Isaac Howard, 60, of Burke plays the piano at Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in Fairfax Wednesday, Dec. 27. Colin Stoecker
Fairfax — A local pastor said that God told him to start a new church in Fairfax. Isaace Howard, 60, of Burke has been a singer, pianist, and a member of Mt. Calvary Baptist church for most of his life.
“I was raised in a church, First Baptist in Merrifield,” said Howard.
He is assistant to the director at the church, but on Jan. 27, that will all change when he fulfills his calling of preaching to his own congregation. Mt. Calvary Baptist Church is 147 years old and will host another congregation under the same roof in January.
Howard believes that his calling by God to start the new church will help him to fill the pews with
eager listeners.
“You don’t just crank it out. You have to be called by God to do this. If you honor God’s calling, he will add to the church,” said Howard.
Howard hopes to bring lessons he learned from being the director of the Cavalets, an all-male chorus, and lessons from his own family to his new congregations.
Both of Howard’s parents were ministers. He said that many of his sermons come from lessons he learned from his own parents.
“I’m so grateful that they were persistent in teaching us those lessons. I had no idea I was going to be a pastor,” he said.
Still, being a man of music, Howard says that music is crucial to a good service.
“I’ve learned things to do and bad things not to do, but you have to have good music ministry. People are drawn to the music. It sets the pace and gets people ready for worship,” said Howard.
“People come in looking ready, but on the inside they’re down,” he said.
One of the primary reasons for starting the church was turning a fresh page in the already existing church community.
“People are looking for a fresh word from god,” said Howard.
However, Howard said that at first he wasn’t open to the idea of starting his own congregation.
“It took some convincing at first I didn’t desire it,” said Howard.
He compares his calling to the wise men from the old testament. “As long as they followed the star, they couldn’t go wrong,” said Howard.
Many people, like Pamela Honesty from Stafford and Sydney Pearson of Woodbridge are excited to attend the new worship service at Mt. Calvary Baptist Church.
“I like doing new experiences. I feel great and it’s something he should’ve done a long time ago,” said Pearson.
“I’ve known him for many years, his father Norman Howard married me and my husband in my parents’ backyard,” said Honesty.
Howard Ministry Church will meet Saturdays at Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in Fairfax once a month, until it is able to catch on and gain a following.