Metropolitan Baptist Church elects new pastor

The members of the historic Metropolitan Baptist Church in Northwest Washington have elected a well-known Georgia pastor as their new minister.

Rev. Maurice Watson, who currently is the pastor of the Beulahland Bible Churchin Macon, was elected by the congregation Monday night during a congregational meeting.

Dr. Watson will begin on January 15th, said Metropolitans longtime pastor, Rev. H. Beecher Hicks, in a brief interview Tuesday.

Hicks, one of the Washington areas most influential church leaders, has been pastor of the congregation for nearly four decades. He announced that he was retiring earlier this year after he also announced that he had been diagnosed with Parkinsons disease.

Entering its 150th year, Metropolitan is one of the areas oldest black churches. During Hicks tenure, the church grew to be one of the areas most prominent congregations: It attracted White House appointees, civil rights figures and nationally renowned gospel artists. The church was a must-stop for political candidates during election cycles. And for years, Sundays were standing room only in the sanctuary in Northwest Washington, as hundreds piled in each week to hear Hicks preach.

But Metropolitans ties to the District weakened as most of its members moved to the suburbs. By 2004, half of the congregation lived in Prince Georges County, and a sizable portion lived in Virginia.

For the past five years, the congregation has held its services in a charter school at 1400 First St. NW after its effort to move to a bigger church in Largo hit a snag: After selling its property in the District and buying 35 acres for a planned multimillion-dollar sanctuary, the church was forced to stop construction because it could not secure additional loans to finish the project. The congregation has since declined to about 2,000.

In interviews, many congregants have expressed private hopes that Watson, who was extensive experience in building congregations, will usher in a new era for the church.

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Metropolitan Baptist Church elects new pastor