Calvary Tabernacle honors its founders
Calvary Tabernacle's founding pastor, Charles Mitchell, and his wife, Shirley.
The weekend of March 7-8 was a special one for my home church, Calvary Tabernacle. We marked our congregation’s 50th anniversary by inviting our church’s founders, Charles and Shirley Mitchell, back to Quincy for a celebration.
Joining us were Mark and Karen Fogarty, our church’s second pastor. (Mark Fogarty now serves as the Southeast Regional Executive Presbyter for the United Pentecostal Church International.) Calvary Tabernacle has had just three pastors in 50 years, and on that weekend we had all three together in the same room.
On Saturday afternoon, the church hosted a banquet in the Mitchell’s honor. Special guests included Illinois District Superintendent Bill Coltharp, District Superintendent Emeritus Ernest Breithaupt and Honorary Presbyter C.L. McKinnies, all of whom shared their memories of the Mitchell family’s impact on their lives and on the Illinois District.
Dan Mitchell, Charles’ son and a UPCI pastor from Columbus, Ind., also was present, along with four of the Mitchell’s grandsons. Dan Mitchell shared his recollections of growing up along with the new church, as well as memories of his mother, the late Jean Mitchell.
Each guest that spoke made it clear that Charles Mitchell was a church planter with a passion for evangelism and prayer and the ability to make a dollar stretch a long way. Featured speaker Mark Fogarty noted that during his 10 years as pastor of Calvary Tabernacle, the church reaped a harvest of souls from seeds the Mitchells planted.
Calvary Tabernacle member Chuck Jackson displays a commemorative plaque honoring Charles Mitchell.
Saturday afternoon also included a photo tribute and a song from a Calvary Tabernacle ensemble. The congregation presented the Mitchells with a monetary gift and ink pens carved from one of the church’s original Kentucky hardwood pews, and we unveiled a commemorative plaque that now hangs in the foyer.
The Sunday morning service included more recognition for the Mitchells, as well as testimonies of the Fogarty’s impact on the church. Karen Fogarty sang “God Has Been Good,” and Mark Fogarty preached a message challenging the church to move forward into an even greater future. Pastor Pate presented special gifts for the entire Fogarty family. At the close of the Sunday service, former pastors Mitchell and Fogarty led a special prayer for Pastor Pate.
There’s a lot that could be said about both the Mitchells and the Fogartys. Charles Mitchell was Calvary Tabernacle’s pastor when my mother-in-law began sending my wife and her siblings to Sunday School. The Fogarty’s ministry solidified my wife in the church. Our family owes a tremendous debt to both the Mitchells and the Fogartys, to say the least.
The other exciting part about the weekend was hearing stories about the sacrifices the Mitchell’s made to establish Calvary Tabernacle. Charles Mitchell and his family moved to Quincy in April, 1959, and spent nearly 29 years literally digging the church out of the ground.
When the Mitchells returned to southern Illinois in 1987, they left behind a thriving congregation, as well as our current facility on the corner of 16th and Locust.
Visit the photos page to see Meredith Stark’s photos from the Saturday banquet. Click here to see photos from the Sunday morning celebration.