On the corner of Fillmore and Jackson, in a neighborhood of Pacific Heights bordered by Alta Plaza Park, Lafayette Park, and the Fillmore Street Stairs, Calvary Presbyterian Church has stood for more than 170 years as one of San Francisco's most progressive and wide-reaching congregations. Founded in 1854 as the spiritual home of Gold Rush-era San Franciscans and rebuilt brick by brick at its current address, Calvary is best known today for its bold affirmation of LGBTQIA+ people, its justice-driven partnerships with nonprofits serving women, immigrants, and people without homes, and a Sunday morning worship marked by a 6,155-pipe organ, a Bösendorfer Imperial grand, and a 40-voice Chancel Choir. "All of who you are is welcome here."
170 Years on the Corner of Fillmore and Jackson
Calvary's history is one of motion and reinvention. A committee led by San Francisco Mayor C.K. Garrison called the Rev. Dr. William Anderson Scott to be the first pastor on July 23, 1854, planting the congregation on Bush Street in the early city. Generations later, the church was moved brick by brick from its second home, where the current St. Francis Hotel now stands near Union Square, to its present site at 2515 Fillmore Street. In 1978 the sanctuary was placed on both the national and San Francisco Registers of Historic Landmarks, recognizing the architectural heritage that still houses Sunday worship and the church's celebrated concert series.
The twentieth and twenty-first centuries brought other landmark moments. In 1915 the church chartered Troop 14 of the Boy Scouts, a presence that has lasted more than a century. In 1990 Calvary became deeply involved in LGBTQIA+ rights, providing significant support for the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, which began in the church's lower level and has since grown nationwide; the same year an HIV support group was established on site. In 2018 the Session formally declared Calvary a sanctuary church for immigrants and refugees, a commitment that had been growing for years before the official designation. The church is also a Matthew 25 congregation within the Presbyterian Church (USA), a designation that calls it to build congregational vitality, dismantle structural racism, and actively engage in the world beyond its walls.
Today Calvary's vision is to "amplify God's story of justice and expansive love" in San Francisco, "where the vulnerable feel safe, the comfortable feel challenged, and people who have been told they don't belong finally feel, in their bones, that they do." That vision shapes everything from Sunday liturgy to a vigil held outside an immigration hearing room.
Worship on Sunday Mornings
Sunday worship at Calvary begins at 10 a.m. in the historic sanctuary. The service is liturgical and traditional: scripture readings, a sermon, congregational hymns, choral and congregational music led by the Chancel Choir, and the playing of one of the country's notable pipe organs. Communion is celebrated in worship and is open to all who wish to partake. The church joyfully affirms LGBTQIA+ members and visitors and proclaims a theology it describes as radical welcome and radical inclusion.
Visitors are invited to come as they are. "You can wear your Sunday best, casual wear, or pajamas." "Generally, our congregation dresses casual (tshirt and jeans) or business casual." Children of every age are welcome to stay in the pew. "Wiggles, coloring, and questions are ok." Sunday Studio for children from infancy through 5th grade runs from 8:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on the lower level, with age-appropriate lessons, crafts, and free play that echo the day's sermon theme. Youth in 6th through 12th grade typically sit together in the balcony through the sermon and gather afterward in the library and lounge for conversation; a Confirmation Class for ages 13 and older is offered during the school year.
For those who cannot attend in person, the 10 a.m. service is livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook, and recordings are uploaded to YouTube before the next Sunday, made available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and shared via a weekly bulletin. Following worship, the entire congregation is invited to Coffee Hour in the atrium at 11 a.m., where treats, coffee, tea, and juice accompany the kind of unhurried fellowship that the pastors say often runs long because people genuinely don't want to leave.
Six Thousand Pipes and a Bösendorfer
Calvary has been known in San Francisco for more than a century as a center for great music. "Music is the language of the spirit," the music ministry page quotes Kahlil Gibran. "It opens the secret of life bringing peace, abolishing strife." Fostering the arts is treated as central to the mission of the church, both inside the liturgy and through a concert series that has made the building a venue for some of the Bay Area's most respected ensembles.
