God at Work - First Alliance Church, Silver Spring MD

Doors are Opening

We believe that God is always at work, but when He does things quietly behind the scenes we don’t always notice. Then again, sometimes it is hard not to see what he has been working on all along.

In January of 2020, we invited Pastor Allen Grimes to join the staff as Executive pastor. With this decision came a merger of two churches, First Alliance Church, and Harvest Time Community Church. Building bridges across racial lines was certainly on our minds, but we had no idea then just what it could lead to. God, however, knows the end from the beginning and was already at work.

Just the year before, God led our church to start a food distribution for the community. Initially, we were hard pressed to have enough volunteers, but along the way God sent more and more people to help us. At first, it included people in the neighborhood that found out about it and wanted to participate. Then it included volunteers from some of the other churches that meet in our building. Along the way, a home school group saw this as a great opportunity for their students to serve. And then, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., a group where Pastor Grimes is a member, inquired about helping. Though not explicitly a Christian group, several of the founders were Ministers of the Gospel and their motto is: Culture for Service and Service for Humanity.

Fast forward to the Spring of 2022. The leaders of the fraternity asked us if we would consider co-hosting a memorial service for the late Congressman, John Lewis. Regardless of one’s political views, Congressman Lewis is viewed as a Civil Rights Icon, along with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and others. He was honored by our national leaders soon after his death, but because of COVID, he was not able to be memorialized by his own local fraternity chapter, of which he was an active member. So, being asked to co-host this service was a great honor, but the question begged another question.

With all the churches in the community and with some much larger or more “prestigious” than First Alliance Church, why us? The answer showed us that God has been at work in us and through us. The fraternity leaders said, “There is something about this place.” They went on to talk about our commitment to serve and our desire to break down walls between people. It seemed to them that our church would be a fitting place to hold a memorial for one of their dearest members.

So, the service took place on Saturday, August 27, 2022. Hundreds of people attended, including dignitaries from across the nation. Pastor Grimes and I welcomed the gathering in the name of the Lord. Pastor Grimes also gave the keynote speech, and though the program was not a church service, Jesus was in the room, and he was glorified. 

What else happened at this event? People told us that they could see how First Alliance was “connecting the dots” through partnership and community. More people expressed a desire to volunteer, and more doors are in the process of being opened. God has been working and we are now getting to see some of the things that he has in mind!