Marbury Church of God has come a long way since the founders started it in the fall of 1911 first as a brush arbor meeting before a building was constructed to hold the congregation. The church will celebrate its 100th anniversary Oct. 16

There are scant records on the membership, which falls in line with the Church of God’s history.

“There are not a lot of formalized records,” said the Rev. Robert C. Buehler, who has been the pastor since 1996, moving to Maryland from upstate New York with his wife, Shannon, who became an ordained minister in 2006.

“In the Church of God, we believe that anyone who has made a commitment to Christ is welcome,” Buehler said. “He lets you in. God wants to bring all his people together.”

When the church was founded, it went a few years without a pastor. Everyone pitched in. In later years, the head of the Sunday school was an 18-year-old kid Harold Warder who stayed in the role for more than 20 years.

“The lay leadership was very strong,” Buehler said. “It still is.”

The Church of God started in the Midwest with D.S. Warner regarded as one of its founders. Warner authored “The Gospel Trumpet” which many regard as the publication that sparked the start of the church. From there, the Church of God has taken root around the world, Buehler said.

“There are more churches overseas than in North America,” he said. The church has missionaries all over the globe.

Buehler is a fourth-generation member of the Church of God who realized his calling while doing the the mundane.

“I was at an office job, standing at a shedder,” he remembered. “I thought, ‘I’m sure I’m supposed to be doing something else.’”

In Marbury, Buehler said he feels like he’s found home.

“This is the best place for me,” he said. “I feel like I’ve stepped into a time warp. It reminds me of my childhood … people know their neighbors.”

One a recent late morning, church member Charlene Rye was helping paint a classroom at the church. She reminisced about how her family joined the congregation when she was 12.

Just moving from Charleston, W.Va., Rye’s parents James and Lovella Shamblin and their family were invited to Sunday school by Mildred DeLozier and they still attend.

“It’s family-oriented,” Rye said. “Everybody is just one big family.”

Buehler found out pretty fast how tight-knit the community is.

“Whoever you’re talking to about someone, they are going to be their cousin,” he laughed.

Rye remembers growing up in the church and participating in dinners and plays, including one where she played an angel.

“It was a fun place to be,” she said.

Over the years, the church building has changed but the past is honored. The original meeting house Alpha Room is still standing on the Bicknell Road property and is used by the church to shelter its clothing ministry, Closet of Hope. The church has a food pantry, Bible study and holds vacation Bible school but “the primary focus is worship and celebration.”

And the 100 year milestone is worth celebrating.

“This is a big deal,” Buehler said. “Not just to look back to [show] that we’re still here and God still has a message. God loves you as you are and we are in this together.”

staylor@somdnews.com

If you go

The Marbury Church of God will celebrate its 100 anniversary with a feast at 2 p.m. and a service at 4 p.m.

The church is at 4825 Bicknell Road, Marbury.

Call 301-743-5110, email pastor@marburychurchofgod.org or go to www.marburychurchofgod.org.