When Calvary Chapel was finished in 1863, it had the same overall appearance as the current church building. However, the original building measured just 27 feet wide by 55 feet long, about one-third the current size. The Gothic-style chapel had a door opening directly onto Second Street SW. Inside, the chapel apparently had partitions near the door across the nave, a common arrangement in small, rural churches. Benches to seat 100 filled the church in three rows beyond the partition.
Within five years, the parish had outgrown its space. In June 1868, the nave was extended north by 22-1/2 feet, and a cellar for a wood furnace was dug beneath. A 16-by-18-foot chancel also was added to the north; to the east, a 10-by-12-foot robing room was built, with an exterior entrance to the north. The building was now referred to not as a chapel, but as Calvary Church.
Over the next thirty years, additional improvements facilitated worship, and provided more heat and light for the congregation's comfort:
At the start of the 20th century, Calvary entered a period of strong growth and prosperity. The church's interior was redecorated once again, its structure beginning to look more as it does today. The entire chancel floor was raised three steps to the choir and three more steps to the altar. Two ornamental arches were added to the chancel, and six decorative trusses with a birch paneled ceiling installed above the nave. The carved wooden cross was moved from the altar to the west chancel niche, and a duplicate was carved for the east niche to provide balance. The gas fixtures were replaced with electric lighting. The pulpit was moved from the chancel to the main floor.
In 1912, the vestry moved the white frame rectory to the north of the church, tore down an adjacent barn and built a new brick Tudor-style rectory with an entrance facing Third Avenue SW. The old frame rectory was subsequently used by parish youth groups, and later housed the sexton's family. It was demolished in 1962. The Tudor rectory was torn down in 1967 to make room for the education wing.
Many of the grand homes in Rochester's "Pill Hill" neighborhood near Mayo Clinic were designed by Harold Crawford, a Calvary parishioner. For decades, Calvary was fortunate to have Mr. Crawford as an "in-house" architect and artist. He designed Brackenridge Hall, built in 1917 to replace the old Guild Hall. Mr. Crawford later proposed a covered walkway extending from the church vestibule's east-facing entrance. The vestry approved the construction of this lych-gate in 1950.
In its centennial year of 1960, Calvary built a new sacristy, redesigned the kitchen and restructured the basement of Brackenridge Hall. On the east side, the porch connecting the old sacristy with Brackenridge Hall was enclosed; the buildings which housed the little brick church were now connected to one another. Calvary was designated an Historic Site by the Olmsted County Historical Society in 1966, with a bronze plaque placed at the original entrance on Second Street.
For its first 109 years, Calvary had no purpose-built Sunday School space. Classes met in Brackenridge Hall, the rectory, the kitchen — wherever space could be found. In 1968, construction began on a new wing with classrooms, offices, meeting rooms, and an apartment for the church sexton. Ten years later, the vestry approved the construction of an enclosed ambulatory to facilitate moving people from the lych-gate entrance to Brackenridge Hall. No longer did parishioners — not to mention brides walking to the back of the church — need to venture outside. The ambulatory was completed in 1982.
The Rev. Samuel W. Cook, Calvary's rector from 1965-86, considered a columbarium to be a valuable dimension to Calvary's ministry. After exploring several alternatives, the vestry concluded that locating the columbarium in the churchyard, where the interment of cremated remains could be left directly in the ground, was best. A brick wall was built on the southeast corner; the names of the interred are engraved on plaques on the courtyard side of the wall. On the street side is a Celtic cross designed by Harold Crawford. The columbarium was dedicated on September 23, 1984.
Over the years, the Mayo Clinic, which originated about 25 years after Calvary's founding, grew into a world-class medical center surrounding the little brick church. In his vision for the parish's mission, Calvary's rector, the Rev. Nicklas A. Mezacapa, coined the phrase "Spiritual Oasis." In 2001, the congregation unanimously approved the Spiritual Oasis Project to renovate the building's north side, which was exposed to public view after the construction of the Feith Family Statuary Park. The project included a new floor above the education wing, with meeting space that could be a resource for the parish and wider community; remodeling of existing meeting rooms and of the classroom and music areas; construction of a new nursery; and installation of an elevator, an improved wheelchair ramp, and handicapped- accessible restrooms.
The vestry was adamant that the main, historic portion of the church not be altered and that the new construction should blend in architecturally with the old. Retaining the brick façade, the addition unified the complex and made it compatible with its urban environment. Landscaping on the property line joining Mayo's statuary park created a green area in the medical complex. The large meeting room on the new third floor was named "Crawford Hall" in memory of the architect who so shaped Calvary.
The little brick church had grown into a spiritual oasis in the midst of a world-renowned medical center. Calvary's buildings and grounds offer a home for its ministry and a sacred space within the ever-changing community.