“Behold, I will do a new thing.”
Those are the words written on the wall above the pulpit of the Scotland African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Zion Church in Potomac. On Wednesday morning, the church’s community – which hasn’t had a home since a 2019 flood caused substantial damage – celebrated the official reopening of the church.
The phrase, written in golden-colored letters, comes from the Bible verse, Isaiah 43:19. It was chosen to reflect new beginnings for the church’s congregation and the community that rallied, organized, fundraised and spent two years reconstructing the church at 10902 Seven Locks Road.
After the flood, community, county and state officials worked to support the congregation to help restore and rebuild the historic church building, which opened in 1924. The reconstruction project aimed to raise $11 million for the rebuilding efforts.
The spring sun beamed down on dozens of attendees at a ribbon cutting Wednesday for the new facility, which consists of a restored white church with green stained-glass windows and a new concrete-and-glass facility attached to it. The event was attended by numerous local and state elected officials, members of the Scotland community and key contributors to the rebuilding efforts, dubbed the 2nd Century Project.
Standing in front of a shiny purple ribbon, the Rev. Evalina Huggins said if she could rename the church, she would call it the “Scotland Community Church.”
“While I can’t change the name, we can certainly embody that,” the church’s pastor said. “We can certainly live that out by saying to the community that you are welcome here, that this church belongs to us, and together, we’re going to make great things happen on Seven Locks Road.”
“If you drive by and you kind of see this church swaying from side to side, it’s our attempt to make great things happen in this place, not just for us, but for every faith, every culture, every tradition. This church is open to all persons,” Huggins said.
After the ribbon cutting, Huggins stood inside the building’s new sanctuary under the Isaiah 43:19 verse as she described the structure as “marvelously constructed” and thanked all of the people who contributed to its rebirth.
“You allowed Scotland to tell its story … and in the telling of our stories, you found something that resonated with you to the extent that you supported us, with your prayers, with your finances, with your in-kind donations, with your construction creativity, with your architectural creativity, with your words of wisdom, your guidance and a few laughs along the way,” Huggins said.
Huggins noted that although the construction has been completed, there was still work to be done: the congregation needs to pay off about $2 million in debt incurred for the project.
County Executive Marc Elrich (D) told attendees after the ribbon cutting that there “is money in the [county operating] budget to help close some of that gap.”
“I think the sad thing is, to me, is we had to spend $4.8 million fixing the culvert,” Elrich said, referring to a structure that channels water on the property and aims to prevent flooding. “If it had been done right in the first place, this church wouldn’t have been taken down, and we wouldn’t be spending $4.8 million to fix up this.”
LaTisha Gasaway-Paul, a lifelong member of the church and Scotland community leader, told Bethesda Today after Wednesday’s event that the congregation does not take the ribbon cutting for granted.
“It’s a gift,” Gasaway-Paul said. “Today celebrates the work that us a community — as the interfaith community, as a local community, nonprofits, everyone — put in to make today happen. It’s just a great feeling.”
A new church facility
Buzzing voices swirled through the air Wednesday as event attendees explored the building and its grounds. The voices of the church’s choir and band swelled inside as they sang “Our God is an Awesome God” while rejoicing in the new facility.
The rebuilding project involved gutting and restoring the old church, which was built by hand and opened in 1924, for its new use as a recreational area for youth. In addition, a new building that includes a sanctuary, administrative offices, a cafe, a bike storage room and a Sunday school, was constructed. The new structure is attached to the old church through a walkway that serves as the main entrance.
Two new bio-retention ponds also were built on the church property to prevent future flood damage.
At the church’s 100th anniversary celebration in October, the grounds still resembled a construction site, with bulldozers, equipment, dirt and building materials around the property. About five months later in March, the church welcomed community members and congregants inside for services, according to Huggins.
The completion of the church marks not only a new chapter for the Scotland community, but also for efforts of the county government, local philanthropists and residents to right the wrongs of the past that led to the church’s destruction, the church said in press release Wednesday.
The 2019 flood is believed to have been caused by the redevelopment of Seven Locks Road in the ’60s, which expanded and raised the road. After that, heavy rains caused water runoff to flood the church’s basement. On July 7, 2019, a severe storm led to flash flooding that filled the basement to its rafters and collapsed one of the building’s walls.
In addition, the Scotland community has dealt with threats to its existence in the county similar to other local historically Black communities due to 1960s renewal development projects, redlining, racial covenants and exclusionary zoning practices.
In 1880, Gasaway-Paul’s great-great-great-grandfather William Dove helped establish Scotland, which was a community of former slaves, with the purchase of 36 acres. Scotland was one of the first historically Black communities created in the county by freed slaves and consisted of more than 500 acres of land at one point, according to Gasaway-Paul.
County Councilmember Andrew Friedson (D-Dist. 1) said after the ribbon cutting that Scotland has become the county’s “shared responsibility to lift up a community that our county and our region had been complicit in pushing down.”
“At a time when Black history is under assault, this time, we ensured, here in Montgomery County, this history wouldn’t be forgotten,” Friedson said. “This space, this sacred space, would not be lost.”
Huggins told Bethesda Today that she is excited to welcome the community back to the church and for what the future holds for the Scotland community.
“I can envision this space being used for workforce development. I can see this space being used by [local hospitals] to offer health fairs and health screenings. … I also can see this being an educational space,” Huggins said.
She noted that A.M.E. Zion Church is known as the “freedom church” and said it could also offer summer camps for children providing lunch, learning, play and development opportunities.
As ribbon cutting attendees filed into the church’s new sanctuary, the choir sang, “Our God is an awesome God.” Photo credit: Elia Griffin 
A new facility was built and attached to the old church, which has since been restored. Photo credit: Elia Griffin 
Scotland A.M.E. Zion Church is the heart of Montgomery County’s historically Black Scotland community. Photo credit: Elia Griffin
