Erie Building
We believe great communities need great churches! Our congregation, and the community at large, benefits greatly from our facility in Boulder, and we believe there will be significant ministry benefits to a permanent location in Erie. Currently, no mid-to-large sized evangelical church occupies a permanent space in Erie – for the Glory of God and the good of Erie, this must change. At least six churches in Erie that had been meeting in temporary locations have closed since Calvary launched the Erie Campus five years ago; this has reinforced a feeling amongst community members of the instability of churches that meet in temporary locations.
Erie has grown to 19,000 residents, with projections to 30,000 by 2020. As Erie grows, a permanent, Bible teaching church will increasingly be needed. Calvary's history of faithful stewardship, church planting, and leadership development, uniquely position us to reach this largely unchurched community. We also believe a permanent location is ultimately a better use of our valuable volunteer and financial resources.
Each week, it takes our team hours to set up and tear down our Erie Campus – energy that could be directed to a different ministry. Additionally, we pay more than $75,000 annually in rent to Erie High School and for our Erie office.
Calvary's Erie campus has steadily grown its ministry scope since its initial launch. Early on, all ministry staff had offices in the Boulder campus. In late 2007, Calvary began renting office space for staff and smaller mid- week meetings in Erie. In 2008, the student ministry could no longer to meet in Boulder, and began meeting in Erie homes. High School and Middle School ministries now exceed their capacity to meet in homes or local rented space. Indeed, gatherings larger than 25, which are now commonplace, scurry to find larger rental space in Erie. A recent 101 membership class in Erie required a room to host 34 people.
