Vermont Avenue Baptist Church, 1630 Vermont Ave NW, Washington, DC 20009, US

Rev. Mills and the officers realized that with the rapidly growing congregation and great challenge before them, increasing needs and demands facing the church, the space was quickly growing inadequate again. On June 9, 1963 our congregation moved to our present location on the corner of 16th and Newton Streets N.W. Canaan Baptist Church has had three Pastors and an Acting Pastor. Rev. Mills, the founding pastor, served faithfully until illness forced him to retire in 1971. Rev. John M. Alexander, Jr., served as the church?s second Pastor from 1973-1976. After his departure, Rev. Francis E. Stewart, a son of Canaan, became Acting Pastor. Dr. Cornelius Carter, Jr., was installed as our third Pastor on October 24, 1977. He served faithfully for twenty-nine years until his retirement in 2006. Dr. Clark A. Houston became our Church?s Interim Pastor in 2007 as we began the search for Canaan?s fourth Pastor and served in this capacity until his death in 2008. At a special meeting, the Church elected Rev. Larry Owens, Jr. as our fourth Pastor. Rev. Owens was officially installed as Pastor on May 31, 2009. From our early humble beginning until the current year, Canaan has strived to become a beacon