[3] In July 2012, the church severed ties with the Southern Baptist Convention.

Calvary's sanctuary building was designed by the U.S.-German architect Adolf Cluss, who also designed a number of other leading buildings in Washington, D.C. Calvary is the founding church of the Northern Baptist Convention, which is now American Baptist Churches USA,[6] a leading church of the Baptist Sunday School movement at the turn of the century.

[9][10] In accordance with its vision statement, Calvary concentrated on its relationship with the Latino, and especially Salvadoran population by introducing bilingual services[11][12] and partnering with a church in El Salvador, led by Rev.

[13] Calvary has been active in immigration reform efforts,[13][14] along with the issue of marriage equality.

As a church in Washington, it has had a number of high-profile members[6]: 258  including: