A Living Room in Gaithersburg
Montgomery Faith Fellowship sits in a single-story office park at 356 Christopher Avenue in Gaithersburg, Maryland, just a few turns off Interstate 270. Drivers coming from the highway take Exit 11 to Montgomery Village Avenue, swing left onto Frederick Avenue, and turn right at the second light onto Christopher Avenue. After passing the traffic signal at Russell Avenue, the building is the first office park on the right. Parking is available in both the front and the rear of the building, with entrances at each.
The fellowship was started in 1985 by Pastors Bob and Jeanne Miller and met for its earliest days in a living room. As the group grew it rented space from Montgomery County Public Schools, then in 1990 moved into the Christopher Avenue location the church still calls home. Forty years on, the mission is the same one Bob and Jeanne wrote into the early life of the church: faith working through love.
From Bob and Jeanne to John and Kristin
Pastor Bob Miller went to be with the Lord in 2006, and Pastor Jeanne Miller carried the church forward as its leader until 2011, when Pastors John and Kristin Wenck were installed as lead pastors. Kristin is the daughter of Bob and Jeanne, and has been part of the church since its beginning in the living room.
Pastor John Wenck, Jr. grew up in Glen Burnie, Maryland, and is a 1990 graduate of Rhema Bible Training College (then Rhema Bible Training Center). After graduation he returned to Maryland and became an associate pastor at Montgomery Faith Fellowship in 1996. He and Pastor Kristin have two adult children, Jonathan and Kaitlyn. He also serves as a district director in the Rhema Ministerial Association International and sits on the chaplain's board at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility.
Pastor Kristin Wenck is a 1994 graduate of Oral Roberts University. After college she returned to Gaithersburg, served as the church secretary and youth leader, and gradually took on the pastoral roles she carries today. Their son, Justin Miller, has also contributed to the life of the church through writing.
The passing of Pastor Jeanne Miller was marked by the fellowship in 2022 with a memorial service at the Christopher Avenue building. The church continues to honor her as a foundational leader in the congregation's story.
Sunday and Wednesday Rhythms
The weekly schedule of Montgomery Faith Fellowship is built around three set times of gathering.
Sunday mornings at 9:30 a.m. are the main worship gathering. Children's Church and Sunday School for the congregation's children are offered concurrently at 9:30 a.m. so that families can attend the service together. On Sunday evenings at 6:00 p.m. the church meets for a Prayer Service. Wednesday evenings at 7:30 p.m. bring the midweek worship service, which runs at the same hour as the Shine Youth Ministry for students in sixth through twelfth grade.
All three services are livestreamed on the church's YouTube channel. For those who cannot get online, the services are also offered through a free conference call line. The primary dial-in number is (617) 793-8121, with a backup line at (520) 420-9016 that re-routes to the same conference. A desktop and mobile app is available through the same FreeConferenceCall service, and a step-by-step instruction page is posted on the church's site for anyone who needs help getting connected by phone or internet.
What a Worship Service Looks Like
Montgomery Faith Fellowship is a Spirit-filled, Word of Faith congregation. Visitors will see a contemporary flow of worship with teaching anchored in Scripture, and during the service one or more of the following practices may be visible, each rooted in a specific Bible passage:
- Raising hands - cited from 1 Timothy 2:8.
- Laying on of hands - understood as imparting blessing and transferring spiritual power, with references to 2 Timothy 1:6 and Hebrews 6:2.
- Speaking in tongues - described as a devotional method of praying first seen at Pentecost, with references to Acts 2:4, Acts 19:6, 1 Corinthians 14:2, and 1 Corinthians 14:39.
- Falling under the power - understood as a person falling to the ground in the presence of God, with references to John 18:6, Revelation 4:10, Matthew 17:6, and Acts 9:4.
The church sees these expressions as biblical patterns rather than unique features, and it teaches its members to read the Scripture for themselves on each one.
What the Church Believes
The statement of faith at the heart of the fellowship is short and direct.
Montgomery Faith Fellowship believes that Jesus is the Son of God, that He died on the cross and rose again on the third day, completing the plan of redemption. The church believes that a person must know Jesus as Savior in order to have eternal life, that eternal life begins at the new birth, and that believers can inherit God's blessing now as His children.
The church believes in the baptism of the Holy Spirit, with the evidence of speaking in tongues. It holds that Christianity is a way of life, not merely a religion, and that the teaching in the church emphasizes scriptural truths for practical living.
The motto that runs through the congregation's own pages is the phrase that sums up the message: faith working through love.
