Meet a Member: Soren and Amanda

We are Amanda Butler and Soren Dayton. We began attending Calvary in January 2006 (only shortly after we started dating), and joined together on Epiphany in 2006. By some counts, that makes us long-time members, but it’s still another 44 years until we get a free lunch at the annual celebration of 50 year members.

Two moments led us to know that we were called to be members of Calvary. One was a service during a snowstorm in early 2006, when a lack of snowplowing left us part of a small congregation of people together improvising to worship God together. The other was the Maundy Thursday, standing together to hear the call to continue the mission and responsibilities that Jesus left for us.

Neither of us were raised Baptist, but this is where we belong. When Amanda returned to Chicago in autumn 2006 for three years of law school, the Calvary community formed an instrumental support for both of us.

When Pastor Amy married us in at the church in December 2008, it had been a while since two members of the congregation had stood together at the front of the Calvary sanctuary for such a purpose. In the last several years, though, there have been more. It’s exciting to be a part of Calvary as it grows and continues its dedication to serving DC and the world from the corner of 8th and H Streets NW. This city can be a strange, superficial, and alienating place at times, but the community and preaching at Calvary is a vibrant community and a tie to what is important in life. We’re tremendously grateful that God has introduced us to this place.