3 Decades of CLC History
Christian Life Center was founded in 1974, when it was known as the First United Pentecostal Church of Rockville. The congregation met in the "little white church," which is still standing today. Our first church had no running water and a homemade baptismal tank (although we usually used the creek for baptisms).
Soon afterward, the church bought the property next door and began a building program. In the meantime, the congregation left the old white church and began meeting at the Casey Barns Community Center in Gaithersburg, Md., for services. We would walk around the new property, where the building would stand someday, and believed for the Lord's blessings. During this time, we also held brush arbor meetings and tent revivals, with various ministers such as Bro. Bob McCool, Bro. Terry McIntyre, Bro. Michael Mangold, Bro. Charles Mahaney, and many other anointed men of God.
When construction began and the shape of the new facility began to emerge, prayer meetings were held every Tuesday night in the makeshift building. The congregation cleared most of the land and took part in most of the construction of the building.
During one meeting at Casey Barns, fire apparently was seen coming from the roof of the building. The fire department was called numerous times by surrounding neighbors. The service was interrupted by the fire department going up on top of the roof and looking around to try to find the fire. However, the only fire that was burning on the roof was the Holy Ghost fire! The firefighters were confused that day, but we knew what was going on! The Holy Ghost fire was there in abundance!
Finally, the new church building was finished, which is now where our Spanish Ministry meets. During this time, our church was blessed with a major amount of land for a greatly reduced price. God had met yet another need!
After a few years in the first building, a second building was needed to accommodate our growing church. That second building was built, and the first building was converted into a fellowship hall. Also at this time, the church changed its name to Christian Life Center, and a new work in Silver Spring, Md., was started under the direction of Bro. Steve Heintze.
After spending a fair amount of time in the second building, a third building was constructed, which is where we currently meet. Christian Life Center currently has several hundred members and is consistently growing and reaching out to those in our area and, thanks to the Internet, across the world.