Calvary Church

What Calvary Church does

Calvary Church is a 501(c)(3) nondenominational evangelical Christian church headquartered on a 10.5-acre, 187,000-square-foot campus in Santa Ana, California. Founded in 1931, it serves approximately 1,975 weekly attendees across multiple worship services, with peak holiday throughput of 3,552 at Easter and 6,000 at community events such as Light the Night. Core programs include 57 LifeGroups with 114 lay leaders, a children's ministry scaled to 900+ VBS participants, Calvary Christian School (founded 1975, ~378 students, 50th anniversary in 2025), and a missionary sponsorship network supporting 68 missionaries across 30 countries. Community outreach is material, including a Pop-Up Pantry distributing 1,500 food boxes and an Emergency Needs Fund that disbursed $147,922 to 78 families.

The church's technology stack is composed entirely of third-party SaaS platforms: Tithely for online giving, the Church Center App for congregant engagement and event/check-in workflows, and Ekklesia 360 as the content management system; services are additionally streamed via YouTube and Facebook Live. Leadership comprises Senior Pastor Eric Wakeling, Executive Pastor Michael Welles, five additional Team Pastors, and a board of 13+ Elders. The organization holds ECFA accreditation, which imposes external financial-stewardship and governance standards on member ministries.

Revenue is generated primarily through voluntary tithes and offerings from the congregation, supplemented by tuition from Calvary Christian School and ancillary program fees. A $4.6M Forward in Faith capital campaign — currently at $4.327M raised — is funding facility and ministry expansion, including the planned Calvary Hope Center. Strategic partnerships span local social services (Mary's Kitchen, Hurtt Family Health Clinic, Emmaus Road Counseling, Safe Families for Children, Immigrant Hope, His Refuge), global missions (YWAM, Greater Europe Mission), and higher education (Oak Valley College). No AI/ML capabilities, proprietary technology, or audited financial disclosures are evident in the available source material.

Name

Calvary Church

Legal name

Calvary Church of Santa Ana

Website

https://calvarylife.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1931

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Calvary Church is a 501(c)(3) evangelical church founded in 1931 in Santa Ana, California, serving roughly 1,975 weekly attendees through worship services, 57 LifeGroups, a K-12 school, 68 missionaries across 30 countries, and community outreach programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Santa Ana

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Calvary Church is a Bible-teaching church founded in 1931, located at 1010 N. Tustin Avenue in Santa Ana, California. It provides weekly worship services, age-specific ministries for children, students, adults, and seniors, and operates Calvary Christian School, a Preschool through 8th grade educational program. The organization is structured as a non-profit religious entity.

Product overview

Calvary Church operates primarily as a Bible-teaching church ministry rather than a technology product company. The church's digital offerings include its main website (calvarylife.org) for ministry information and engagement, a Church Center App for event registrations and group signups, and a podcast for sermon audio. The church also operates Calvary Christian School (Preschool through 8th Grade) as a separate educational ministry. Financial support services include an Emergency Needs Fund for members in crisis and the Forward in Faith capital campaign for campus improvements. Online giving is processed through Tithely. The church has no public API, SDK, or documented AI/ML capabilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Calvary Christian School: Christian school providing excellent academics and diverse enrichments rooted in Christian values for students in Preschool to 8th Grade
• The Corner Books & Coffee
• Calvary Hope Center
• Oak Valley College

Products and services

• Weekly Worship Services Regular Bible-teaching worship services for individuals, families, and the surrounding Santa Ana community. Services include biblical instruction, congregational worship, and fellowship.
• Calvary Christian School A faith-based Preschool through 8th grade school providing Christian education to children and families in the Santa Ana, California area.
• Age-Specific Ministries Targeted ministry programs for different demographic groups including children, students, adults, and seniors, designed to support spiritual growth across life stages.