The Sanctuary Organ, with 6,155 pipes, dates from 1928, when it was built by Aeolian. It was significantly revised and expanded in 1936 by Aeolian-Skinner and again in 1970 by Swain and Kates. The mid-century Kit Stuart Chapel houses a smaller pipe organ built by Swain and Kates in 1962. The pianos are equally notable: a Bösendorfer Imperial concert grand, made in Vienna in 1977, anchors the sanctuary, while the chapel holds an exquisite 7-foot Steingraeber und Söhne piano from Bayreuth, purchased new in 2020. Calvin Hall contains a 1919 Steinway B, and a Neupert harpsichord sits among other instruments throughout the building.
The Chancel Choir is a 40-voice volunteer ensemble that sings at most Sunday services. Rehearsals are held Thursday evenings and Sunday mornings from 8:45 to 9:45 a.m. before worship. No audition is required, and the church says the choir is "always eager to welcome new members." Singers are provided with music, a blue robe, and a white stole for services. An expanded ensemble of 50 to 100 voices presents several choir-and-orchestra concerts each year. The Chapel Choir is an auditioned chamber choir drawn largely from the Chancel Choir, exploring more demanding repertoire and music suited to the smaller chapel. A separate Fillmore Choir meets on Thursday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m. for concerts and performances outside Sunday services. Children and youth choirs are being rebuilt after a pandemic hiatus.
The sanctuary is also a sought-after venue for outside ensembles. Recent and recurring guest artists include the SF Bach Choir, the SF Choral Society, the SF Boy's Choir, the Young Women's Choral Project, the U.S. Navy Band Sea Chanters, the San Francisco Opera Orchestra Chamber Music Series, and the SF Academy Orchestra. Music leadership is provided by Director of Music Ministries Michael Conley and Organist John Walko.
Radical Welcome, Rooted in Tradition
Calvary describes itself as practicing all-encompassing welcome. "For over 170 years," the congregation states, "Calvary has widened its circle, and we continue to do so. We joyfully affirm LGBTQIA+ people and all whom the church has historically excluded." That welcome extends to people who are questioning, doubtful, or returning to faith after a complicated relationship with religion. "We hold space for questions, doubt, and the ongoing work of faith formation. There is no arrival point, only the journey."
The church's public stance on political issues follows from its reading of the gospel. It stands against Christian Nationalism, stands with the LGBTQIA+ community, and names racism and economic disparity as moral concerns. Its head pastor, the Rev. Marci Glass, serves on the Clergy Advisory Board for Planned Parenthood, and the broader United Presbyterian denomination has long been described as pro-choice in its advocacy for reproductive autonomy. The congregation has hosted Drag Queen Bible Story Hours and Anti-Racism Workshops, joined the SF Night Ministry in serving people in the Tenderloin, and advocated for an end to gun violence.
Worship is meant to form a community that then goes out together. "Showing up, in person, for each other, in this city, is itself a spiritual practice," the church teaches. "Community doesn't happen automatically; we build it intentionally, one gathering at a time."
Children, Youth, and Families
The Director of Children and Family Ministries, Alison Faison, and the Director of Youth and Family Ministries, Jeff Smith, lead a thriving intergenerational ministry. Sunday Studio welcomes children from infancy through 5th grade each Sunday from 8:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with a curriculum that ties the morning's lesson to the sermon's theme. Periodic 2nd- and 3rd-grade and 4th- and 5th-grade class series give elementary-age children their own peer space for board games, crafts, and helping younger children.
Youth in 6th through 12th grades are invited to sit together in the balcony during worship through the sermon and then gather in the library and lounge afterward. A Confirmation Class for ages 13 and older is offered during the school year, and youth serve together, learn together, and have fun together through volunteer and fellowship opportunities. Summer mission trips have included a recent week in Austin, Texas with Be The Neighbor, where the youth group focused on food justice, urban gardening, food pantries, and a community first village serving people coming out of chronic homelessness.
A long-tenured childcare team supports families throughout the morning. Children are welcome to stay in worship with their families at any time, and parents are gently invited to accompany a child who needs extra time to settle in. Baptisms are celebrated communally for people of every age, from infants to elders. Weddings and holy unions of loving couples are officiated in the Sanctuary, the Chapel, or offsite by Calvary's pastors, who describe the church as open and affirming. Memorials and funerals can be held in the Sanctuary or Chapel with optional on-site receptions.
