A Short History of
Rockville Presbyterian Church

Soon after the Revolutionary War and the establishment of our country, some of the residents of Rockville, Maryland, seeking spiritual guidance and a house of worship, formed Rockville Presbyterian Church. In the beginning, they were without a minister. Laymen administered the spiritual leadership. Thereafter, a three-church circuit was formed under Dr. John Mines, an ordained minister who served Rockville, Bethesda, and Captain John (now called “Cabin John”). According to the research of Dr. Fred McCorkle, former historian of Potomac Presbytery, the work in Cabin John was turned over to the Methodists while Rockville and Bethesda became separate congregations in 1820, making our church 181 years of age. 

The first white, wooden structure to be known as Rockville Presbyterian Church was located on Court Street-a street that intersected the present courthouse site between Jefferson Street and Montgomery Avenue. The small membership of 50 people weathered depressions and wars as they worshipped and lived devout lives. 

1n 1873, fire ravaged the little white church, but with faith in God and themselves, the small group built a brick edifice about the size of our present building on the original site within a year. 

In 1929, the County Commissioners selected the church site for a courthouse. The church was sold and the present one built in 1930. At their first service, the congregation of 70 was debt free! 

An Education Wing was erected in 1950, but in less than a year overcrowding of classrooms became a problem. The growth of the church paralleled that of the town and the county. In 1955, the congregation authorized the purchase of property adjacent to the church – 29,646 square feet of land and house. In 1958, the construction of the Fellowship Building was authorized and work was completed in 1960. 

Dr. Mines’ 30 year pastorate was followed by those of Pastors Flournoy, Graham, Chinn, McNair, Shaw, Henderson, Mosley, Murdock, Davies, Pasma, Cobbs and Fahl. Dr. Pasma served the church for 25 years and Mr. Fahl for 21 years. The Rev. James Adams came to the Rockville Church first as an interim minister and then as permanent pastor in 1975. The Rev. Margee Adams became our Assistant Minister and Director of Christian Education on August 1, 1976. In 1978, Jim and Margee Adams became co-pastors. In doing so, they became the first clergy couple in the Presbyterian Church to serve as co-pastors, each with a full time salary. (Other couples had served sharing one salary or “one and a half” salaries.) Margee Adams resigned in 1983 to become pastor of the Silver Spring Presbyterian Church. 

Since Margee Adams left, the church has been blessed by a series of outstanding educators. These are Gaye Brown (now an ordained pastor), the Rev. Amy Busse, Heather Smith and Jeff Taylor. 

In March of 2001, the Rev. Dr. James H. Adams resigned, having served Rockville Presbyterian Church for 25 years. In June of the same year, the Rev. Dr. Chris T. Looker became the interim pastor of the church. 

The Rockville Presbyterian Church has lived through many varying fortunes since it first became a separate congregation in 1920. For several years, until the latter part of the 19^th century, the congregation vacillated between being an individual congregation and sharing the same minister with Bethesda Presbyterian Church. When that relationship terminated, our congregation numbered but a few families, has grown as large as 750 members. We presently have a membership of about 240.  

On January 6, 1972, our church became one of the 109 local congregations to form the new National Capital Union Presbytery, made up of former members of the Potomac Presbytery and the Washington City Presbytery. With this union, we became members of both the United Presbyterian Church (the Northern Church) and the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (the Southern Church). In 1983, the two branches of the church united in the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. 

In 1978, a committee was formed to help re-settle some Laotian refugees. Two sisters and a brother were the first to arrive, but eventually 11 members of the family came to the U.S. The first three were housed with congregational members temporarily until separate housing could be arranged. The oldest sister found a job and the younger sister and the brother, Doug, were placed in the county school system. 

1982 was a significant year in the life of the congregation. The senior high youth group took their longest and largest mission trip. 44 senior highs and 9 adults went to Yakutat, Alaska, to help build a manse for the Presbyterian pastor there. [The pastor at that time, David Dobler, later became moderator of the denomination.] In addition to 41 Presbyterian youth, we added one Catholic, one Jew, and one Buddhist. 

These trips were begun in 1980 and have continued annually. The group has been in 21 different states, countries or U.S. possessions. These include Puerto Rico, Mexico, Vermont, Florida, Minnesota, Oklahoma and others. Over 150 different young people have been on these trips. Twenty to 30 different adults have accompanied them as sponsors. 

Also in 1982, a group of 12 women approached the Session about opening Fellowship Hall as an emergency shelter for battered or homeless women. After a series of adventures, including the local citizens’ group and the city government, the shelter was opened for 100 nights beginning December 5. It was called “Rainbow Place”.  

Eventually, the program won numerous community awards. The Session voted to re-open the next fall from November 1 until March 31. Many improvements have been made over the years. By the year 2000, women were sleeping on cots rather than the floor, could take showers, do laundry and have supper and breakfast served. A bag lunch is also provided. The program continues in existence and is now funded by several government entities in addition to the church. A book was written about the shelter by Elliott Liebow, a psychologist retired from the National Institutes of Mental Health. It is called Tell Them Who I Am. 

In the early 1980’s the church also offered to share its space with the Rockville Korean Presbyterian Church. This continued until the Korean congregation was able to buy its own church. 

For about 10 years, the church also housed Ets Chaiyim School. This K-8 grade school was sponsored by the Beth Messiah (Jewish Christians) congregation. It moved out when it began expanding to include high school students and outgrew R.P.C.’s space. 

Our church has a proud tradition of welcoming everyone without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, age disability or marital status. In 1985, the Session passed a resolution saying we also welcome and encourage the full participation of persons without regard to sexual orientation. The congregation continues to promote equal rights for all persons.

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