Bates Area Civic Association

Maryland Community Newspapers Online

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Metropolitan Baptist parishioners await opening of new site

by Liz Skalski | Staff Writer

Metropolitan Baptist Church’s plan to move from Washington, D.C. to Largo has not been easy.

The declining economy caused construction prices to rise, and in October, construction on the new church on Capitol Court was halted because of increased project costs. It became obvious the planned Easter Sunday opening for the church was not going to occur.

“We were unable to secure the funding we needed,” said the Rev. H. Beecher Hicks Jr., senior minister at the church.

Still, church leaders and parishioners remain optimistic and say the delay has brought them closer together.

“It’s important not to get so caught up in a building. At the end of the day, [the church] was a building,” said Deacon George Hazel, 34, of Gaithersburg. “I go to church to praise God, not a building. Once you wrap your mind around that, it’s easier to understand that it’s still about worshiping God.”

<sw_photo=8709>Church leaders chose to move the place of worship from northwest Washington, D.C., where the church had been for 145 years, because there wasn’t enough space to expand. The former church, founded in 1864 as FourthBaptistChurch during the Civil War, could hold 1,400 people; the new location will seat 3,200.

The church has about 4,000 members, Hicks said.

He declined to say how much money the project costs and the amount of additional funding needed. The date the church, located at 100   Capitol Court, will open is yet to be determined.

In the meantime, services are being held at the DorothyI.HeightCommunityAcademyPublicCharterSchool auditorium in Washington, D.C. It isn’t anticipated that the church congregation will worship at the school for much longer, but arrangements have been made to do so for two years, if necessary, Hicks said.

“The congregation understands that this is a comfortable quarter, comfortable surroundings, but this is not our home,” Hicks said. “We will be ill-content until we are able to make the final move into our new home.”

Nearly 70 percent of the new church’s sanctuary and about 25 percent of its administrative complex is complete, Hicks said. The parking lot, which has more than 1,000 spaces, is paved and striped; trees and grass are planted. The project encompasses 150,000 square feet.

Church leaders have been raising money for the new location since 2000.

“This is more about how we can advance our ministry to provide greater service, to reach out to a larger group of people,” said Deacon Lindsey Merritt, 40, of Fairfax, Va. “We’ll come out stronger on the back end than when we went in.”

E-mail Liz Skalski at

eskalski@gazette.net.