Our History

A Brief History of Bethesda Presbyterian Church

We trace our roots to the congregation first served by the Reverend Hugh Conn and the Reverend John Orme in 1723. In 1746 Edward Offutt deeded land for the meeting house and put the Cabin John Church on the map.

In 1779 the Reverend Hunt became our pastor. When he died in 1793 associations were formed with other congregations in the "horseshoe of the Potomac" that is now Montgomery County.

After a succession of pastors the Bethesda Meeting House was created in 1820. A frame building was built near the present site of the Bethesda Meeting House on Rockville Pike just north of Cedar Lane. The Reverend John Mines became pastor.

The church was raising funds for a parsonage when the original church burned in November, 1849. But the congregation rallied and built a new church the following year and a parsonage in 1851.

The Reverend Edward Cumpston began serving both the Bethesda and Rockville churches in 1859. At his urging, church members and neighbors persuaded the post office to call its new facility Bethesda Post Office in 1871. Thus the church named the town.

One of our most successful and influential ministers was the Reverend Dr. Parke P. Flournoy who arrived in 1875. During his 40 years of service the church expanded adding a branch on Montrose Road.

The Reverend Stanley White succeeded Dr. Flournoy in 1923 and presided over the relocation of the church to its present site where services were first held on July 18 1926.

Plans for further church building were developed during the tenure of the Reverend John L. Parkes from 1935 until his untimely death in 1939.

The Reverend James S. Albertson, the new pastor, presided over the dedication of the new addition in November, 1943 and continued to serve until late 1954.

The Reverend Dr. Carl R. Pritchett began twenty years' service in 1956. In addition to providing strong leadership, Dr. Pritchett campaigned to renovate the original church cemetery. His leadership urged the congregation to participate in the civil rights movement. In 2002 he was inducted into the Montgomery County Human Rights Hall of Fame for his "visionary leadership, outstanding achievement and altruism on the road to eliminating discrimination, diminishing the effects of discrimination, and advancing human rights."

The Reverend R. Talmadge Haynes, Jr. succeeded Dr. Pritchett in 1977 and quickly gained respect for his highly regarded sermons. He presided over the church's 260th anniversary and retired in 1987.

From 1987 to 1989 Associate Pastor Lynn Stanton-Hoyle and Interim Pastor Dr. Richard Neff not only served the congregation's needs, but helped develop the church's goals for the future.

The Reverend Allen Timm, who was pastor from 1989 to 1996, had a special talent for helping individual church members find their own lay ministries.

After the successful and well-received interim pastorate of the Reverend Nancy J. B. Clark, the church welcomed the Reverend Dr. Frederick Ritsch and his family from 1997-2002.

Come visit, join in one of our many activities and see for yourselves what we are up to now.

In the generations since that beginning in 1723, our church's members have faced and overcome the challenges of revolution, slavery, fire, civil war, segregation, and schism within the congregation. The next fourteen generations will face new challenges, and earn their own rewards, as their church continues to serve the community it named.