Located near the nation’s capital, we are an energetic, active, multi-generational congregation of 300+ members who share deep commitments to outreach (mission), education, and caring for everyone. Welcoming all into our family, helping people discover and use their gifts of ministry, caring for each other, and reaching out in compassion to the community and world are ways we seek to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. Our outreach-oriented, program-centered church is striving to focus all ministries around participation in God’s plan for the world as we become a missional church.
We are in a period of world transition—major cultural and ideological changes are taking place, and we must discover new ways of living out the Gospel story. The complex tension between reclaiming what was and discovering what is to be will infuse our congregation’s next chapter. By exploring our traditions and biblical understandings, we are building a bridge to this new life and identity while providing stability and meaning within a community of God’s people during the journey. Our ability to provide connections to the Gospel that sustain and nourish lives amid this transition will determine the success of our commitment to increase membership to over 400 and focus on the spiritual growth of all. Being God’s transforming, witnessing community within a culture that has moved Christianity from center to the margins becomes both challenge and opportunity for our growing body of disciples.
Our creative, Christ-centered ministry of 53 years puts the Gospel into action. Strong mission, Christian education, music, fellowship, and congregational care programs form the core of our ministry. Study using the Disciple series, Kerygma, and other resources stretches our understanding of who we are called to be. Children learn through “Godly Play,” choir, “worship bags,” and workshop rotation or preschool classes. Youth explore faith and its implications in various ways. Our new preschool has a waiting list and fills a community need in a Christ-centered environment. Mission trips to Guatemala and Appalachia help connect us to the world.
Within our community, we are known as the “outreach church.” A trailer thrift store grew into a large community agency providing a wide range of need-based services. A daytime activity program evolved into employment opportunities for about 400 developmentally-disabled adults, some now employed by our preschool. We sheltered the homeless until area churches’ efforts resulted in a permanent county shelter. Our “Families in Transition” program helps homeless families become self-sufficient by working with a mentor while receiving housing assistance. Agape Reservoir, a ministry of wholeness that received GA’s 2002 Kraft award and is a model for others beginning such ministry, provides weekly Christian fellowship for people with mental, emotional, or physical disabilities—currently a “congregation” of about 75 regulars.
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