In Oakland Mills, the oldest of Columbia's planned villages, Columbia Baptist Fellowship gathers each Sunday morning inside The Meeting House, the interfaith center that has been the church's home since Easter 1975. The congregation calls itself a multiethnic, intergenerational community church of Christian believers from many countries of the world, and it is known in Howard County for blending diverse voices into one worship family and for feeding the neighborhood through Interfaith Hands, a food-pantry partnership that has served more than fifty thousand families.
A People on a Journey Since 1968
The story began in April 1968, when sixteen people met to discuss starting a Baptist church in the new town of Columbia. Seven local Baptist congregations formed the Columbia Missions Committee, and in 1970 that committee called James Hamblen from the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention to serve as Columbia's first Director of Southern Baptist Activities. Under his guidance, six families began holding services in their homes. They described themselves as "a people on a journey and a pilgrimage to discover and practice the New Testament experience of church together," and they chose the name Columbia Baptist Fellowship, calling themselves a "tent people" who emphasized mission over building.
The Fellowship worshipped on Sunday afternoons at First Presbyterian Church of Howard County from 1970 to 1973, then briefly moved to Faulkner Ridge Elementary School for a morning service. When the energy crisis curtailed heating at the school, Abiding Savior Lutheran Church welcomed the group to share its facility. CBF was constituted as a church with forty-four charter members in March 1973 and called John Woodall as its first pastor. At sunrise on Easter Sunday 1975, the Fellowship walked into its permanent worship home at The Meeting House, the interfaith center in Oakland Mills, where the congregation has remained ever since.
Subsequent pastors shaped the church through the decades: Dr. Steve McNeely served from 1981 to 2001, Robert Jordan from 2003 to 2010, and Dr. David Stancil from 2012 until his retirement in 2020. In February 2022 the church called its Associate Pastor for Youth and Outreach, Rev. Andrew J. James Jr., as the sixth pastor and the first African American to hold the role.
The Meeting House: An Interfaith Home
CBF shares The Meeting House with five other faith communities that gather under one roof in Oakland Mills: Bet Aviv, Columbia Jewish Congregation, the OMI Green Team, St. John's Catholic Church, and Kingdom Faith Ministries. The shared space shapes the congregation's identity, and the building at 5885 Robert Oliver Place serves as the address for CBF's offices, ministries, and food-pantry work. Most Sunday worship, Sunday School, choir rehearsals, youth gatherings, and women's ministry meetings take place inside this building.
Sunday Morning at CBF
The Sunday schedule centers on a single morning worship gathering from 9:50 a.m. to 11:05 a.m., with livestream coverage on the church's YouTube channel for those joining from home. First-time visitors are welcomed at the door by greeters who are ready to point families toward Children's Church in Room 29 or to a seat in the sanctuary. There is no dress code - the church asks only that people come as they are and dress casually and comfortably.
Children have their own classroom beginning at 9:50 a.m., and an adult Bible study gathers in Room 10 at 8:30 a.m. before the service, with an online Zoom discussion at 1:00 p.m. for those who cannot attend in person. Texting the word "Visit" to 443-234-0801 begins a VIP Experience for newcomers.
Salvation and Christian baptism are described as foundational. The church teaches that salvation comes by grace through faith in Jesus Christ as the gift of eternal life, and baptism follows as a public expression of that decision. A page on the church's online resources, along with a texting option ("SAVED" to 443-234-0801), gives an entry point for anyone wanting to begin the conversation. Baby dedications are celebrated as well, when parents commit publicly to raising a child in the faith and the congregation pledges its prayer and support.
Children's Ministry and Sunday School
Every Sunday at 9:50 a.m., Children's Church gathers in Room 29 to give kids their own worship experience alongside the adult service. Volunteers use a Bible-centered curriculum, songs, crafts, and interactive games to introduce scripture, encourage questions, and lay a foundation for a lifelong faith. Thelma Holliday directs the Sunday School program, and the Discipleship Team coordinates Bible study, Sunday School, Children's Church, and Vacation Bible School year-round.
