FAIRHAVEN

Fairhaven United Methodist Church is an active and diverse congregation. Our journey began in the 1960s with 3 small Methodist churches located within 5 miles of each other in the rural Quince Orchard area of Gaithersburg. In 1965, McDonald Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church, a white Southern church, and Hunting Hill Methodist Church, a white Northern church, which had previously been on the same charge, merged and became Fairhaven United Methodist Church. The possibility of merging the two white churches and Pleasant View Methodist Episcopal Church, a black church, was mentioned as early as 1960. However, it wasn’t until 1968 that the unification of Fairhaven and Pleasant View became a reality and the memberships of most of the Pleasant View congregation transferred to Fairhaven.

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The name Fairhaven, refers to Paul’s stopping at the port of Fair Havens (Acts 27:8-19) for repairs to his boat before continuing on to Rome with the Good News of Jesus Christ. It was suggested as the new church’s name by Reverend Kenneth Carder, the pastor in 1965, and chosen by congregational vote. Because none of the three churches had enough land on which to build a new, larger building, the present site was purchased in 1968. In 1970 the original building was dedicated. A new education wing, with the current kitchen and Fellowship Hall, was added in 1990.

 

Looking toward the future, Fairhaven continues to minister to a community that is rapidly expanding and changing. We have been nurtured by and have drawn strength from the diversity of the worship traditions of our members. Fairhaven United Methodist Church strives to be an inclusive church, welcoming everyone into our fellowship as followers of Jesus Christ.

 

As we continue to grow, as a community of faith and as witnesses to God’s love in the world, we look to a bright future of caring, sharing, and serving the Lord!

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