Marbury Church of God

This page was posted as the announcement/invitation page for the Hundredth Anniversary Celebration which took place on October 16, 2011.

Below is text of a letter sent to members and friends inviting them to the 100th anniversary celebration. You can also download the letter here.  If you did not receive this letter, and want to receive mailings from us, please provide us your current contact information so we can update our records.

4825 Bicknell Road
Marbury, MD 20658

Church Phone 301.743.5110
Pastor’s Phone 301.743.5567
pastor@marburychurchofgod.org
http://marburchurchofgod.org

Dear Friend,

I am writing to invite you to a Celebration.
Please note the date: Sunday, October 16, 2011, for the 100th Anniversary and Homecoming of
the Marbury Church of God.

For about a month in the Fall of 1911, a small group of Marbury residents gathered to hear a traveling
minister bring a powerful gospel message at a “brush arbor” meeting in Marbury. The message was
one of Holiness, Unity, the nature of the church and the purpose of Christian living. It captured the
attention of quite a few people. Soon afterwards, several families began to worship together on a
regular basis. Within a year a chapel had been constructed on land donated by one of those families.
Those families, along with many others who have followed, have created a rich heritage throughout
the years for church and community. The new congregation was called the Marbury Church of
God, part of what was often referred to as the Church of God Reformation Movement. It is now one of
more than 2,300 congregations in North America affiliated with the Church of God (Anderson, IN),

On Sunday, October 16th, we will celebrate this rich legacy, and get a glimpse of where God is
leading us for the decades to come. We want you to be here!

If you or someone in your family has touched or been touched by the life of the Marbury Church of
God, we want you to spend the day with us this October celebrating the memories of this first
hundred years, and envisioning the call of God for the unseen future.

Morning services will be suspended that day, but the church will be open all day for people to come
and look at pictures, share memories, and greet old and new friends. Our formal celebration will begin
with a feast to be shared at 2:00 p.m., followed at 4:00 p.m. by a celebration of worship, music,
stories and prayer. Then we will return to the fellowship hall for cake and light refreshments.

You may have received a letter some months ago asking for photos and memories to share. The
response has been wonderful, and we want more! Most of all, though, we want you, along with your
family, friends, and neighbors, to share this day of celebration with the church. You are welcome also
to bring a story, or a song, for the afternoon celebration.

Please let us know by phone, email, or letter, so that we can plan the best we can. Take a moment
to return the enclosed response card to indicate how many people you expect to bring; it will help us
to know how much food to prepare. If you absolutely can’t get here, but have pictures or a story to
offer, send it along and we will display it or have someone read it, and make it part of the treasured
memories of this church for years to come.

In addition to the rich heritage of music and biblical teaching, and of support for global missions, in
recent years our ministry has grown to touch the lives of neighbors through food and clothing
ministries, as part of the ongoing work of bringing the love of Jesus to our corner of the world.

As we treasure the legacy of all who have touched our lives, we look forward to what the Lord still has
in store for us. We want to stay alert and prepared for new direction from God’s Holy Spirit, well into
this new century. Can we count on your prayers to that end? And if you wish to include a financial gift
with your response, of course that will be gratefully received.

Expect a blessing!

Pastors Bob and Shannon Buehler and the Marbury Church of God Family