Reverend Walton, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, began his service at Calvary Baptist Church on March 1, 2002 after serving a four-year pastorate at the St. Mark Congregational Church in Boston, Massachusetts.

He confessed Christ as his Lord and Savior in July 1975 at the Avon Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio.

He was ordained on June 14, 1994 at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Cleveland by the United Pastors in Missions, 18 pastors affiliated with American Baptist Churches, USA, National Baptist Convention and Progressive National Baptist Convention.

Reverend Walton is an alumnus of Howard University where he received his Master of Divinity degree.

He is currently enrolled in the Doctor of Ministry program at Northern Baptist Seminary in Lombard, Illinois, where his area of concentration is Leadership through Preaching.

Reverend Walton is a family man. He and First Lady Walton are the parents of three sons, John Richard III, Daniel, Samuel, and are expecting a fourth child in May.

Calvary, Milwaukee’s oldest African American Baptist Church, attests, without reservation, to Reverend Walton’s giftedness as a preacher and visionary.

He is effectively leading Calvary into the 21st Century.

His recently revealed vision--to transform the Hopkins/Groeling/Chambers/Teutonia Community for Christ--has been embraced by the congregation, which is moving actively to make this a reality.

Reverend Walton recognizes that Calvary must do more for and with the community than hold weekly worship services in a community where a majority of the zip code’s workers reside outside the community and the results of family poverty abound.

Our guest preacher, Dr. Shearin, a national church and civic leader, has received numerous awards and citations from organizations in North Carolina, his home state, and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

He received his Doctor of Ministry degree from the Howard University School of Divinity, and is a member of the NAACP National Board of Directors.

He currently serves as vice president of the Mayor’s Inter-Faith Council and has served as a member of the District of Columbia’s Health Services Reform Commission.

For his dedication in promoting the rights and welfare of workers and their families, he was honored with the 2005 Outstanding Citizen Award from the Metropolitan Washington Council AFL-CIO.

Calvary invites the entire community to join them in celebration of the Walton’s fifth Pastoral Anniversary.

The church is located at 2959 North Teutonia Avenue.

For more information, contact the church at (414)372-1450, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.