Our History
A Lifetime of Fruitful Service
I've Never Been Sorry
I Will Build My Church
The Making of a Minister
The Blade, The Ear, The Full Corn
"What Is Your Excuse For Living?"
The Continuing Story
Testimony of Rev. Alfred Capozzi
A Lifetime of Fruitful Service
by his son
Robert D. Kalis
To read Poems the Pastor Loved, click here
"When are you coming to Brooklyn to help me in the work of the Lord?" This casual invitation from young Pastor Hans Waldvogel to Rudolph Kalis in 1926 was the seed which began a lifetime of fruitful service for the Lord on the east coast. On July 17, 1975, that lifetime was culminated in a quick home-going. Brother Kalis and his wife, Anna were the founders of the Emmanuel Pentecostal Church, Elizabeth, NJ and pastored it for almost forty years.
Rudolph first met his lifelong friend, Hans Waldvogel, in the German Baptist Church in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where Adam Waldvogel, the father of Hans, was pastor. Under the ministry of the elderly pastor, young Rudolph was awakened to his need of salvation. Despite his earnest seeking, the assurance of salvation did not come. The pastor showed Rudolph that standing on the promises of the Word was more important than any feeling. So the young seeker took his stand, repeating often to himself throughout those days that Jesus was His Savior. After about one week of persistence, suddenly the assurance filled his heart. This principle of standing on the Word of God stayed with Rudolph through all of his life.
Shortly after this, Rudolph's friend, Hans, found a richer Christian life in Pentecost. Rudolph, who had become a zealous worker and Sunday school teacher in the Baptist Church, began to attend the Pentecostal meetings at the Newell Street mission in Kenosha, Wisconsin. In spite of the terrible things he had heard about Pentecost, the young worker was blessed in the very first Pentecostal meeting which he attended. After hearing a message in tongues with interpretation for the first time, he told his brother, "I don't see anything wrong with that. It sounds good to me."
Misunderstanding at home concerning Pentecost forced Hans to leave his loved ones. He rented a room at the YMCA in Chicago where he was employed as a goldsmith. He arranged for his friend Rudolph to come and learn diamond-setting in the same firm. Together they lived at the "Y" and worked together at Bayardi Brothers, one of the leading jewelry houses in Chicago, and together they worshipped at the Faith Homes in Zion, Illinois, or at the Pentecostal mission in Kenosha. Before long the call of God in Brother Hans's soul caused him to leave his work to train for the Pentecostal ministry while Rudolph stayed on in Chicago working on the finest jewelry in the world and earning wonderful wages. He began to attend Bethel Temple, a large Pentecostal Church in Chicago, and there, after long, persistent seeking, he received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
One evening, Brother Hans brought young people from the mission in Kenosha to Bethel Temple. One of those young persons received a glorious baptism that night. Her name was Anna Posta. She, too, had found the Lord in the German Baptist Church in Kenosha, and she, too, had followed her Sunday School teacher into Pentecost. Rudolph and Anna slowly and surely were brought together. Meanwhile Rudolph continued on his job in Chicago, and when Rev. and Mrs. George W. Finnern, the pastors of the mission in Kenosha, moved to Chicago and began to work there, Rudolph joined them and helped them in the work. He received much help at the Faith Homes in Zion also, where Elder Eugene Brooks and Mrs. Judd were used of the Lord to instruct him.
It was Elder Brooks who urged Rudolph to get into the ministry. "But, Elder," Rudolph protested one Lord's Day, "if everyone gets into the ministry, who will slip you a twenty-dollar bill once in a while?"
"Kalis, if God could care for two million Jews in the wilderness, He can take care of me if you get into the ministry!" the Elder replied.
Brother Hans, also, who had launched out as an evangelist and then had been led to Brooklyn to become the pastor of a small German flock, appeared in Zion one day and asked the question quoted at the beginning of this story. After much prayer, Rudolph was assured that this was God's appointment for him. He was the second of three who left the jewelry firm for the ministry! He then moved from Chicago, December 31, 1927, and arrived in Brooklyn on New Year's Day, 1928, to become the first assistant to Pastor Hans Waldvogel at the Ridgewood Pentecostal Church, located at Seneca and Cornelia. At the same time he was chosen to be the superintendent of the Sunday school, a position he held as long as he remained in New York.
Brother Kalis made his home with the Hoss family. Their hospitality knew no bounds. The young helper spent much of his time in intercession for the work of the Lord. He also covenanted with the Lord to pray one hour everyday for Brother Hans. During this seeking time, God met him and helped him greatly to overcome his timidity and lack of faith. Through prayer and the study of the Word, great help was given so that the young minister became a real preacher. It was the testimony of Sister Helen Hoss, recently taken home to glory, that, in those days when Brother Kalis lived in their home, the place often was so full of the glory of God that the whole family walked on tiptoe and talked in whispers.
When the time came for Rudolph and Anna to be married, of course, no one else would do to perform the ceremony than their dearest, mutual friend, Hans Waldvogel. After their wedding, September 14, 1929, the Kalises came back to Brooklyn to live in the Woodhaven Faith Home which had just been purchased. But before they could settle down, a door of service opened in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Brother Waldvogel did not want to lose his good helper, but the Lord specifically spoke to him, saying it was necessary sometimes to give up valuable workers for the extension of the Kingdom of God.
The young couple moved to Elizabeth on November 14, 1929, to pastor the German Pentecostal work there called Ebenezer. Thus began forty-six years of ministry in Elizabeth for the Kalises. After six years, the Ebenezer church split, and God led Brother Kalis to pioneer a new work in another part of the town. Many who had found the Lord through his ministry joined him. The Emmanuel Pentecostal Church was founded and began services March 15, 1936. Plenty of hard work and earnest prayer went into the work. Street meetings, park meetings, and tent meetings brought forth fruit. Bible studies and prayer meetings were the backbone of the church. In 1955, the Lord sent his son, Robert, to help in the work and to carry it on: which was a source of great joy to him.
Young people grounded in the Word and filled with the Spirit launched an outreach to Keansburg, NJ about 1957. Brother Kalis took this work upon his heart and prayed much for it. He counselled its leaders and took great joy in every advance. Just two weeks before being called into the presence of the Lord, the faithful pastor visited the Keansburg assembly on a Sunday morning. He returned rejoicing over what God was doing.
Sometime before his passing, he gave very specific instructions regarding his funeral. The material things he left behind were trifling. His legacy was in the lives and hearts of many who found Jesus as their personal Savior through his ministry and some who were prepared for the ministry through his counsel. Once again, he followed his friend, Hans, who had passed away six years before, into the presence of their Lord and Master. Brother Hans, also, who had launched out as an evangelist and then had been led to Brooklyn to become the pastor of a small German flock, appeared in Zion one day and asked the question quoted at the beginning of this story. After much prayer, Rudolph was assured that this was God's appointment for him. He was the second of three who left the jewelry firm for the ministry! He then moved from Chicago, December 31, 1927, and arrived in Brooklyn on New Year's Day, 1928, to become the first assistant to Pastor Hans Waldvogel at the Ridgewood Pentecostal Church, located at Seneca and Cornelia. At the same time he was chosen to be the superintendent of the Sunday school, a position he held as long as he remained in New York.
I've Never Been Sorry