Caritas Abiding

Picture a giant tree reaching toward the skies, planted in Calvary’s sanctuary. The roots of that tree are deep and wide, reaching to the west wing where Caritas,  the choir, and other Sunday classes now convene. Yes, Caritas has deep roots.

Karen Pinkham, longest serving President of Caritas, joined the church in 1980. She remembers Sarah and Gordon Siebert among the young couples. “We really partied back then,” Karen says. “We were all best friends--did everything together.” The first time Karen and Ken showed up at Calvary, one of the greeters invited them to Caritas. Jim Comstock was the teacher for many years, and Anne came to the parties.

Calvary had a Million Dollar Mission to build an addition to the church. The addition now houses the classrooms, fellowship hall, and offices of the Center for Contemplative Living. Eighteen percent of the mission raised enough money for the addition, and 18 percent of that was pledged to Habitat for Humanity. The cost of the first Habitat home that Caritas members built was $25,000. It was the 30th Habitat house in metro Denver. Caritas built a second home that was the 500th. Afterwards the class could no longer muster the labor.

Margie Jonell may have belonged to Caritas as one of the families who had been there "forever.” Later Margie joined the Ribbons class that Dave Ferguson taught—Dave is now in memory care. In its early days Caritas was for couples. It was the youth group, known as ABY, American Baptist Youth. Shirley Hill led the class until she retired at age 75.

Sara Sieker remembers that Shirley taught the Bible as literature. The class drew some 20 persons each Sunday. Caritas met in the room where The Center for Contemplative Living now has offices. Sara's husband Gordon Sieker was active in the class. A woodworker, Gordon made a podium extension that Pastor Anne wanted so she could place her Bible to one side as she preached. At one social hosted by Shirley at her home, they ate rice and curry and sat on the floor. Shirley had done mission work in China.

Mary Hulst remembers the white elephant exchanges that Caritas would have. Mary and Jack joined Calvary in 1977, and she became education director in 1979, so she and Jack were invited to a white elephant party that happened to be at the Kiefts. When Mary arrived, there was a hot water heater on the front porch--a white elephant. 

Another white elephant was a live dragon/armadillo. Mary received a nativity scene (she collects them :). This one was made entirely of sea shells—tacky, she thought. Word spread through the Koinonia class that Mary belonged to. The next communion Sunday, Mary went down to the altar table, and underneath was the cheesy nativity scene.

Many couples and singles from Caritas were “saints of the church,” as Mary calls them—willing to give of their time and talents. Caritas has been “wonderfully resilient,” she says, and wonderful fellowship is essential to the group.

Nancy Dávila had been a Methodist when her first/ex- husband Bob insisted that she come to church with him. As a Methodist, the last thing Nancy ever wanted was to become a Baptist. Still, she went along with him to Calvary. There she learned the church had 5 adult Sunday school classes with 30 or 40 people in each class. One of those classes was Larry's, the Pathfinders, and he had the most participants, some 120. Because the Pathfinders was so big, other groups were formed— including Ambassadors and Koinonia.

Larry Loughhead was the pastor when these young couples attended Caritas. He was the longest-serving pastor for 25 years, leaving in 1993. Larry was a great preacher, an intellectual, a man of deep faith who was able to eloquently share his faith. He would end each sermon, "Think about that." He also had a credo that became a bookmark, with 5 declarations that each had 3 words, starting with "God is Love." If Margie Jonell brought guests to church, she knew they would not be disappointed.

When Sandra Shreve joined Calvary, Caritas was quite large, some 35 or 40 members, mostly young couples. One of the greeters invited Sandra to  Caritas. In those days members were both conservative and of a liberal bent, but "we always took care of each other."  Sandra was President twice, and Jim Comstock was President for many years.

When Sandra was President, she was able to move Caritas to the room it now occupies. Once a car crashed into the  classroom, coming off Hampden, unable to stop.

Sandra says Calvary reflects the current pastor. When Mary was pastor, the church was steadfast and reliable, and so was Caritas. “Mary was the main reason I felt welcome at Calvary. She listened carefully and did not pontificate. I'd had enough of bossy black men in my home church.”

Sandra remembers scant discussion in Caritas about race. At one point, the group studied the Muslim faith. A retired pilot from United Airlines had some strong opinions about Muslims. Another time Ron Miat, a retired newspaperman, gave a factual description of the civil rights movement, and that provoked a lively discussion. Another time the group focused on homosexuality. No matter the topic, members listened carefully to each other.

Sandra was the first Black woman at Calvary. Gordon and Beth Kieft were the first couple to reach out to Sandra and invite her to lunch. 

In its early days, Caritas would take field trips related to whatever they were studying. Sandra tells me, “I see you working so hard for our class, writing this article, and working hard in your prison ministry, and your mom brought a lot to Calvary too.”

The current Caritas class is reading and savoring Dorothy Day’s autobiography The Long Loneliness. Day’s story comes alive as the teachers –Carol Parsons, Daniel Schweissing, and willow carter—guide lively conversations.

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Written by Carol Sullivan, who is the daughter of the late Frances Bozeman, a longtime Calvary member, and Ben Bozeman, who taught Sunday school at Park Hill Baptist Church.