Reverend W. R. Burruss, Sr.

Mount Calvary Baptist Church was founded on November 11, 1953 in a small rural community known as Spring Bank in Alexandria, VA, by the late Reverend William R. Burruss, Sr., and his wife, Sister Julia Burruss. The Reverend Mackley of the Mount Olive Baptist Church and the Reverend Wheeler of Antioch Baptist Church (Washington, DC) assisted in the organization of the Mount Calvary Mission. The founding members were the late Sister Mary Boulware, the late Deaconess Ora Scruggs, the late Deaconess Lonnie Bell Copeland, Julia Burruss, the late Deaconess Emeritus Vivian Boulware, Deaconess Georgia Vernon, and the late Minister Florence Wilkins.
The Mount Calvary mission was legally registered in Fairfax County as the Mount Calvary Baptist Church, upon the suggestion of Sister Mary Boulware. The first church building was built with the assistance of the late Deacon Albert Vernon and the late Brother William Boulware. The late Deacon George Williams, the late Deacon Nathaniel Copeland, the late Deacon Emeritus Robert Hill, the late Brother Harrison Quander, and the late Brother Curtis Wilkins built the second building. Reverend Burruss led this branch of Zion until 1958. Under his leadership, weekly bible classes and prayer meetings were instituted on Wednesday nights. Reverend Burruss, with the assistance of members, built a meeting place on the property across from our present Annex. Reverend Burruss made the first down payment to an adjacent lot build a larger facility.