The History of FCF
•1980—Under the direction of pastoral intern Craig Garriott, Faith Christian Fellowship began as an inner city mission church of the Presbyterian Church in America with about ten people. Our commitment from the beginning was to the Scriptures, to unity and reconciliation, and to an aggressive pursuit of doing justice and mercy.
• Spring 1981—Craig and his wife, Maria, moved into an apartment house in the 3500 block of Greenmount Avenue and began holding worship services in their living room.
•
Summer 1981—InterVarsity Christian
Fellowship (IVCF) sponsored an Urban Summer Project with FCF under
the direction of IVCF Staff Directors Stan Long and Dan Korzep. Some key leaders remained to assist in the development of the church.
• 1982—FCF's Sunday worship moved to the Waverly United Methodist Church, which provided the significant locational stability for a whole year.
• January 1983—FCF began renting the former Boundary United Methodist Church at 505 East 42nd Street and obtained a lease with an option to buy the facility. The asking price was $240,000. FCF claimed Pen Lucy as our target community for Christian community development. Pen Lucy was regarded as one of the most economically depressed communities of Baltimore, with a median income of $10,400, an entrenched drug trafficking and violence problem, and a 50 percent poverty level for children.
•
Spring 1983—FCF became a particular church with 48 founding members,
including 25 children, and Craig
Garriott was ordained and called to become the pastor. Bill Bolling
and Bob Jenkins were ordained as ruling elders.
• 1984—FCF purchased the Boundary Church building for $180,000. The Govans Boundary United Methodist Church forgave FCF an outstanding debt of $5,000 on Easter of that year in recognition of the forgiveness and grace of God through Christ. Due to God's extraordinary provision, the entire bank loan of $60,000 was paid off. The remainder of the debt was paid in full in 1991 by God's provision through the faithful giving of FCF's members.
• Summer 1984—FCF held a weekend retreat and launched our covenant group ministries to provide nurturing and shepherding care for our members.
• 1986—FCF sent out five members including Missions Pastor Mark Gornick and Deacon Kelly Simpkins to establish a work in West Baltimore that was to become New Song Community Church and Urban Ministries.
• 1980s—FCF launched a number of outreach and Christian community development ministries. Some of these still continue in some form while others lasted for a season:
- Legal Clinic
- Counseling Service
- Faith's Food Closet
- Faith's Fashions (a secondhand clothes closet)
- Center for Urban Discipleship
- Angel Tree Project (a Prison Fellowship ministry for inmates' children)
- Maryland Training School for Boys ministry
- Little Disciples (outreach to elementary-age children in Pen Lucy)
- Neighborhood Youth Ministries (outreach to high school-age youth in Pen Lucy)
- GED program (high school equivalency)
- Home for Unwed Mothers
- Life Alternatives to Drugs and Violence nights
- FCF Housing Ministry
- Old York Day Care Center
- FCF Summer Camp
- FCF Bible Clubs (after-school ministry)
- Preschool Reading Camp Program
•
1993—Baltimore
Christian School (BCS) was formed to address the educational crisis
and needs of the community and surrounding area under the leadership of
Dr. Doug Mac Iver, and educational researcher and associate director of
the Johns Hopkins University for Social Organization of Schools. Doug
served as interim principal and chairman of the board. The school began
with five children in kindergarten.
•
1998—Pen
Lucy Youth Partnership (PLYP) began under the direction of Kevin Good,
a former professional soccer player with the Charlotte Eagles, to serve
the children and families in Pen Lucy and the surrounding communities
through educational tutoring, sports leagues, mentoring and youth employment
development.
• 1999—The Pen Lucy Action Network (PLAN) was formed and incorporated as a nonprofit community development organization to complement the existing church ministries of Pen Lucy by assisting residents in correcting injustices for the glory of God.
• 1999—The Reconciliation Task Force of FCF completed its Unity Declaration, a creed declaring holistic biblical unity in the Body of Christ as we seek to celebrate and apply the reconciling work of Christ across various racial, social and economic divides.
• 1990s—FCF continued to grow as a
united worshiping community under the gifted musical
leadership of Music Director Mary Ann Brandli and Gospel Choir Director
J.T. McMillan, former director of Unified Voices, the Johns Hopkins University
gospel choir.
• January 2000 —FCF sent Minister of Youth and Outreach Thurman Williams to become the pastor of New Song Community Church. Marc Rollman, a Pen Lucy resident and ruling elder at FCF, was ordained to the gospel ministry and sent to take on a reconciliation and community development work with Christian Community Church, a Brazilian Portuguese-speaking congregation in Newark, N.J., which has determined to reach out to other ethnic groups in the area.
• March 1, 2000 —The Rev. Stan Long joins the staff as co-pastor (yep, that same Stan Long who led the IVCF project in 1981).
• June 10, 2001—FCF celebrated the inauguration of a new playground for Baltimore Christian School and Pen Lucy, which was graciously donated by Central Presbyterian Church.
• January 2002—Pastor-at-Large Wy Plummer Joins the staff and seminarian Brad Beier comes to FCF to be trained in urban cross-cultural ministry
• September 2002—J.T. McMillan moves on and Howard J. Turner III becomes director of the United Voices of Faith.
• February 2002—CareSeekers drug addiction recovery ministry begun by Pen Lucy Action Network.
• March 2003—Patty Prasada-Rao joins the staff as part-time associate music director.
• Summer 2003—Eli Foster comes on board as minister of youth and outreach while Brad Beier transitions out to a call in Chicago. "If You Spend Yourselves..." building campaign is launched in August.
God has blessed the ministry of FCF over the course of these past two decades as we have slowly grown to maximize our present space for worship, ministry and education. By faith we have been acquiring additional adjacent properties as we look to God to continue to enlarge our ministry capacity for His glory. Our vision is to expand the school to accommodate 200 youth in grades K-8 and to add a gymnasium/multipurpose center. We invite you to join in God's work with us as we seek to celebrate and apply the reconciling work of Christ in Pen Lucy and Baltimore for the glory of God. Click here for more information about FCF's building vision.
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Page updated July 15, 2004