The Rev. Matthew L. Watley says it's not happenstance his suburban Maryland congregation, part of the historically Black African Methodist Episcopal denomination, landed at the top of a list of the fastest-growing churches in America.
Reverend Matthew L. Watley delivers his sermon during Sunday service at Kingdom Fellowship AME Church, Sunday, June 2, 2024, in Calverton, Md. The suburban Maryland congregation, led by Rev. Watley, has landed at the top of a list of the …CALVERTON, Md. — The Rev. Matthew L. Watley says it’s not happenstance his suburban Maryland congregation, part of the historically Black African Methodist Episcopal denomination, landed at the top of a list of the fastest-growing churches in America.
On a recent Sunday morning, Watley, 50, preached to a packed sanctuary from the Gospel of Luke about Zacchaeus’ transformative meeting with Jesus. The short and corrupt tax collector changed his ways after climbing a tree to see Jesus over the crowd. But Kingdom Fellowship still wants to be identified with its homespun hospitality and a culture that puts its members on equal footing regardless of what they do outside the church.
With Washington’s blessing, those ideas included launching Reid Temple North with a small contingent of volunteers. They held the first worship service in 2006 in the Montgomery Blair High School cafeteria, where they met until 2010. The growing congregation moved into a renovated building in Silver Spring, Maryland, where Watley added a second Sunday service in 2011 and a third in 2013. The campus eventually became financially self-sufficient.
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