On a corner of Fordson Road in the historic Gum Springs community of Fairfax County, just south of Alexandria, sits Bethlehem Baptist Church, an African American Baptist congregation that traces its roots to 1863. What began as Saturday-night prayer meetings on a Virginia plantation grew into the oldest church in Gum Springs, and more than 160 years later the building still anchors a ministry that feeds neighbors, clothes children, walks the homeless along Route 1, and lifts up a Mass Choir every Sunday at 10 a.m.
From Plantation Hymn Singing to a Cornerstone in Gum Springs
Bethlehem's story is woven into the history of Gum Springs itself. Reverend Samuel K. Taylor, an enslaved young man who heard a call to preach after his conversion, led worship on the Taylor Plantation in Caroline County on Saturday nights and Sundays. The same year the Emancipation Proclamation took effect, he slipped away to Gum Springs, Virginia, where he found Christians already meeting in their homes. After the Civil War ended in 1865, Reverend Taylor and a small group of believers built the first Bethlehem sanctuary from lumber the government had supplied for stables. The building doubled as church and school, and Alice Williams suggested the name Bethlehem.
Until Taylor was ordained in 1882, Reverend Samuel Madden of First Baptist (now Alfred Street Baptist) in Alexandria came out as an itinerant minister to baptize converts and serve communion. In 1884 the cornerstone was laid for a second, larger building, and in 1890 five Bethlehem men, including Pastor Taylor, formed The Joint Stock Club that helped plan the Gum Springs community. Taylor served for thirty years until his death in October 1912.
Reverend William H. Triplett became Bethlehem's second pastor in 1913 and led for thirty-five years. Under him the church organized the Senior Choir, the Sunday School, the Willing Workers Club, the Usher Board, and the Missionary Circle, built an eight-room parsonage in 1919, installed its own electrical plant, and dedicated a brick structure next door in October 1930. Triplett also helped secure a school bus to take local children to high school in Manassas.
The Second Era: Expansion and a Stained-Glass Sanctuary
Reverend Dr. Havard M. Chapman became the third pastor in 1949 and made improvement his watchword. During his tenure Bethlehem added a Sunday School annex with offices and a choir room, a large choir loft behind the pulpit, stained-glass windows throughout the building, new pews, a piano, air conditioning, an acoustic-tile ceiling, and a church steeple. New organizations took shape, including the Flower Club, the EverReady Chorus, the Rosebuds (later the VIPs), the New Members Club (today the Welcoming Lights), and the Helping Hand Club (now the Willing Workers). Chapman retired in 1974 after twenty-five years.
Reverend James A. Kearse became the fourth pastor in January 1975, building a new parsonage and adding an early 8:00 a.m. service, a Bible Study and Witnessing Class, the Deaconess Board, the Pastoral Choir, the Baptist Training Union, and a Nurses Unit. Kearse resigned in 1984 to assist his brother at a church in Baltimore.
The Third Era: A Modern Campus and the Five-Fold Ministry
Reverend William S. Wilson Jr. became the fifth pastor in 1985 and Reverend Anthony A. Parrish followed in 1987, leading the church to grow Sunday School enrollment from 125 to 450, ordain new leaders, and break ground for a new sanctuary in 1990. The current edifice was completed in 1993. Bethlehem also took on oversight of the Snowden Cemetery and joined the Northern Virginia Baptist Association and the Baptist General Convention of Virginia during Parrish's tenure.
On June 24, 1999, Reverend Darrell K. White was elected as the seventh pastor. Under his leadership the congregation retired the mortgage seven years after taking it on and restructured life around what the church now calls its Five-Fold Ministry: Christian Education, Evangelism, Missions, Stewardship, and Worship and Fine Arts. Mid-week Bible Study grew to 250 disciples, Bethlehem ordained its first female deacon, and the music ministry expanded into a single combined Mass Choir with a Dance Ministry, a Bell Choir, and a Gospel Step Team. The food bank was restructured to serve more than fifty individuals and families every week, and Virginia Union University's Evans-Smith Leadership Training Institute relocated back to Bethlehem with Pastor White as coordinator.
Worship and Fine Arts: Praise That Uses Every Gift
The Worship and Fine Arts ministry describes itself as being in pursuit of excellence, with the spiritual expression "Faith for a New Beginning." Members serve through instruments, song, drama, mime, puppetry, and dance, all focused on creating an atmosphere where worshippers can experience God in a spiritually transforming way. Minister Nathan Irving leads the ministry and invites musicians and artists of any experience level to join.
The Music ministry has been deliberately blended across generations. Four adult choirs were combined into one Mass Choir, and the order of service was restructured to give the congregation a more participatory flow. Alongside the choir, the Dance Ministry, Bell Choir, and Gospel Step Team offer ways for people whose gifts are movement, rhythm, or stepping to take part in leading praise. The Welcoming Lights Ministry, descended from the New Members Club, acts as the warm first impression of the church, greeting and guiding everyone who comes through the doors.
