International
House of Worship Church History
On January 12, 2003,
under the leadership of its founder Pastor Dawn R. Abbott, the International
House of Worship church opened at 403 Hollyday Street, Easton, Maryland where
it currently resides. The church structure
of the International House of Worship, Inc. (IHW) consists of the
Pastor/Founder, the Assistant Pastor Passion Tilghman, Ministerial Staff,
Church Council/Board of Trustees, Deacons in training, Music, Men, Women, and
Youth ministries, Activities, Finance, and Hospitality committees, an usher
board, praise and worship team, choir, praise dancers, and mime ministry. In
order to understand the history of the church it is important to understand a
little history about Founder/ Pastor to whom God inspired to start this minstry;
a church is only as strong as its leader.
The spiritual
background of Pastor Abbott, prior to starting IHW, includes receiving the Lord at the age of 16,
serving in various capacities such as choir member, choir directress, drummer,
bible school valedictorian and registrar, and licensed Evangelist under the
leadership of Pastors Nathaniel and Rosie Edwards in Salisbury, Maryland at
Tabernacle of Prayer for all People, Inc. for 17 years, becoming an ordained
Elder in the Mt. Sinai Holy Churches of America, and then she spent 6 years
assisting other ministries/churches on the Eastern Shore. The IHW church family and the community
alike has benefitted from Pastor Abbott’s knowledge, experiences, and the
calling on her life as evidenced by the impact that she as on those who have
heard of preach or teach.
It is the mission of
IHW to evangelize the world, reach out to help all man-kind, and to support and
uplift the community. IHW is known for
its clarity of the preaching and teaching of the gospel and for the
spirit-filled worship services. In
addition, the doors of IHW are open for
weekly bible study in which people who are not even members will
frequently visit, and for prayer meetings, specific community meetings, a place
to have funerals and weddings for those without a church home, to serve food to
those who are hungry during the holidays, and to provide financial support to
those who may be in crisis. In addition,
under the auspices of the IHW ministry, services and supports are provided to
the homeless shelter, a local transitional housing program for recovering
addicts, and to the hospitals, nursing homes, and the local jails on a
consistent basis.
IHW is also known in
the community for its Youth Lock-Ins which has reached an attendance of over
230 youth/teens and for its annual tent revival on the
corner of Port and West streets. Since the
inception of IHW, several members of the congregation have come forward to
become entrepreneurs in which their businesses (i.e. mortuary, transitional
housing, restaurants, hair salon, etc.) provide support and services to the
community. In addition, some members are
educators, medical professionals, and/or work in the human services/ customer
services fields and they not only do their jobs to support their family but
they utilized their professional skills to help the IHW church meet the needs
of the church members and those in the community.
Church Location:
Community Civic League
3439 Laurel Grove Road
Federalsburg, Maryland 21632
