About
Our Purpose
As a church, our purpose is to be the living body through which God can accomplish His work to His glory. Our ministry is designed to produce faithful devoted followers of Jesus Christ. We believe every disciple should use their gifts, talents and resources to make the church what God created it to be (Matt. 5:16, 28:16-20, Eph.1:11-12 and Col. 1:28-29).
Our Objective in Fulfilling the Mission:
1. – We believe that the primary goal of worship is to express to God the gratitude we hold for Him. We exalt God by providing a spiritual environment through preaching, prayer, singing, testimonies, ordinances (Ps. 95-96, Matt. 28:19, Acts 5:42 and Heb.10:25).
2. – We believe that the Bible is God’s holy, inerrant and inspired Word. It is our purpose to teach every member how to draw from scripture the principles and commandments that God expects us to live by (Acts 5:42, Acts 17:11, II Tim. 3:16-17, Jam. 1:22 and II Pet. 1:20-21).
3. – We believe that Christians need to be built up in the faith. Therefore, we promote fellowship with one another, and as an outgrowth of fellowship, the caring and sharing of God’s people one to another (Jn. 13:35, Acts 2:44, Heb. 3:12-13 and Gal. 6:1-2).
4.– We believe that we must actively equip those who have trusted Jesus Christ as their Savior to do the work of the ministry. It is our desire that each believer be equipped to live a fruitful Christian life and to help others reach spiritual maturity (Eph. 4:11-12, 6:10-20, II Tim. 2:2 and 3:16-17).
5.– We believe spiritually lost people are important to God. Therefore we seek to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with those who are spiritually lost, with the intent of seeing them come to faith in Jesus Christ. It is our desire to see every member actively sharing their faith with others (Luke 15, Acts 8:1-4, 20:20-21 and I Cor. 15:1-11).
Our History
Pleasant Grove Baptist Church had its humble beginning in 1970 in the heart and mind of the late Rev. Edward Sellman, Sr. Rev. Sellman and his lovely wife, Marion R., their four children, Edward Jr., Valerie, Terry, Marvin, II and several other members made up the congregation. Rev. Sellman and the congregation were passionate about the work of the Lord!
The first place of worship was a small two-room house on a dirt road in Lothian, Maryland. There was no indoor plumbing or air conditioning and no written mission statement. However, the members were on a mission to come together and strengthen their strong spiritual faith in God, and the faith of others as the Lord would lead.
From its six-member beginning, the newly established Pleasant Grove Baptist Church grew slowly in numbers; however, under Rev. Sellman’s leadership the church did grow spiritually and held worship services every Sunday. Membership entering the 1990's was about the same as in 1970. There is no complete list of the members of the 1990's but a partial list is as follows: Rev. Edward Sellman, Sr., Marion Sellman, Edward Sellman, Jr., Terry Sellman, Valerie Sellman, Marvin Sellman, II, Tony Sellman, Remona Sellman, Patricia Franklin, Harriett Franklin, Charles Franklin, the Hall and Sharp Families, Landon Clayton, Dorrie Clayton, Lavice Clayton, Jamese Hemsley, Ann Clayton and Carlton Burns, Sr. Rev. Sellman served as Pastor until 1995.
In 1997, the Lord called Rev. Sellman home. However, prior to his Homegoing, Rev. Sellman had the foresight to hand over the reigns of the leadership of Pleasant Grove to Rev. Carlton R. Burns, Sr., who was the Assistant Pastor. Rev. Carlton Burns was no novice to the word of God. On November 12, 1989, he was licensed and ordained as a minister at Pleasant Grove. In 1995, Rev. Carlton R. Burns, Sr. accepted the call to become the Pastor of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church and has served through the ups and downs of the ministry since that time. Today, the ministry continues to grow with God's mercy and grace.