Calvary Chapel Sarasota was started on April 15, 1987 in the living room of a local dentist’s home. Carl and Valerie Dixon had been living and working in Sarasota but were arranging to return to Canada. However, they were approached by a small group of people who asked if they would consider staying in Florida and starting a new church. The vision was for a church focused on verse by verse teaching along with contemporary worship. The first meeting was attended by 35 people, and Agape Christian Fellowship was formed.

After only six weeks the group had grown exponentially, and we started meeting in the cafeteria of Fruitville Elementary School. Within six months, we had outgrown that space, as well, and arrangements were made to move to Cardinal Mooney High School. There we could use the cafeteria building and several classrooms on Sunday mornings and evenings.

After several months, Pastor Carl and Valerie were required to return to Canada due to problems obtaining permanent resident visas. The church continued to meet and eventually moved to the Seventh Day Adventist Church on Proctor Road. Pastor Carl and Valerie returned to Florida in 1989 with permanent visas in hand.

In 1992, the church moved to our present location at 3800 27th Parkway. At the time, we were renting the building that had formerly served as a community center for the neighborhood. Although it was larger than any of the previous meeting spaces, it was very run down and much of the building could not be used.

In 1994, Pastor Carl came in contact with the Calvary Chapel Movement, and he attended a pastor’s conference in Merritt Island, Florida. At the conference Pastor Chuck Smith talked to Pastor Carl about joining the Calvary Movement, and, within a few weeks, Agape Christian Fellowship came into fellowship with Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa and the hundreds of Calvary Chapels around world.

The church experienced steady growth over the next few years, and we eventually began to outgrow the usable spaces in the current building. In 1996, the church purchased the building and the land at 3800 27th Parkway and began a renovation program that, in some ways, is still ongoing. At that time, the leadership decided to officially change the name of the church to Calvary Chapel of Sarasota.

Over the years we have seen the Lord do wonderful things. We have welcomed many new families and experienced many “sad/glad moments” together. We have seen some of our best sent out to continue the work of sharing the gospel around the world in some of the least reached places. At home in Sarasota, we continue to teach the Word of God, so that our family and community would know God for who He is and would worship Him in spirit and in truth.

We exist to Love God, Grow Disciples and Share Christ, together.