Our History
How we came to be...
The Frederick Church of God was founded on August 19th, 1951 by a group of lay ministers. It started with 15 charter members. The Reverend Bion Cecil was pastor of the church from this time until 1957. For the next twenty years different ministers who stayed for 3-month to 3-year tenures pastored the church which was located at 55 Winchester Street in Frederick.
Then on August 20th, 1978, Pastor Jerry and Ann Price came to serve the Frederick Church of God. The membership roster listed 36 people, and attendance that Sunday was 48. It was at the beginning of Pastor Price’s tenure that the name of the church was changed to represent what he believed was God’s vision for the church. It became Maranatha Church of God. “Maranatha” in the Greek means “The Lord is Coming”. He came the first time as the “Lamb of God” and He will come again as the “Lion of the Tribe of Judah”. This is the reason for the Lamb and the Lion.
From that time, God has richly blessed! In 1981, the church purchased property at 1440 Taney Avenue in Frederick where Maranatha expanded four times until the property would allow no more room for growth.
The current 16-acre property located at 123 Byte Drive just off of Hayward Road in Frederick was purchased to allow for the much needed expansion of the church’s ministries. The building was ready for occupancy in November of 2002. Again, the name was changed to clarify God’s purpose and vision for the church.
In August of 2017, Pastor Jerry and Ann Price retired from his 39 years of ministry as Lead Pastor and is now the Emeritus Pastor. Pastor W. Todd Rigney and his wife Missy became the Lead Pastor of ICC on August 20, 2017 and continue to move forward in ICC’s vision of “Building Champions For God”.
International Community Church of God is dedicated to equipping God’s people for life-changing ministry that impacts the lives of individuals, families, communities and the world.
Our Mission
We adopted a set of four commitments which reflects our core values in fulfilling our vision:
1. Rescue - Winning the lost, unchurched and seekers.
2. Transform - Experiencing Life Change through Spiritual and Emotional Healing
3. Disciple - Equipping God's people for Ministry according to God's destiny for their lives
4. Commission - Entering the Harvest to make other Champions for God
Our Statement of Faith
What we believe...
- In the verbal inspiration of the Bible.
- In one God eternally existing in three persons; namely, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
- That Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of the Father, conceived of the Holy Ghost, and born of the Virgin Mary. That Jesus was crucified, buried, and raised from the dead. That He ascended to heaven and is today at the right hand of the Father as the Intercessor.
- That all have sinned and come short of the glory of God and that repentance is commanded of God for all and necessary for forgiveness of sins.
- That justification, regeneration, and the new birth are wrought by faith in the blood of Jesus Christ.
- In sanctification subsequent to the new birth, through faith in the blood of Christ; through the Word, and by the Holy Ghost.
- Holiness to be God's standard of living for His people.
- In the baptism with the Holy Ghost subsequent to a clean heart.
- In speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance and that it is the initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
- In water baptism by immersion, and all who repent should be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
- Divine healing is provided for all in the atonement.
- In the Lord's Supper and washing of the saints' feet.
- In the premillennial second coming of Jesus. First, to resurrect the righteous dead and to catch away the living saints to Him in the air. Second, to reign on the earth a thousand years.
- In the bodily resurrection; eternal life for the righteous, and eternal punishment for the wicked.