Missions and Outreach Along Route 1
Guided by Matthew 25:35-36, the Missions ministry focuses on the spiritual and physical needs of the marginalized in and around the church. Adoptive families are encouraged through One Church, One Child, Inc., and the Angel Tree program delivers Christmas gifts to children who would otherwise go without. Christmas Baskets go to families in need, the School Supply Drive serves Route 1 corridor families and supplies extra materials for Sunday School classrooms, and the Prayer Shawl Ministry sews and delivers shawls to the sick.
Two outreach teams work directly with people experiencing homelessness. The Phoenix Rising Ministry prepares and delivers sandwiches along the Route 1 corridor, and the Rising Hope Hypothermia Ministry partners with other churches to provide winter shelter and food. The restructured food bank, in continuous operation since its reorganization under Pastor White, feeds more than fifty individuals and families each week.
Health, Education, and Children
The Health Ministry runs a "Welcoming Lights" health focus, a Monthly Health Moment, and periodic conferences such as the Health and Wellness Conference that has offered sessions in English and Spanish on topics including prostate health, breast cancer screening, advance care planning, and pandemic resources. Toolkits have been produced in both English and Spanish.
Children, teens, and tweens are served through Children's Church, the Church School that meets at 9:00 a.m. each Sunday, Vacation Bible School, and a Dance Ministry with open enrollment. The church also hosts Cub Scout Troop 1906, extending its reach to families in the community beyond its own members.
Support Ministries and the Covenant
A Support Ministry underpins everything that happens on a Sunday morning, with teams in Cancer Care, Culinary, Hospitality, Men's Ministry, Pastoral Relations, Media and Communications, Technology, Ushers, and Women's Ministry. Boy Scout Troop 1906 also falls under Support, and the Welcoming Lights serve as the congregation's hospitality arm.
Members formally join by entering the church Covenant, a written promise made before God and one another. The Covenant commits members to walk together in Christian love, support the church's worship, ordinances, doctrines, and discipline, contribute cheerfully to the ministry and the relief of the poor, educate their children in the faith, watch over one another in sickness and distress, and seek reconciliation whenever offense arises. When members move away, the Covenant calls on them to unite with another church where they can carry out its spirit and the principles of God's Word.
An Interim Pastor with a Global Background
In January 2025 Reverend Dr. Dylon T. Young was selected as Interim Pastor and began his tenure in February 2025. Dr. Young is a native of Chicago and a retired U.S. Air Force veteran. He accepted his call to ministry in October 2000, was licensed in June 2003, and was ordained by the American Baptist Churches USA in December 2008. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Management from Bellevue University, a Master of Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma, a Master's in Biblical Studies from Grace University in Omaha, and a Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral Care from Sioux Falls Seminary.
Before coming to Bethlehem he served as Pastor of St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church in Omaha during the COVID-19 era, where he elevated the church's online footprint and led community outreach; as Director of Christian Education at King Solomon Missionary Baptist Church in Omaha; as Pastor of Miracle Hills Community Baptist Church (where membership grew 110 percent); and as Chairperson of Holy Week Services for the Baptist Pastors and Ministers Conference of Nebraska in 2023. He and his wife Kim, formerly Kim Shadell, live in Alexandria and have three adult children.
Sunday in Gum Springs and How to Connect
Worship at Bethlehem is shaped by African American Baptist tradition and is open to all. Church School begins at 9:00 a.m. and Sunday Worship follows at 10:00 a.m. A Monday Bible Study meets at 7:00 p.m. and Wednesday Bible Studies meet at noon and 7:00 p.m. A community prayer call is open every week; the dial-in number is (224) 501-3412 with access code 459-812-613. Services are livestreamed on YouTube, and giving is available online through Shelby Giving, Givelify, and text-to-give at (703) 382-2832.
The church stands at 7836 Fordson Road in Alexandria, at the corner of Sherwood Hall Lane and Fordson Road. Visitors coming from I-95 south cross the Woodrow Wilson Bridge into Virginia, take Exit 1A toward Mount Vernon, follow the George Washington Parkway to the Morningside Drive exit, and continue onto Sherwood Hall Lane; from the south, Exit 160 from I-95 leads to Route 1 north and then Sherwood Hall Lane. Members and newcomers alike can register through the membership portal, and the church keeps an active calendar of health conferences, women's ministry workshops, family events, and a flea market that draws members from across Fairfax County. The theme that frames the current season, drawn from Hebrews 10:22-25, calls the congregation to be "Equipping Forgiving Disciples" who courageously reconcile their calling, re-imagine the church, and reclaim their advocacy in the community - a description that fits a congregation more than 160 years old and still reaching beyond its sanctuary.