Our History

Calvary Pentecostal Church was founded in 1952 by Miss Mildred Rosenke and Miss Freida Phillips. Miss Mildred came to Jamestown (Wawa) from Flowing Well, Saskatchewan on March 9th, 1952. Together with her co-worker Miss Freida from Portage La Prairies, they established the first Pentecostal Church in the area. Even though they didn’t have a regular church yet, the Pentecostal group, which included students from Eastern Pentecostal Bible College (now known as Master’s College & Seminary), were all very active in the community.

The new group started having services on Sunday evenings at the recreation room of Number 5 Bunkhouse in the Helen Mine. Sunday School was held at 11:00 AM on Sundays, outdoor services were held on Saturday evenings whenever the weather allowed, and regular week-night meetings were held in people’s homes. Later on, they started having services at the Sir James Dunn Public School for a year and a half, and then at the Lions Hall. Sunday School and Junior Church took place at the apartment on First Avenue, where Miss Rosenke and Miss Phillips lived.

Mr. Clifford Weeks from Sault Ste. Marie came to work with the Pentecostal Mission group to start building a new church. Miss Mildred Rosenke continued the work after Miss Phillips had to leave due to illness. Then, an opportunity arose to buy the Wawa First United Church building, which was ultimately accepted. Even though they had already bought land and started building a new church, they decided to go ahead with the purchase of the Wawa First United Church. Mr. Weeks described it as a home mission project of the Western District of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada and saw it as a great opportunity. While waiting for the new church to be purchased from the United congregation, they held services in the Roxy Theatre for a few months. On May 2, 1955 Rev. John E. Scarr took up duties as pastor at the pioneer Pentecostal Church.

Many pastors, lay ministers, and volunteers have kept on sharing the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Because of the inspiring history and testimonies of those who came before us, we can feel motivated to continue the mission and be confident about the path ahead of us. Today, Calvary Pentecostal Church remains a church that is dedicated to sharing the same message of hope that our congregation was founded on.