Church on Capitol Hill

CBN.com When you think about Washington, D.C., what comes to mind? Impressive monuments? Capitol Hill?

Well, now there’s something new in D.C., and it’s a place that’s redefining the role of the local church.

The National Community Church started in 1996 with humble beginnings.

Pastor Mark Batterson recalls, “That first Sunday was the blizzard of ’96. Three people showed up to church that first Sunday: my wife, my son and myself.”

But Mark had a vision he couldn’t let go of. Over the past nine years the National Community Church has grown into a vital center of worship and Bible study.

They creatively use the subway system to help them reach the people of Washington.

“We are one church with three locations,” says Pastor Mark. “One location is the movie theaters at Union Station. Ebenezer’s, our coffeehouse, is about a half of block from Union Station. Our third location is located at Ballston Common Mall in Arlington, Virginia.”

Their subway stop locations not only give people easy access to church in a big city. It also plays a part of their outreach philosophy.

Pastor Mark explains, “We believe the church is called to compete in the middle of the market place. We wanna be where people are at. The church ought to be the most creative place on the planet!”

So National Community Church creatively uses current media to touch people’s lives. During the course of 2005 over 65,000 people tuned in for their weekly church service podcasts.

“The cool thing is people come on Sunday and listen to me in the pulpit but the people that download our podcasts, I go to the gym with them. I commute to work with them.”

With the recent opening of Ebenezer’s coffeehouse on Capitol Hill, they’re reaching out to the political community in that area.

Their work is paying off. Lives are being touched all over the city.

One visitor says, “I’ve been challenged a lot by Pastor Mark’s sermons and his teaching. He takes a lot of the same principles and facts that we’ve all grown up listening to, the Bible stories, and he puts a new twist on them.”

Another young woman says, “It’s brought me closer to the Lord. With the church community, it’s family. The members here really walk with each other, challenge each other.”

For a job well done, The 700 Club congratulates National Community Church for its creative outreach to our nation’s capital.