OUR HISTORY
1993
Our journey began at Christian Baptist Church (now known as Trinity Baptist Church) when Reverend Kingsley Appiagyei gave his then Assistant Pastor, Reverend Francis Sarpong a charge to lead a 20 member group to take over the East End.
1994
A month later – Calvary Charismatic Baptist Church was born in Newham, East London. To choose a name we fasted and prayed to God for guidance. Some proposed Charismatic Baptist Church and others Calvary Baptist Church. In the end we joined the two names to make Calvary Charismatic Baptist Church.
Atherton Leisure Centre
We held Sunday services at the Atherton Leisure Centre in Forest Gate and midweek services at the Mayflower centre in Canning Town..
1995
Poland House
We outgrew Atherton Leisure Centre and signed a lease for Poland House in Stratford which sat 100+ people.
1996
Barking Road
The Baptist Union gave us a loan to buy a property in Barking Road. We continued to experience exponential growth and had multiple services, the rapid growth of various nationalities led to establishing services in French, Lingala, Swahili and Twi.
We had cell groups across East and Southeast London which then also grew into local church branches.
Barking Road soon became too small for us so the quest to find another building began.
2007
Prayer Temple
Reverend Francis took a bold lead of faith in bidding for the John Wesley Centre, a Grade 2 listed 18th century building in Poplar on East India Road.
By the miraculous provision and grace of God, we purchased the building in 2007, It was opened by Pastor Yemisi Ashimolowo in December. It is affectionately referred to it as Prayer Temple.
TODAY
We have 14 branches across the UK, with plans to establish 30 new branches by the end of 2024.
We also have 29 branches in Ghana and continue to plant new branches. We celebrate 30 years of God's goodness this year.
Bishop
Reverend Francis Sarpong (ordained as Bishop Francis Sarpong 2022), was converted at the tender age of 12 and served in various Baptist Churches both in Ghana (including Asokwa Baptist) and the UK. He attained his theological qualifications from the Baptist Seminary in Ghana, The University of Ghana and Spurgeons College (UK). He also holds a LLB Honours and LLM in Human Rights from Birkbeck University of London. He has written 15 books, including titles Evangelising the Community, Teach us to Pray, Destroying Illegal Family Spirits and Pastoral Law. He is married with 5 children and 2 God children.
Bishop Francis has served on various boards of trustees and organisations including the Progressive National Baptist Convention (PNBC) of which he became the President of the international region and later the President of PNBC UK and Europe.
He has trained over 100 Pastors with about 50 currently working with him and has planted over 30 churches. Since Bishop Francis’s conversion at the tender age of 12, he has been moved by the Great Commission in Matthew 24. As the years draw closer to the Lord’s second coming his desire is for Christians to be serious about their responsibility. As such, Bishop Francis has instigated various evangelism crusades in the UK. On an international level he has served with his ministry friend, Bishop Dag Heward-Mills of Lighthouse Chapel on various crusades to contribute to the salvation of souls.
Having benefited from assistance in gaining academic success in seminary and being convicted by the mandate in James 1:27 Bishop Francis has helped the needy and under-privileged children. He has personally helped numerous people to secure full time education and jobs. Bishop Francis is the main sponsor of St. Francis Foundation, with CCBC contributing towards the education and welfare of the kids. He has been responsible for leading the charge on sponsoring the needy and orphans in India, Bangladesh, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. Bishop Francis celebrates 40 years in ministry this year.