NATIONAL CAPITAL BAPTIST CONVENTION Washington DC & Vicinity

In the year 1981, God placed a vision on the heart of the late Reverend Robert A. Samuels to organize a Baptist church in southern Prince Georges County. On March 21, 1981, Reverend Samuels met with a faithful few, including Carolyn Samuels, Lillie Brown, Iceline Burwell, Lenora Dabney, Edward Evans, Sister Larkin, and Walter Webb to start the Mt. Ennon Baptist Church. It is said that in naming the church, Reverend Samuels reflected back on an Indian trail in Xenia, Ohio outside his hometown of Chillicothe. The name “Enon” (also spelled “Aenon” or “Ennon”) is also found in scripture, in John 3:23, where it records that John the Baptist baptized “at Aenon near Salim because water was abundant there; and people kept coming and were being baptized.” God nurtured the seed he had planted in Reverend Samuel’s heart, and the first official service was held on Palm Sunday, April 12, 1981 in the multipurpose room of the Melwood Elementary School in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.