Faith Baptist Church began as a Sunday School mission in East Baltimore sponsored by a group of members of the North Street Baptist Church, now known as Union Baptist Church. On March 22, 1891, Faith Baptist Church was born out of the Sunday School and consisted of four members.
Reverend L. J. Montague was the first Pastor and led the church for three years. Several Pastors followed. Reverend S.S. Wormley was the Pastor for nine years and during his tenure membership grew to seventy-five members. Under the next Pastor, Faith Baptist’s membership decreased and it was saddled with a lot of debt.
On May 21, 1914, Rev. Simon Williamson was installed as Pastor of Faith Baptist Church. During his tenure Faith Baptist began its phenomenal growth and spiritual development. God began to work great things through His servant, Simon Williamson. Rev. Simon Williamson had a “revival” preaching style, which inspired people in all neighborhoods of Baltimore City and drew them in large numbers to Faith Baptist.
Faith Baptist experienced an amazing growth in membership during this time. The church became a spiritual powerhouse and gave comfort, hope and inspiration to thousands of ordinary Black people caught in the vice of repressive economic, political, and social conditions.
In 1916 Rev. Williamson purchased a school house located at the corner of Ashland Avenue and Bond Street and used it for three years as the membership continued to grow. Eventually, Faith Baptist outgrew the school house and it was demolished. In 1921, a new church was built on the same site at a cost of $35,000.
With continued growth in membership, Rev. Williamson launched another project, which doubled the seating capacity of the main sanctuary to accommodate 750 congregants at a cost of $22,500. The project was completed in 1940. Rev. Williamson was called from labor to his reward in November 1954.
In 1953, Dr. Walter E. Paige became a full time assistant and was officially installed as Pastor on July 1, 1955. He renovated a portion of the building and installed an air conditioning system at a cost of more than $21,000.
Dr. Paige’s selection as Pastor of Faith Baptist Church was a natural one. Soon after coming to Baltimore from Virginia, Dr. Paige affiliated himself with Faith Baptist Church. Reorganization of the church took place and new organizations were created to enhance the effectiveness of work of the church.
During the mid 1950’s many Black churches awoke to the need for more comprehensive Christian education programs. Dr. Paige led the church to purchase five houses located next to the church. His purpose was to build a Christian Education Center adjacent to the church building. The center became a reality and it was dedicated on March 31, 1964.
The Committee for Christian Education was created in 1960 and shaped the Christian education agenda to reach every area of church life, which led it to hire a paid full time Christian education director. The financial and business structure of the church was streamlined and a new and bold program was envisioned and advanced. Under Dr. Paige, Christian Education became the top priority. The Christian Education Center was the culmination of a dream shared by Dr. Paige and the members of Faith. Dr. Walter Paige retired as Pastor in July of 1994 and served as Pastor Emeritus until his demise in June 1995.
Reverend Greggory R. Maddox was elected Pastor of Faith Baptist Church in August 1995 and was installed as the Pastor in May 1996, thus beginning the fourth epoch of Faith Baptist Church. Pastor Maddox’s vision for Faith Baptist was clearly stated: “Preparing and equipping God’s people for the century to come through innovative ministries.”
Pastor Maddox vision statement for Faith Baptist announced a church wide emphasis on Christian discipleship.
In addition, a Noon Day Bible Study has been instituted. The Men’s Fellowship Ministry and the Women’s Ministry have been enhanced, and, several innovative ministries have been established, which include Children’s Church, a Dance Ministry, and a Sign Language Ministry.
Other visionary undertakings include the creation of the Voices of Inspiration Choir, the development of Faith Baptist’s official website, an increase in stewardship and tithing, as well as a payment system to retire the church’s elevator mortgage debt. Also, several new community outreach and support projects have been developed. Property has been purchased directly across from the church for outreach projects and houses a community service program managed by the Johns Hopkins Hospital.