History

Celebrating 8 Years of “Serving the Kings of kings”

For years Pastor Charles Brooks silently prayed sensing God’s plan for him to plant churches for His glory. He finally shared the vision with his wife, Renee, who affirmed the call of God for them to plant churches. They both prayed for years and shared the vision with family members who embraced and affirmed this call of God. Weekly conference calls were later followed by a series of prayer and planning meetings held in the home of Bobby and Sheila Ireland in Hanover, Pennsylvania. In May of 2008, Pastor Brooks moved his family from Southern California to Baltimore, Maryland to plant the first church, “A Better Life Fellowship” (ABLF). A series of preview services and meetings were held in the basement of Pastor and Renee Brooks’ home.

On Sunday, October 5, 2008, the first official worship service was held. In an effort to advance the work of the ministry, an affiliation with the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA) was prayerfully pursued. ABLF was officially approved as an EFCA church plant in January 2009 and began to receive resources and monetary support to assist with the church plant. Services were held in the unfinished basement of the Brooks’ home for eight months. That blessed experience included powerful times of prayer, the Word of God and fellowship. The Lord added weekly to the fellowship. God amazingly sent several mature believers who were ready to hit the ground running. Outreach began immediately as members went into the community to pray and witness. God opened many doors to share the gospel and pray with those in need in Northwest Baltimore (Pimlico), which is the community that Pastor Brooks grew up in.

In 2009, we launched a campaign, “Praying for a Murderless Summer in the City of Baltimore,” At the time, Baltimore was ranked the second most murderous city in the nation. We targeted the seven most murderous communities praying, sharing the gospel and encouraging the people. At the end of 2011, the Sun Paper reported that Baltimore had its lowest murder rate in twenty-five years and was no longer in the top ten most murderous cities.

In the spring of 2009, Pastor Brooks was introduced to Rev. Dr. Maceo Williams, Pastor of Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial United Methodist Church by a dear friend and colleague. A friendship and partnership was forged and Dr. Williams graciously allowed ABLF to lease church space in May of 2009.

On Sunday, September 18, 2011, ABLF moved to the Radisson at Cross Keys. There was much excitement about this new move and the evident expansion of the ministry. ABLF had tremendous times of praise, worship and fellowship at the Radisson for three and a half years.

In the fall of 2009, while out witnessing in the community, church members met Mr. Aaron Clark, Principal of Dickey Hill Elementary Middle School. A powerful partnership was forged resulting in ABLF holding Sunday services in the school’s auditorium. The first service in the school took place on Easter Sunday, April 4, 2010, where the church remained until Sunday, September 11, 2011.

In 2014, Pastor Charles and Lady Renee Brooks relocated to Houston, Texas on yet another mission. The immediate leadership of ABLF was prayerfully entrusted to Pastor Wayne A. Brooks who functions under the organizational leadership of Pastor Charles. Pastor Wayne is faithfully leading with excellence as he is clearly led by God.

In the winter of 2015, one of our leaders, Mr. David Scruggs, brought to our attention a property available for lease in Owings Mills, Maryland. After prayerfully seeking God, we were persuaded that God was leading us to our next church home. ABLF leadership diligently pursued this property pressing through numerous hurdles while God graciously opened doors. Ninety Painters Mill Road, Suite 236, is the first dedicated place of worship for ABLF. On Sunday, May 31, 2015, we had a joyous time in the Lord when ABLF, “a church for all people,” moved to its new location.

On Sunday, October 4, 2015, ABLF members had another joyful time in the Lord when Pastor Wayne A. Brooks was installed as their Pastor. His ministerial work included preaching, teaching, discipling, counselling, singing on the choir, and evangelizing. This shared leadership was a testimony of the grace and creativity of our Lord.

We are thrilled at what God has done and anticipate great things in the future. The call for us to go into communities and restore spiritual integrity through evangelism and discipleship is strongly upon us. God has done so much for us and He continues to move through us. The desire and goal of our ministry is to become a church without walls that evangelizes and disciples’ communities everywhere for the glory of God!