Rev. Dennis Whitmore

Rev. Dennis E. Whitmore was the Senior Pastor of First United Methodist Church of Laurel, Maryland, from July 2002 to June 2007 when he left to pastor Hilltop Christian Fellowship in Big Pool, Maryland. Prior to coming to First UMC, Pastor Dennis served the three church Potomac Charge in rural Big Pool, Maryland for seven years.

Pastor Dennis was born and raised in Baltimore City, graduating from Towson University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration. His wife, Marcella, was an experienced librarian, having earned her Masters of Library Science from University of Maryland, College Park. She served as fulltime stay-at-home mom with their daughters Elizabeth and Joanna while at First UMC.

Pastor Dennis was a second-career pastor, with a background in health and fitness. He was a salesman, manager, and personal trainer in Baltimore area health clubs for eight years. The Lord used his physical fitness training and experience to teach him spiritual fitness. He graduated from Wesley Seminary, in Washington, D.C. in 1995 and has been a pastor since then.

He served as Vice-President of the Laurel Clergy Association and has written a weekly column, "Point to Ponder", for the Picket Newspaper in Hagerstown, Maryland. Those articles continued to be a regular feature of this Web site while he was at First UMC.