Quantifiable outcome

• 79 baptisms in 2025 (53% increase from 2024) demonstrating life transformation
• +4 more outcomes

Segments10 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Mary's KitchencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMonthly drive-through food pantry distribution serving those in need in the Santa Ana community. Calvary provides the venue and volunteers while Mary's Kitchen provides food resources and operational support.
• YWAM (Youth With A Mission)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerYWAM (Youth With A Mission) partners with Calvary for Homes of Hope builds in Baja, Mexico. 130 Calvary volunteers built 5 homes in January 2025 through this partnership.
• Greater Europe MissioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGreater Europe Mission partnership for global missions in Europe. Calvary supports GEM missionaries and hosted a Global Sunday with Mike Taylor from GEM.
• Hurtt Family Health CliniccoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLow-cost clinic providing medical, dental, integrative health, and behavioral health services to homeless, under-insured, and under-served families. Tenant in Calvary Hope Center.
• Emmaus Road CounselingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProfessional, confidential, affordable counseling services with spiritual basis. Tenant in Calvary Hope Center providing pastoral counseling and mental health support.
• Safe Families for ChildrencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMinistry keeping children safe and families together through radical hospitality, disruptive generosity, and intentional compassion. Tenant in Calvary Hope Center.
• ECFA (Evangelical Council of Financial Accountability)coreOthersAccreditation body dedicated to helping Christian ministries earn public trust through adherence to Seven Standards of Responsible Stewardship. Calvary is an ECFA member.
• TithelycoreTechnology or IntegrationDigital giving platform used by Calvary for online tithes and offerings. The platform provides the technology infrastructure for church donations and fund management.
• Oak Valley CollegeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLoan-free degree program applying Christian worldview to problem-solving. Classes hosted at Calvary's Northside Building with growth plans for Calvary Hope Center.
• His RefugeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganization aiding displaced peoples around the world through practical assistance. Potential tenant for Calvary Hope Center.
• Immigrant HopeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEquipping churches to provide immigrants with gospel hope, legal residency pathway help, and church community home. Potential Calvary Hope Center tenant addressing community immigration needs.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves11 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Mariners Church: Large evangelical Bible-teaching church headquartered in Irvine, CA - the closest geographic and ministry-model peer to Calvary in Orange County. Operates a multi-site model with comparable children's, youth, global-missions, and community-outreach programming.
• Saddleback Church: One of the largest evangelical Bible-teaching churches in the U.S., headquartered in Lake Forest, CA (Orange County). Operates a multi-site model with extensive small-group, missions, and community-care programs analogous to Calvary's LifeGroups and Reach Missions.
• North Coast Church: Evangelical Bible-teaching church with multiple campuses across Southern California (Vista, Oceanside, Fallbrook). Comparable in theology, congregational model, and demographic focus, making it a relevant peer for Calvary's program and engagement strategy.
• Rock Church: Large evangelical church in San Diego with comparable Bible-teaching focus, online streaming scale, and community-outreach orientation. Operates similar ministries (Kids, Students, Celebrate Recovery equivalents) and represents a relevant Southern California peer.
• Watermark Church: Large non-denominational Bible-teaching church in Plano, TX with comparable programming depth (LifeGroups equivalent, global missions, community care, Christian education). Closest doctrinal and operational analog outside of California.
• McLean Bible Church: Large evangelical Bible-teaching church in McLean, VA with similar congregational scale and multi-generational ministry programming. Comparable in governance structure (elder-led) and outreach portfolio (global missions, community services).

Regional players

• Bayside Church: Large evangelical Bible-teaching church headquartered in Granite Bay, CA with multiple campuses across Northern California. Comparable Bible-teaching model and ministry breadth; differs by regional footprint outside of Calvary's Southern California market.

Broad incumbents

• North Point Ministries: Multi-site evangelical church network based in Atlanta, GA with multiple branded campuses (Buckhead, North Point, etc.). Operates at significantly larger scale but shares the Bible-teaching, small-group-driven DNA that defines Calvary's ministry model.
• Gateway Church: Large multi-site evangelical church headquartered in Southlake, TX. Comparable in Bible-teaching focus and ministry breadth (Kids, Students, Celebrate Recovery, global missions) but operates at materially larger scale than Calvary.
• Elevation Church: Large multi-site evangelical church based in Charlotte, NC with strong digital/streaming presence and comparable Bible-teaching orientation. Broader scale and national reach make it a broad incumbent rather than a direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/calvarychurchofsantaana
• Facebookfacebook.com/calvarylife
• Xx.com/calvarylife

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Calvary Church