Gethsemane History
In the year of our Lord and Savior, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-one, on the twenty-fifth day of February, eighteen dedicated believers in Christ met on a cold winter evening to conduct the first organizational meeting of Gethsemane Baptist Church.
The meeting took place at 15225 Old Marlboro Pike, Upper Marlboro, Maryland. The first worship service was held on that following Sunday, March 1, 1981. Reverend Ronald Bullock was our first Pastor. He served for a short time. The Lord then sent us Reverend Calvin Scott who served as the Interim Pastor with Reverend Hinton Crockett as his assistant. We truly thank God for the leadership and guidance of Reverend Crockett and Reverend Scott.
While under the faithful ministry and teaching of Reverend Scott, a pulpit committee was elected to search diligently for a Pastor. By the grace of God, faith, and continuous prayer, Reverend John E. Maddox, a God fearing and dedicated man was selected to serve as Pastor. God sent Pastor Maddox and his wife Sister Bennie F. Maddox to us on October 11, 1981. Pastor Maddox served us for over 35 years. He retired January 1, 2017.
Gethsemane grew tremendously under the leadership of Pastor Maddox. In 1984 we moved to our 2500 Enterprise Road property. The structures on the property at the time of purchase were a small house and a two-car garage. We initially used the house as our Sanctuary but quickly outgrew the house and moved to the 2 car-garage. The men of the church converted the garage into what we call today, our Fellowship Hall.
We were quickly outgrowing the Fellowship Hall and were making plans to renovate the house to become our new Sanctuary. Praise God we were able to move into our newly renovated Sanctuary in July of 1991.
The next few years saw much growth. We formed many Ministries and God’s Word was being taught. We had a strong Evangelistic Ministry and many people joined our church.
Throughout the 2000’s God continued to shine His grace on Gethsemane. We established the GBC Christian Education Institute. The Institute was named The Bennie F. Maddox Christian Education Institute, in honor of our First Lady. Sister Maddox went home to be with the Lord on October 27, 2009.
In the year of our Lord, 2017 upon the retirement of Pastor Maddox, God sent us an Interim Pastor, Reverend Jimmie Givens and our First Lady Sister Zita Givens. On September 27, 2017 Reverend Givens was voted permanent Pastor by the congregation. He was ordained December 9, 2017.
Under the distinguished leadership of Pastor Givens, we have licensed two (2) ministers, ordained four (4) Deacons, ordained two (2) Reverends, established a morning prayer line, have a vibrant and exciting weekly Bible Study, established a children’s church, reading the entire Bible, become members of the National Capital Baptist Convention, and so much more.
Pastor Givens lead us through a national pandemic. He was faithful in having God’s Word come forth during this trying pandemic period. To God be all the glory, for His “Amazing Grace”! Gethsemane is a church rich in history and rich in love.