Calvary Holiness Church (Philadelphia)


The Calvary Holiness Church is a small River Brethren denomination of Christianity in the Radical Pietistic and holiness traditions. It is a division from the Brethren in Christ Church.

History

The Brethren in Christ Church emerged in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, after a group of Mennonites came under influence of Radical Pietistic preachers who "emphasized spiritual passion and a warm, personal relationship to Jesus Christ." They teach "the necessity of a crisis-conversion experience" as well as the existence of a second work of grace that "results in the believer resulting in the ability to say no to sin".
The Brethren in Christ Church entered into a schism in 1964 resulting in the formation of the Calvary Holiness Church, which continues to emphasize the wearing of a headcovering by women, plain dress, temperance, footwashing, and pacifism.
The Calvary Holiness Church began in 1963 when the Philadelphia Brethren in Christ congregation withdrew from the Brethren in Christ, rejecting perceived changes in the denomination's faith and practice. The body incorporated in 1964, and had two congregations with about 40 members in 1980.