Matthew 25: Justice Beyond Sunday
Calvary is a Matthew 25 congregation, committing to three nonprofit partners in San Francisco and to deep volunteer engagement with each. The partners are San Francisco Safehouse and The Hope Center, which empowers women experiencing housing instability, sexual exploitation, or trafficking; the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, which organizes people of faith to protect the rights of immigrants and those who are incarcerated; and Raphael House, which helps low-income families and families experiencing homelessness achieve stable housing and financial independence. Calvary volunteers prepare meals, assemble hygiene kits, help with backpack drives, host parties for families, and accompany the partners in their advocacy.
Other regular volunteer commitments include the Interfaith Food Pantry, which Calvary leads once a month at Old First Presbyterian Church and which distributes groceries to more than 300 families on Saturday mornings; the SF Interfaith Winter Shelter, in which Calvary has partnered since 1988 to cook and serve dinner for up to 100 guests a night during the coldest part of the year; Pack-a-Sack, an intergenerational effort run by the Board of Deacons to assemble to-go meals distributed through Martin de Porres House of Hospitality, SF SafeHouse, SF Night Ministry, and the Gubbio Project; and monthly service at Martin de Porres House of Hospitality on fifth Saturdays. Ushers, liturgists, choir members, and bakers for coffee hour all share in building the church's hospitality.
Calvary also partners with SF Achievers for mentoring and with Mission Bay Presbyterian and community allies for vigils and accompaniment at immigration hearings. The Director of Development and Volunteer Ministries, Robin Morjikian, oversees much of this work, with named volunteer liaisons for each of the Matthew 25 partners.
Living Sanctuary for Immigrants and Refugees
Calvary became a sanctuary church in 2018, but its commitment to welcoming immigrants and refugees long predates the formal designation. The Living Sanctuary team organizes letter-writing to immigrants in detention, accompaniment to court hearings and appointments, written and verbal translation (with an urgent need for Spanish-speaking volunteers), connections to local resources, and outreach for short-term work. Members have traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border and to Watsonville to learn about the experiences of migrant workers and to worship alongside farmworker communities.
The team's name draws on Micah 6:8: to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. Its work is advised by the Minister of Spiritual Care and includes members from across the congregation. Volunteers are paired with newcomers to provide safety, comfort, language support, and a network of relationships for those whose lives have been upended by unstable governments, war, or climate displacement.
The Racial Equity Initiative
Calvary's Racial Equity Initiative was formed to lead the congregation in recognizing and dismantling racism and unconscious bias in its own life, in the institution of the church, and in the broader culture. The team's published goals include strengthening communication about equity events, continuing to educate about the history of systemic racism, building alliances with the SF Black and Jewish Unity Coalition and the Presbytery of San Francisco West Bay Area Antiracism Group, and exploring reparations for African Americans at the church, local, state, and federal levels. A One Church One Read program has taken the congregation through books such as This Is Ear Hustle and On Juneteenth, and a documentary screening series has featured Our America: Lowballed, a film on the lived experience of racial bias in home appraisals.
Adult Education and the Life of the Mind
Calvary's adult education ministry creates a culture of lifelong learning that ranges across faith, scripture, current events, and the arts. Bible studies are offered for men and women on Zoom as well as in person on Sunday mornings at 9 a.m., and a church-wide Lenten Small Group Bible Study brings the congregation into a shared text each Lent. Selected Sunday mornings at 11:30 a.m. feature Sunday Morning Seminars with guest speakers and presenters.
Author events are a particular Calvary specialty. In partnership with Book Passage, the church has hosted writers including Reza Aslan, Lisa Sharon Harper, Carolyn Chen, Anne Lamott, Ronan Farrow, Mark Yaconelli, David Richo, Janna Barkin, Susan Nienaber, Kevin Nye, Eddy Zheng, and others. Topics have ranged from Black reparations and cervical cancer prevention to the documentary Breathin': The Eddy Zheng Story, the experience of Jewish and Arab families, and the work of ending chronic homelessness. The adult education ministry has also issued printed Advent and Lenten study guides that can be downloaded for personal or small-group use.
