Pastor Frank Termine came to Calvary Church in West Hartford in 2007. Located on the corner where three neighborhoods meet – Hartford’s North End, South End, and the town of West Hartford – this church reaches out to diverse neighbors and provides a place where the residents of these communities can worship and serve together.
Calvary’s connection to UA is unique. Russel Jarvis, former President & CEO at Urban Alliance, was attending Calvary when Urban Alliance was founded and began its first steps to building the UA Network. (Russell is now Pastor Jarvis at Calvary and is still engaged with UA!) Calvary Church was one of the first churches to sign as part of this growing Network of churches – the start of an ongoing and fruitful relationship.
During those early days, Calvary Church was working hard to reach out to their neighbors. “We weren’t as out in the community as much as we needed to be. We were making efforts to try and get out in the community.” The church had tried to make connections with other organizations and was trying to connect with people who were serving the city, but “meeting Urban Alliance put everything in overdrive,” said Pastor Frank.
The UA Network connected Calvary Church to Hartford City Mission, Youth Challenge, and Citadel Outreach, providing places where people worshipping on the edge of the city could serve and minister in the heart of it.
Pastor Frank’s connection to Urban Alliance wasn’t just good for his congregation but for the pastor as well. “As pastors, we’re called to be generalists,” shared Pastor Frank as he thought about the different challenges pastors face in serving their congregations, “there’s no way we can be experts in everything.”
