Twinbrook Baptist Church was established in a new residential subdivision of Rockville in 1956 by Reverend John Laney and a number of young couples who shared a vision of racial and gender equality at a time when it was not foremost on peoples’ minds in postwar America. A “Fellowship of the Concerned.” The mission of the new church was very simple - “To bring Christ and the church to those who have been turned off or turned away. We represent hope to the hopeless and provide an environment that is safe, open to questioning and discussion, free from judgment, and full of Christ's love.”
Reverend Laney spoke out passionately in those early years favoring predominantly white churches that were accepting black members. He supported the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King and his struggle for racial equality while also speaking out in opposition to America’s military adventures throughout Southeast Asia. Twinbrook Baptist Church steered a course independent and divergent from that of the conservative Southern Baptist Convention. In 1960, when the SBC suggested that “God Almighty does not hear the prayer of a Jew,” it was Reverend Laney who objected to such blatant anti-Semitism, publishing a retort in local Baptist publications in Washington, DC, stating categorically that such a God “would be a God who would have listened to the silent Christians in Nazi Germany while turning a deaf ear to the millions of Jews who cried out from the concentration camps and the gas chambers of the Holocaust . . . I cannot conceive of a God who would eagerly listen to Jerry Falwell and Bailey Smith but who would not tolerate a prayer from such great souls of the recent past as Martin Buber and Abraham Heschel.” Bold words from an American Baptist minister in 1960.
As a result, for more than six decades Twinbrook Baptist Church has always stood tall, often taller than the rest, and rose to every challenge to champion unity and acceptance among those less fortunate. It stood with those who found themselves outside of a fair and equal social equality, and in doing so it left its indelible mark on its neighborhood, on its community, and on the basic precepts of true Christianity . . . something it seems to me we are in dire need of these days as evangelical exceptionist “Christianity” seems to hold sway over much of the nation and the powers that be in Washington and in various statehouses.
This is one of the reasons my wife and I found a home at Twinbrook Baptist Church. We were both raised in the Methodist church. We were baptized in the Methodist church. Together we attended a small liberal arts college in Florida affiliated with the Methodist church. Like many in our generation, as we moved away from home and began to establish careers and start families, it was easy to put spiritual matters and questions of faith further down on the pecking order, and we strayed away from the church for several years. Then, in 1982, we bought our first house following the birth of our son, and we attempted to reestablish our connections with our Methodism. Unfortunately, the church we selected in our neighborhood was in the throes of its own collapse, and when it finally did, we never looked for an alternative.
It was in 2007 that my wife joined one of her best friends, who grew up at Twinbrook where her parents were founding members, in a Habitat for Humanity build in western Maryland as part of the church’s regular mission program with that important organization. She was quickly attracted to the church’s dynamic pastor and many of the church members, and as a result we began to attend occasional Sunday services and celebrated the congregants as kindred spirits with similar liberal to progressive values and goals enjoyed by a close-knit faith community. Once I retired in 2010, we began to attend more regularly and soon we decided to join the church. Shortly after we did, however, the pastor decided to step down, and eventually left the ministry entirely. It was then, in my humble opinion, when the church’s decline began to accelerate. It had long been in a slow decline as older members passed away and children who grew up in church moved away. But there was a strong and active core that kept things going. And we liked that and found a new spiritual home there regardless of the slowly dwindling numbers.
We had a temporary pastor whom I liked, but going in we knew she was a place holder until the congregation was able to call a new pastor to the pulpit. The process continued for several long and painstaking months but we eventually settled on another dynamic pastor who was committed to the church’s existing liberal and progressive principles – a church found on the principle that it was a safe place for people of color and other marginalized groups. She was also a local and national advocate for the LGBTQ community, and she pledged to raise the standard of welcoming and affirming Christianity and to make Twinbrook Baptist Church a sanctuary where the LGBTQ community would not only feel safe, but also welcomed. The church was officially “out,” incorporating the rainbow colors into its logo. There was a sign on the front lawn declaring “All Are Welcome Here. Really!” Its members marched in annual Pride parades. So why did the LGBTQ community not come? A few showed up, but almost none of them stayed.
Perhaps the most disturbing result of this shift in direction was the number of core members who decided to leave the church and worship with a more traditional pastor and congregation. And the attendance at church services and events continued to dwindle. Some new members - straight and otherwise - would occasionally come, yet very few of them stayed. It was not long before we came to the painful conclusion that the church was dying faster than we wanted to admit. And it was not happening only at Twinbrook. Regardless of denomination, congregations are shrinking across America as former worshiper are distancing themselves from organized religion. So what to do?
Twinbrook could have continued to dwindle until there was nothing left. No more members and no money left in the bank. What a sad legacy to just disappear after six decades without a trace. The numbers and the money were dwindling and it was time to decide whether this would be the ultimate fate and legacy of Twinbrook Baptist Church. The decision was a loud and resounding “no”! There must be some way to make some good come out of this difficult situation.
Two years ago the congregation began to ask itself serious questions about survival and various option to sustain it. Perhaps a part-time pastor? A smaller, less informal place of worship? More effort into outreach ministries? Still, the reality of a fast dwindling membership would not support these options. The decision was to accept its fate and close with dignity and to share its remaining largesse with others.
For the past 14 years Twinbrook had been sharing its sanctuary and common areas with Centro Cristiano Peniel, a large and thriving Spanish-speaking congregation. Over the course of several months an arrangement was put in place to allow this congregation to purchase the entire church building outright at far below the fair market price. The closing of one church ensures the survival of another. What better legacy can there be? CCP will continue to allow the existing daycare center and other Twinbrook-sponsored mission projects to remain in their spaces pursuant to existing arrangements. In addition, Twinbrook is donating more than $1 million of the proceeds from the building’s sale to dozens of local organizations sharing its liberal values – a diabetes clinic and hospice care, emergency housing funds, Habitat for Humanity, local school lunch programs, LGBTQ youth programs and other local community initiatives and non-profit organizations. Add to these Baptist organizations such as the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists.
Personally, it is sad to see the doors of Twinbrook Baptist Church. For those of us who worshiped there, whether it was for 63 years or just a year or two, it will always hold a special place in our hearts. As one door close, dozens of others are opened. The legacy of the Fellowship of the Concerned will continue. May its gifts be a lasting benefit to all. And after all, isn’t that what faith is really all about?
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