Hope Bible Church held its inaugural service on July 13, 1997. A Maryland native and recent graduate of The Master’s Seminary, Tom Leake and his family returned to Maryland and planted the church with Alan Plumley and several other families—a core group of five families. This local church plant began under the name Grace Discipleship Church and met in a small commercial space in Laurel provided by a founding member’s father.
Membership and attendance grew very slowly for the first few years, with only five families being added the first year. We focused on the basics: worship, preaching and teaching the Word, fellowship, and evangelism. For the first several years, we shared a fellowship lunch together every Sunday as we built strong relationships.
The first major hardship came in October 1999 when city officials determined the commercial building as unsafe and we were, in essence, evicted from our meeting space. Relegated to meeting in a member’s back yard, the Lord was gracious in providing beautiful weather three Sundays in a row despite strong thunderstorms every other day of the week.
During this three-week period, the Lord made Fulton Elementary School available, and so we began our 10-year stay there. It was there that the significant effort required to set up and tear down each Sunday cultivated a spirit of sacrificial service among the members of the church that still characterizes members today. At about this same time, we changed our name to Hope Bible Church.
Slowly, more and more people from all walks of life, ages and ethnicities came, being attracted to the small church with strong Bible teaching and a caring family atmosphere. The church grew and ministries expanded more steadily in the ensuing years. Although we anticipated a 2-year stay at Fulton Elementary School, the Lord, in His perfect timing, had us there for 10 years before He provided a 7-day a week location on Oakland Mills Road in Columbia in January 2010.
Due to the rising cost of leasing, our Building Search Committee looked extensively for a property or facility the church could purchase. For years, everything that would work for our future expansion, parking, and the like, was out of our price range. One building in particular (our current home) was so expensive, that our people did not even bother to consider it. Additionally, we were locked into two leases that were binding until 2023. The Lord moved mountains for us, however, by finding two organizations to assume our leases, providing a local bank that desired to work with us, and dropping the price of the building by almost 29%, thereby making it affordable enough for us to pursue it! When all was said and done, Hope Bible Church was able to move into its current 55,000 square foot home on Guilford Road in 2017 which now allows us to create a permanent and meaningful presence to and for the people in and around Columbia who desire strong expositional teaching of God’s Word as well as meaningful fellowship with hundreds of other Christ-lovers.
In 2015 Tom Leake was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. After surgery and treatment, the Lord was pleased to put the cancer in remission, extending Tom’s ministry. In late 2018 the cancer returned, and Tom continued to preach and lead for over two years through much weakness and declining health. His last sermon was preached twelve days before he entered heaven on March 26, 2021.
At about same time that Tom’s cancer returned, the elders hired Pastor Gabe Powell to serve as the Associate Pastor of Shepherding, with a primary responsibility for counseling.
Upon Tom’s promotion to glory in 2021, Pastor Gabe served the congregation through shepherding, leading, and preaching while the elders searched for our next senior pastor for over two years. In August of 2023 the elders appointed Pastor Gabe as Hope Bible Church’s next senior pastor. Within a few months the Lord brought Pastor Mike Jarvis and his family. He serves as the Pastor of Adult Ministries and leads the Spiritual Leadership Program raising up men for spiritual leadership. Then in 2025, we moved into the new worship center, turning the old worship center into the Fellowship Hall. As well, the Lord brought Pastor Antonio Weary and his family to serve as the Pastor of Counseling and Family Ministries.
With about 400 people gathering weekly, the Lord continues to build Hope Bible Church in His own sovereign way for His own glory.