This is part one of a series of investigations into the nexus of money, corridors of power, special interests and mega-churches that surround CM Will Jawando. You can read Part 2 here.
In the spring of 2016, pre-Trump and pre-Covid-19, the Washington Post published a glowing small profile on one Will Jawando, who was, at the time, running for Maryland’s 8th District Democratic Congressional nomination. “Five things to know about Will Jawando” it read. It was written by Bill Turque and published April 8, 2016.
Number three on the list was interesting – Not Just Another Voice: Sings in the men’s choir at Reid Temple AME Church in Silver Spring.
Alto or tenor? The article sadly does not say.
Mr. Jawando would go on to lose the MD-8 Democratic Congressional primary, garnering about 6% of the vote.
What is interesting about the connection noted in this Washington Post article to the Reid Temple AME Church in Silver Spring is that ‘Reid Temple AME Church’ is actually ‘Reid Temple-North’ at 12101 Tech Rd (see below) in Silver Spring, MD and a part of something much bigger, called the ‘Kingdom Fellowship AME Church’. Per the Kingdom Fellowship AME website, the mega-church is “comprised of the former Reid Temple-North and Reid Temple DC congregations with membership of more than 5,000.”
Below is a screenshot from the Kingdom Fellowship AME website:
Also included here is a screen grab from a quick Google Maps search of 12101 Tech Rd in Silver Spring, MD. Per Google services, the photo is noted taken from May of 2022:
Kingdom Fellowship AME is actually headquartered in Calverton, MD and is unquestionably a mega-church. Its ‘about us‘ page lists over 30 staff members alone and membership is, as mentioned before, over 5,000 people.
In addition to Sunday services, Kingdom Fellowship AME has been busy in real estate and commercial development / leasing. Screenshot direct from, again, the ‘abous us’ page at https://kingdom.global/about-us/:
The last highlighted part (highlight added for effect) is key. Kingdom Global Development Corporation advertises as a 501c3 community non-profit that seems to do a smorgasbord of services (Food Assistance, SNAP / EBT Food Card Registration, Rental and Utilities Assistance). It notes its ‘Existing Partnerships’ include… yes, the Office of Montgomery County CM At-Large William Jawando. See below.
Kingdom Global Development Corporation also has a Board of Directors. Michelle Lawrence Jawando is included as an active one, but curiously her relationship to CM Will Jawando is not disclosed here. She is Mr. Jawando’s wife.
Here is where it gets more interesting. On May 26, 2022, the Montgomery County Council introduced and adopted Resolution 19-1285. The subject? Approval of and Appropriation for the FY 2023 Operating Budget of the Montgomery County Government. Section G of this document then goes on to say it: “lists the entities designated to receive non-competitive contract awards under Section 11B-14(a)(4) of the County Code, which states: “A contract may be awarded without competition if the Chief Administrative Officer makes a written determination that the contract award serves a public purpose and a proposed contractor has been identified in a grant or appropriation resolution approved by the Council.”
Page 61 of this document notes that $400,000 in Montgomery County taxpayer money in FY23 will be allocated to “Kingdom Fellowship AME, Inc. [soon to be Kingdom Global Development Corp] to “oversee coordination of organizations in the County to provide comprehensive services to residents.” Mrs. Jawando’s Kingdom Global Development Corp. was also listed as a partner/coordinator in a $90,000 grant to a non profit that does work at a “hub” in the eastern part of Montgomery County.
Would it be too much to ask for full, transparent disclosure on all these facts and professional / political relationships prior to adoption of the Montgomery County operating budget?
More to come in Part II.