Young Adults and Senior Tuesdays
Calvary Young Adults, known as CYA, gathers people in their twenties and thirties, single and partnered, for Bible study, mission and outreach, and a wide range of social activities including happy hours, Warriors watch parties, drink tastings, retreats, and an annual mission trip. The group is pastored by the Rev. Joann Lee, whose portfolio covers adult education, fellowship, and family ministries alongside young adults.
Senior Tuesdays, hosted twice a month on the second and fourth Tuesday at 11 a.m., are open to anyone 18 and older and draw most participants from outside the congregation. The second Tuesday typically features a presentation on art, culture, music, safety, or health, followed by a soup-and-salad lunch for $5, with no one turned away for lack of funds. The fourth Tuesday is a bring-your-own-lunch fellowship hour that often includes Tai Chi and a volunteer service project. During summer months the program hosts two matinee movie screenings with popcorn. Pastoral visits to hospitalized and homebound members are coordinated by the Minister of Spiritual Care, the Rev. Victor Floyd.
Spiritual Care, Deacons, and Prayer
Calvary's commitment to spiritual care runs through the pastors and an active Board of Deacons. Deacons visit the homebound and hospitalized, deliver chancel flowers to those who are ill, grieving, or celebrating, and arrange for poinsettias and Easter flowers to be shared with members who cannot attend. Communion is brought to the sick or homebound upon request. Pastors and Deacons pray weekly through prayer requests submitted to the prayer line, which is staffed by phone and email. An Annual Thanksgiving Day Feast and an Annual Community Spiritual Wellness Event round out the year.
The church maintains a prayer line at 415-346-3832 ext. 600 and a separate number for spiritual emergencies at ext. 3. Email prayer requests can be sent to victorfloyd@calpres.org. Each week, members of the Board of Deacons and program staff gather to pray through submitted requests, and Deacons and Elders share the responsibilities for the offering and the serving of communion.
The Pastoral Team
Calvary's pastoral staff is led by the Rev. Marcella A. Glass, the Pastor and Head of Staff, who preaches most Sundays, oversees the congregation's vision and strategic planning, and has led the church through a season of growth and affirmation. The Rev. Joann H. Lee serves as Associate Pastor for Community Formation, with responsibilities that include youth, young adults, adult education, and fellowship. The Rev. Victor H. Floyd is the Minister of Spiritual Care and oversees the volunteer ministry, the Living Sanctuary team, and pastoral care to homebound members. Michael Conley directs the music ministry, and John Walko serves as organist. Alison Faison directs children and family ministries; Jeff Smith directs youth and family ministries; Robin Morjikian serves as Director of Development and Volunteer Ministries; and David Foster is the church's Chief Administration Officer. Marion Stanton staffs the Senior Adult ministry.
The church is governed by a Session of Elders and supported by a Board of Deacons and a Foundation Board of Trustees. Calvary is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, federal tax identification number 94-1167431, and welcomes annual pledges, gifts of stock, IRA Qualified Charitable Distributions, and online contributions through credit card, PayPal, and Venmo (@sfcalpres).
Visiting, Parking, and Logistics
The church office is open Sundays from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The sanctuary sits in a quiet pocket of Pacific Heights, with views across the city from the Fillmore Street Stairs at Broadway and from Alta Plaza Park, one block west on Jackson. Lafayette Park is a few blocks to the east. The church's labyrinth on the lower level is open during office hours; visitors are invited to ask at the front desk to walk it.
Parking around the church is on the street. The church does not have its own lot or parking structure, and suggests walking, public transit (Muni lines 22 and 24), or rideshare. Discounted weekend and evening parking is available at the Sutter Health / CPMC garage at Clay and Webster for $8 for up to six hours with a community parking coupon available at the front desk. A jacket is recommended for evenings, even in summer.
For those wishing to follow along at home, livestreams of the 10 a.m. service are posted on YouTube and Facebook; the previous week's sermon is also available as a downloadable PDF. The weekly bulletin can be downloaded from the sermons and bulletins page. A weekly e-newsletter with news and events can be subscribed to from the church's home page.