Our Story
Our story is a “God story” that began with the vision of one man. Dr. Clark Forcey moved to Washington D.C. in 1933 after a vacation to the area convinced him there was no place on earth where he could make a greater difference for Christ. As Dr. Forcey prayed, “Lord give me souls,” God opened the door for him to host a radio program and then to host meetings under a tent on the corner of Piney Branch and Underwood in Northwest D.C. By 1934, the church had been incorporated as the “Non-Sectarian Christian Tabernacle Association” and over 800 people were meeting on Sundays in the Vermont Avenue Social Hall of the National City Christian Church. In just seven years of ministry in the area, Dr. Forcey preached almost 4,000 sermons and gave over 1,000 radio addresses. Sadly, he died before his fortieth birthday in 1940.
In the years since our beginnings, our name and location has changed, but Dr. Forcey’s legacy of faith, prayer, creativity, and gospel proclamation remains today. Under mission-minded Pastor Deloss M. Scott in the 1940s and 50s, the church began supporting over thirty missionaries, trained and ordained a dozen pastors, and performed its first church plant. In the 1960s, Pastor Raymond Befus, a faithful teacher, emphasized Christian Education and led the church to expand facilities. A new sanctuary was dedicated in 1965 with Dr. Howard Hendricks of Dallas Theological Seminary teaching a Bible conference. Dr. Gerald Small, a caring shepherd, pastored the church from 1967 to 1997. The church moved to its current facility on Randolph Road in 1972. Forcey Day Camp began in 1975 and Forcey Christian School started in 1977. Under Pastor Small, the church grew and hired a youth pastor, counseling pastor, and discipleship pastor, as well as a full-time music minister. Dr. Phil Powers, a gifted teacher who had been a professor at Capital Bible Seminary, was hired as the Lead Pastor in 2000. The church expanded its facilities to include room for Forcey Middle School and a new fellowship hall. In 2018, Pastor Phil followed a call back to teaching and the church welcomed Pastor Michael Foster as its lead pastor. Pastor Mike was mentored by Phil Powers and long-time Forcey associate pastor Ron Jones.
Moving forward, Forcey Bible Church – like our founder – recognizes our unique position to make a difference for Christ in our world. We are now a church of people from more than sixty national backgrounds who are growing as one family in Christ. We are honored to be part of a great community in Montgomery County and hope to serve our neighbors near and far with the life, hope, and joy we have in Jesus.