourth Thursday night of every month, another group meets at the church at 5:45 PM to carpool over and serve dinner at City Gospel Mission's Homeless Shelter, sharing smiles, encouragement, and hope with the men staying there. These monthly outreaches are rooted in the conviction that showing up regularly and listening well matter as much as the tasks at hand.
A Prayer-Fueled Church
Prayer is one of the seven stated values of Calvary Alliance. The church describes itself as "prayer-fueled." The Prayer Ministry, coordinated by Michelle Walker, weaves prayer into the life of the congregation in several overlapping ways.
After each Sunday service, the Altar Prayer Team prays with anyone who would like it. On the first Wednesday of each month at 6:30 PM, the whole church gathers for a focused night of prayer and worship, lifting up the church, the city, families, and one another. Moms in Prayer meets at 10:00 AM on Tuesdays at the church, with moms gathering to pray for their children and schools. A Living Prayer Workbook Study meets at 6:30 PM on Tuesdays for those who want to grow in understanding and practicing biblical prayer alongside others. The 3 E's Prayer Team is a committed group that prays for Every Person, Every Ministry, and Every Day by name for the church family, ministry initiatives, and leadership. Periodically, the church sets up prayer stations around particular areas of need in a series called Focus Prayer Days. On the first Monday of each month, the Greater Cincinnati Prayer Canopy covers the city in twenty-four hours of prayer, with sign-up timeslots open to anyone who wants to take a portion.
What Calvary Alliance Believes
Calvary Alliance holds to the historic Christian and Missionary Alliance statement of faith. The church affirms one God, infinitely perfect, existing eternally in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It teaches that Jesus Christ is the true God and true man, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, who died upon the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice for the unjust, rose again according to the Scriptures, and now sits at the right hand of Majesty on high as the believer's great High Priest. He will come again personally, visibly, and premillennially to establish His kingdom, righteousness, and peace.
The Holy Spirit is confessed as a divine person, sent to dwell in, guide, teach, and empower believers, and to convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. The Old and New Testaments are received as the inerrant, verbally inspired Word of God and the complete revelation of His will for salvation, the divine and only rule of Christian faith and practice. Humans were created in the image and likeness of God, fell through disobedience, and can be saved only through the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and those who repent and believe are born again of the Holy Spirit and become the children of God.
The church also teaches that it is the will of God for each believer to be filled with the Holy Spirit and sanctified wholly, both as a crisis and as a progressive experience wrought in the life of the believer after conversion. Provision is made in the redemptive work of Christ for the healing of the mortal body, and prayer for the sick and anointing with oil are taught as privileges for the Church in this present age. The Church is described as the whole body of believers in Christ, with Christ as its Head, commissioned to go into all the world as a witness. The local church exists for the worship of God, edification through the Word, prayer, fellowship, the proclamation of the gospel, and the observance of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. The church looks for the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust, and the imminent, personal, visible, and premillennial second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Team and the Elders
Landon Stuart serves as Lead Pastor. A graduate of Taylor University and Asbury Theological Seminary, Landon is passionate about preaching Scripture clearly, building healthy culture, and helping people take real next steps in following Christ. He and his wife, Morgan, are raising two daughters, Gwen and Vera. Barry Baker serves as Pastor of Community Engagement, with more than forty years of leadership experience spanning Procter & Gamble, Athletes in Action, and his current role as Executive Vice President of City Gospel Mission. Barry has been a Calvary member since 2012 and on staff since 2019.
Mystique Smith, Director of Worship, holds a music degree from the University of Dayton and brings nearly twenty years of ministry experience to leading worship, developing teams, and creating Christ-centered worship experiences. Brianna Misch is the Director of Children's Ministry, partnering with parents and volunteers to create fun, Christ-centered environments. Josh Walker is the Student Ministry Director, and Michelle Walker serves as Prayer Ministry and Connections Coordinator. Jennifer Clark has served as the church's Office Manager since September 2004.
The church is governed in part by a group of elders, with Kevin Martin, a retired Kroger Co. executive and Calvary member since 1987, serving as Elder Chairman since 2018. He is also a Sunday school teacher and the Grocery Co-Op Manager for Calvary's Place. The other current elders are Tim Brower, Zach Dickman, Carl Games, and Bill Shutt.
Immeasurably More: A Forward-Looking Vision
Calvary Alliance is in the middle of an initiative called Immeasurably More, drawn from Ephesians 3:20-21: "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine." The campaign flows out of the church's historical mission, rooted in its early outreach to the Clermont County Jail, and now points toward three priorities: investing in the next generation through a gospel-centered curriculum for kids and youth, intensifying community engagement and outreach with a particular focus on children and youth aged 0-18, and refreshing the physical facility: new seating, lighting, paint, and a reworked lobby and sanctuary space designed to reflect the vitality and spirit of the congregation. The church has announced it is fully funded on chairs and is now inviting general project gifts to complete the remaining pieces of the work.
Alongside the campaign, the church has celebrated its 75th anniversary with The Calvary Chronicle, a collection of stories from former and current congregation members, and a documentary recounting the history of the church since 1950. The messages delivered through these years have ranged through series such as "I Am: Jesus in the Present Tense," "Truth. Beauty. Wisdom.," "When God's People Pray," "Advent in Ordinary Places," and a recent walk through the Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes tied to a summer reading guide.
Giving, Streaming, and Staying Connected
Sunday services are livestreamed on the church's YouTube channel and Facebook page, with message notes available for download alongside each week's broadcast. An extensive message archive, organized by series and preacher, is available. Giving can be done online, by check mailed to the church address, or by placing a gift in the offering plate before, during, or after a Sunday service.
The Church Center app ties much of the church's communal life together. Event calendars, group sign-ups, prayer requests, kids check-in, and giving all run through it. The church also keeps an active presence on Instagram, hosts the weekly worship team's music on Spotify, and shares a podcast that features teaching from the pulpit.