History of Calvary Baptist Church

In 1983, a small group of Christians decided it was time to begin anew church in Floyd County. Under the leadership of Pastor Richard (Dick) Jansen and his wife, Julia, the group rented the Old Presbyterian Church in the town of Floyd and began holding worship services. Major and Margaret Sweeney donated three acres of their property on Route 221-north, and plans were drawn up to build a permanent church home which was now named, Calvary Baptist Church. With forty charter members, Calvary Baptist was finally constituted on August 18, 1983.

When Rev. and Mrs. Jansen retired to Bushnell, Florida in March of 1984, Dr. Marshall Walker, Director of Missions for the Highlands Baptist Association was asked to help find another pastor. Dr. Walker introduced the church to Rev. Roger Roller, and the church called Roger to be pastor in May, 1984. Rev. Roller, his wife Esther and two children stayed in Floyd for the next two years.

Several members signed for a bank loan, and the building was begun. Jean Huff and Joyce Lewis spent every Saturday doing yard sales. The 4th of July celebrations included selling hamburgers, hotdogs and Annie Jones's delicious home made fried apple pies. Once they had enough to start the building, the land was cleared and they began digging out the basement. The rock outcrop had to be blasted in order for work to continue. Members worked every Saturday and many weeknights until the basement was completed. The first worship service was held in this new facility on April 7, 1986.

Rev. Roller accepted a call from Rustburg Baptist Church and resigned from Calvary Baptist in August of 1986. Dr. Walker was again approached to help search for another pastor. Dr. Walker introduced the congregation to a South African, Rev. Graham Mitchell. The congregation called Pastor Mitchell in January of 1987. The Highlands Baptist Association continued to support the fledgling church by supplementing the pastor's salary. Graham also continued his education at Southeastern Baptist Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina and graduated with a Master of Divinity degree in May of 1990. He also completed a Doctor of Ministry (Marriage and Family) in June of 2000.

With a letter from Jean Huff combined with the persistence of Pastor Mitchell and Marshall Walker, the Baptist General Association of Virginia overturned its previous ruling and awarded a $25,000 grant and a low interest mortgage loan to the congregation. The financial boost enabled the church to complete the upstairs portion of the building. Again, the majority of the labor was donated by members who sacrificed weekends and weeknights to complete the project. The first service in the new upstairs sanctuary was held the first Sunday in August of 1990. In 2006, the church paid off the mortgage and celebrated Homecoming on August 27,2006 with a Note Burning service. 


Pastor Mitchell accepted a position as Associate Professor of Psychology and Religion at New River Community College in August of 2003, and continued to remain as pastor. At that time, he has been joined in ministry by Rev. Randy McDaniel who was welcomed as Pastor of Outreach and evangelism on October 22, 2006. The McDaniel family — Randy, Melissa, Nicholas and Rachel have become a vital part of Calvary Baptist Church life.

Pastor Mitchell resigned as Pastor and Randy McDaniel accepted the call to become the full-time pastor.  Rev. McDaniel was the Pastor until August 2015.  Rev. Dan Agee was called as Intrim Pastor in May 2016. 


“Helping people experience

 a life changing relationship

    through Jesus Christ.”

“Changing the world…

   one soul at a time!”

Calvary Baptist is a Southern Baptist Church cooperating with the Baptist General Association of Virginia.

Our Purpose

To be a worshipping fellowship, experiencing an awareness of God, recognizing His person, and responding in obedience to His leadership.


To be a dynamic spiritual Christian body, empowered by the Holy Spirit to share the Gospel of Christ with as many people as possible in our church community and throughout the world.


To be a church that ministers unselfishly to persons in the community and world, in Jesus' name.


To be a fellowship of believers who strive to be like Christ in our daily living, emphasizing total commitment of life, personality, and possessions to the Lordship of Christ.


Our Statement of Faith

The Bible is the inspired Word of God and is the basis for any statement of faith.  The church subscribes to the doctrinal statement of The Baptist Faith and Message, as adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention in 1963. We bond ourselves together as a body of baptized believers in Jesus Christ personally committed to sharing the gospel with the world.  The ordinances of the church are baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper.


Our Church Covenant

We, therefore, agree, by the help of the Holy Spirit and with the Bible, the inspired Word of God as our guide, to walk together in Christian love; to strive for the advancement of this church; to sustain its worship, discipline and docrine; to observe the church ordinances of believer's baptism and the Lord's Supper, as authorized by our local church; to contribute generously, cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry of our church; to spread the Gospel to all nations.  We agree to walk in Christian harmony and watchfulness, to be just in our dealings, reliable in our responsibilities, to give and to receive assistance with meekness and affection; to pray for one another; to help each other in sickness and sorrow; to be slow to anger, and to always be eager to seek reconciliation without delay. 

​