Reaching the Whole Family
Throughout the week the church seeks to minister to every member of the family. Men's and women's fellowship opportunities, youth activities, church-wide fellowship, and outreach activities all run alongside the services. Pastor Kristin has written that one of the most fruitful practices the church adopted in its own home was training children in a morning Bible routine - reading the devotion and the Old and New Testament chapters out loud together - and that the same principle carries over into the church's children's ministries.
Children and Sunday School
Children's Church and Sunday School meet on Sunday mornings at 9:30 a.m. so that the entire family can attend the worship service at the same hour. The church also runs My Time 2 Shine Student Ministries for its children, tied to the promise in Isaiah 54:13 that all the children shall be taught by the Lord.
Shine Youth Ministry
Shine Youth Ministry is the program for students in sixth through twelfth grade. Junior High Sunday School for sixth through eighth graders is dismissed from the sanctuary following the offering on Sunday mornings. A separate Youth Service meets on Wednesday evenings at 7:30 p.m., running at the same hour as the midweek worship gathering so that older students can flow between the two.
Prison Outreach at Clarksburg
One of the longest-running ministries at Montgomery Faith Fellowship is its prison outreach at the Clarksburg Correctional Facility. Volunteers from the church present a class called Life Management Skills, developed by the church itself, to inmates at the facility. Most volunteers teach once a week or every other week. There is currently a class for women on Fridays and a class for men on Thursday nights. The Life Management Skills curriculum has sixteen Bible-based modules that deal with practical issues such as being a good employee, money and time management, dealing with emotions, and rebuilding marriages. Four times a year the church holds a vespers service at the facility on Sunday evenings.
The church is open to new male and female volunteers. Volunteers fill out an application, attend a class at the jail, and have a background check in order to receive a volunteer badge. They must also complete an annual re-certification class with the prison and sit in on classes taught by MFF volunteers to complete their training. Pastor John's service on the chaplain's board at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility gives the church a steady connection to chaplaincy work in the county.
Nursing Home Ministry in Rockville
On the fourth Sunday of every month, the church holds a Sunday afternoon service at Potomac Valley Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Rockville. Volunteers from the congregation lead the service for residents there, and the church regularly invites new volunteers to join the team that travels out for the monthly visit.
The Living Faith Blog
Montgomery Faith Fellowship publishes a steady stream of teaching through its Living Faith Blog, with most of the writing coming from Pastors Kristin and Jeanne and from other voices in the church. Recent posts have included reflections on resurrection life, morning routines with the Lord, trusting God in hard times, the fruit of the Spirit, the creative power of words, the character of a godly father, the privilege of motherhood, the lessons of the book of Job, the sovereignty of God, and how to respond as Christians when tragedy strikes. The blog reads like a journal of the church's teaching over the years and gives visitors a good feel for the way the pastors preach and write.
Two of the most reprinted themes are the discipline of guarding one's words and the importance of a daily devotional rhythm. Pastor Kristin has written that what a person speaks today is creating the life they will live tomorrow, and Pastor Jeanne wrote that no matter what the need may be - family, marriage, anger, oppression, finances - the answer will always be the same: spend more time with Him.
Partners in Ministry
Montgomery Faith Fellowship lists three partner ministries that it points its members toward for further teaching: Kenneth Hagin Ministries, Kenneth Copeland Ministries, and Light of the World Ministries. Pastor Robert Miller has written publicly of his long debt to Kenneth Hagin and the book Twenty-six Lessons in Faith, which he credits with teaching him how to read Scripture. Those connections give a clear picture of the Word of Faith stream the church draws from.
Study Tools and Online Giving
For Bible reading, the church posts quick links to the New King James Version, the New International Version, the New Living Translation, and the Amplified Bible through Bible Gateway, along with a daily verse feed. A Verse of the Day widget is also embedded on the church's pages.
Giving is offered online through Tithe.ly, and the church also accepts crypto donations through Engiven. The same platforms that carry the church's livestream - YouTube for video and FreeConferenceCall for audio - mean that members and visitors who are traveling or shut in can stay connected to the weekly rhythm of the church.
Visiting Montgomery Faith Fellowship
Anyone who wants to visit in person is welcome to come to the Christopher Avenue building. Sunday worship is at 9:30 a.m. with Children's Church and Sunday School at the same hour, Sunday prayer is at 6:00 p.m., and Wednesday worship and the Youth Service are both at 7:30 p.m. The church office is open Tuesday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and can be reached at (301) 330-8521.
For those who live out of the area, the same services are available over YouTube and the church's conference call line, so the fellowship has been able to keep its scattered members connected to its teaching. Members and regular attenders can register through the MFF Member Portal on the church's site, and a Membership Directory Update Form is available for anyone who wants to update their contact information with the church office.
Forty years after a small group first met in a living room in Gaithersburg, Montgomery Faith Fellowship continues to gather around the same phrase its founders chose to describe it: faith working through love.