Our Mission & Values

God calls each of us to live and love for the sake of others and the world.
But our callings and how we live them out are as unique as we are. Jesus called his followers and the church to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,” but the way each church does this is different. After a year of discernment among our church leaders, clergy and members, the people of Calvary affirmed our mission and core values as outlined below. Perhaps these connect with you and your sense of calling. If you would like to learn more and explore the intersection of our mission & your life, take your next step by clicking the button in the corner.

Our Mission

Anchored by our timeless faith & worship, Calvary Episcopal Church serves downtown Bastrop & beyond as the hands & feet of Jesus, building bridges that bring people together & offering everyone a place to call home.

Core Values

As a church at the intersection of many things, our values can sometimes be in tension with each other. Creativity and tradition can often feel like opposites and some people are drawn to serving others while others are inspired by worship. What brings us together is the value at the center - love. Love is the only thing we do in this life that is eternal and Saint Paul reminds us in I Corinthians 13 that without love, we are nothing.

Love

At Calvary we recognize we are all God’s children, made in and for love. We practice seeing God in all people, welcoming each other and embracing our differences. What unites us is love.

Creativity

Every act of creativity reflects the presence of God within and expresses our unique and God-given purpose. We are committed to fostering our creative gifts - and those of our community - through diverse types of music, teaching children and youth, engaging the arts, compelling communication, and experimenting with new ways of being church. What calls to us is the creative spirit.

Tradition

As a living tradition since 1869, we honor our roots in reason and Scripture while maintaining our historic presence in Bastrop County. We join the communion of saints gathered across time to hear God’s story and offer our common prayers. What grounds us is tradition.

Service

Seeking to address the needs of our parish family as well as our larger community, we strive to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Compassionate service blesses the giver and the receiver in an unending cycle of grace. What animates us is service.

Worship

We encounter God as we celebrate Jesus and offer ourselves and all we have to God. We discover how God is speaking today, pray for the world and know Jesus in the breaking of the bread. Worship points us towards our true home.

Our Logo

During our year of discernment, we worked with a creative designer to develop a logo that captured who we are as a community. Our bell tower reminds us of our historic roots in downtown Bastrop and the timelessness of Episcopal worship. The horizontal lines represent the Colorado River, which flows from one end of Bastrop County to the other and far beyond our borders. The mighty river also runs just west of Calvary. The line art is an expression of our creativity and our present day world that craves beauty and simplicity. The shape of the stars are inspired by the crosses in our rose Easter stained glass window behind the altar. Though we considered a rising sun behind the bell tower, someone pointed out that while stars in the night sky appear smaller than the sun, stars are almost all far larger and brighter than our sun. The line art is an expression of our creativity and our present day world that craves beauty and simplicity. Besides, we live in Texas, where “the stars at night are big and bright” (clap, clap, clap, clap)! We hope to offer light and hope to those in Bastrop County who are looking for a place to call home.

This Sunday, Nov. 24, Calvary has ONE SERVICE at 10am!

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