Vacation Bible School is a much-anticipated annual week in which the church reaches out to neighborhood families. Lessons, crafts, music, and games fill the days with biblical learning and community building, and CBF uses VBS as one of its primary doorways into the surrounding Oakland Mills neighborhoods.
Positive Youth Exposure for Teens
High school students in grades 9 through 12 are invited into Positive Youth Exposure (PYE), the church's midweek youth ministry that meets Wednesday evenings during the school year at The Meeting House. The evening begins with dinner at 5:30 p.m. and moves into fellowship from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. The program's stated mission is "to reach non-believing youth with the message of Christ and to disciple and equip believers to live out their faith," drawing on Matthew 28:19 and Ephesians 4:12.
The Positive Youth Exposure Program also gathers in Room 100 at the Oakland Mills Interfaith Center, giving teens a structured space for mentorship, conversation, and service. Families can text "Youth" to 443-234-0801 to enroll a student.
The Choir and Worship Team
Music Director Jenetha Holmes leads the CBF Adult Choir, which rehearses on Thursday evenings at 6:30 p.m. in Room 200 during the school year. The choir sings a mix of traditional and contemporary music chosen to reflect the diversity of the congregation, and it provides special music for services across the church year. Janet Davis, a charter member who has played piano for CBF since the 1970s, and JW Holmes serve as accompanists. The Worship Team, working alongside the pastor and the deacons, coordinates audio-visual support, décor, ushers, and greeters, and helps plan spiritual enrichment events throughout the year.
L.O.V.E.: Women of Every Age
Ladies Organized for Volunteering and Encouragement - L.O.V.E. - has been an active part of CBF since January 18, 1983. The group meets on the first Saturday of each month from September through June at The Meeting House. Its members range in age and background, and its long-standing motto is "We do our best - and God does the rest." Beyond mutual support, L.O.V.E. sponsors a Youth Scholarship Ministry that awards college tuition and book scholarships to students each year.
Men-in-Ministry
Calvin McCormick chairs the Men-in-Ministry group and serves as Head Usher for the church, opening the door for men of the congregation to grow in faith and friendship. The group gathers around Bible study, service, and fellowship in the rhythms of CBF's life.
Mission Outreach and Interfaith Hands
The Mission Team coordinates local, national, and international outreach, channels giving toward mission causes, and organizes prayer and short-term trips. In 2019, under Pastor Andrew James, CBF expanded its food outreach to Oakland Mills families and grew from serving fifty families a month to two hundred. By 2020, with food insecurity rising, the church launched Interfaith Hands, an initiative that brought together all the congregations of the Oakland Mills Interfaith Center - Columbia Baptist Fellowship, Bet Aviv, Columbia Jewish Congregation, OMI Green Team, St. John's Catholic Church, and Kingdom Faith Ministries - to pack and distribute food together. Each congregation provides financial support, volunteers, and commitment to the work. Since its founding, Interfaith Hands has served more than fifty thousand families.
The Leadership Team and Five Purposes
Senior Pastor Andrew J. James Jr. brings a background in community activism, anti-violence organizing, and theological education from Virginia Union University and the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology. He and his wife Nakia are the parents of one son, Adonis Jeremiah. Around him, a leadership team carries the church's ministries: Jenetha Holmes (Music Director), Janet Davis and JW Holmes (Pianists and Accompanists), Katura Weatherspoon (Fellowship Team Lead), Thelma Holliday (Sunday School Director), Sandra Gray (Deacon Chair), Fran Henderson (Discipleship Team Lead), Sam Odulana (Ministry Team Lead), and Calvin McCormick (Men-in-Ministry Chair and Head Usher). The Deacons oversee the spiritual health of the congregation, visit the sick and bereaved, support those in crisis, and coordinate communion and baptism alongside the pastor.
All of these ministries serve one of the church's five stated purposes, drawn from a Purpose-Driven structure: worship, connect, grow, serve, and go. The Fellowship's own motto captures the same heart: "We Love, We Serve, We Give, We Worship, We Pray, We Make a Difference." Newcomers can text "Visit" to 443-234-0801 to begin, step into the sanctuary on a Sunday morning at The Meeting House, or join any of the ministries that fit the season of life they are in.