We, Jerry and Maxine Brown, welcome you to the Gaithersburg Presbyterian Church Web site, and we would like to share with you why we are members of this wonderful congregation.

We moved to Gaithersburg in 1975, and as we had done frequently, we visited various churches in the area to re-establish our membership.  We were still in the visiting mode in 1977 when our son and his Cub Scout friends graduated to Boy Scouts and decided to join Troop 207 at GPC.  Jerry, having been the Cub master of the Cub pack, joined his son Aaron in his new scouting adventure, and ultimately becoming Scoutmaster.  While attending the many scout meetings and activities at GPC, many friendly faces became familiar because Jerry commuted to work with them on the MARC train each day.  Maxine found that she worked with some of the members at IBM-Gaithersburg.

So, we began to attend Sunday worship and found the services to be spiritually uplifting.  We met many other worshippers and developed friendships with people who, we felt, were reaching out to us.  We attended a Sunday school class, and later when we were asked, we served as ushers.  Our son was having the time of his life with the Youth Group.  Finally, in 1980, we joined this congregation.  Since we had never been Presbyterian before, we chose to ease into this situation, although the transition wasn’t too onerous.  We had been Lutheran (LCA) for a short time before coming to Gaithersburg, and before then, we had briefly been members of the Reformed Church.  Job relocations offer opportunities to try different things.  However, our spiritual roots were in the Baptist tradition, from childhood to our early married years, when together we taught first grade Sunday school at the Second Baptist Church in Los Angeles, CA.

In the years that we have been members of GPC, our faith has grown and has been reinforced and enhanced by our association and worship with a most diverse and inclusive congregation.  From our many years of rewarding experiences with the weekly Youth Group activities and summer missions, our commitment of nearly thirty years to our Covenant group, and participation in adult missions, we feel that we are blessed to be in this place at this time.

We have always felt that God’s work is done by our service to Him and by extension to all of His children. 

Gaithersburg Presbyterian Church is full of opportunities for service and ministry both within its walls and beyond the walls.  Please take a look at them elsewhere on the website.  For a closer, more personal examination, please visit us on this Sunday at any of the three services, and stay awhile afterwards for coffee, refreshments and fellowship in Lindsay Hall.