The Church in DC

It's not too early to register ($135 before January 15, $165 before March 15, $185 thereafter) for the Missio Alliance  gathering April 11-13, 2013 at Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, VA. Exploring the shape of a missional encounter with this new context calls for asking fresh questions and engaging in dialogue about topics as fundamental as the gospel, humanity, Scripture, the Holy Spirit, and the Kingdom of God ; all framed around the role of the Church in relationship to God’s mission in the world. For this inaugural conference, we’ve invited a diverse and compelling group of practitioners, theologians, and missiologists to speak and facilitate dialogue around these and a wide array of related issues.  This conference is just the beginning of what we hope to see God do through the Missio Alliance in years to come. We look forward to joining with all fellow travelers! -- John Marienau Turpin thechurchindc@gmail.com

November is National Adoption Month , and is a good chance for the Church to learn more about God's heart for the fatherless and how He is calling us to make sure all children have families. Here in DC there is much need for the Church to take action around the foster care system, and there will opportunities for us to partner together on some things in the coming months. There is a chance coming up soon though to learn more about God's heart for adoption and what the Church is doing nationwide to address this issue. The Jason Yost Band and New Rhythm, along with  ADOPTION JOURNEy AND CAFO PRESENTS,  will be hosting a  Google+ hang-out and concert this Sunday, November 18th.  Jason and Shelly Yost, who attend National Community Church here in DC, started New Rhythm, a foster care and adoption non-profit, and are doing awesome work to raise awareness and mobilize believers to love the fatherless. If you're interested in learning more about foster ca...

Join The District Church on December 1st for the Columbia Heights Tree Lighting Extravaganza at the Columbia Heights plaza! We are going to be lighting a pretty enormous tree and celebrating the Christmas season! There will be food, singing, and other festivities, so come out and join us! And if you or your church would like to partner with us in helping put on the event, there are plenty of ways for you to be inovlved-  just contact me! You can read more about the event and "like" the page here: https://www.facebook.com/chtreelighting Also, after the Tree Lighting Extravaganza, Collaborate to Impact will be hosting Charity Happy Holiday Hours , where four area restaurants will be serving holiday drinks to benefit local organizations. You can read more about the Charity Happy Holiday Hour fundraiser and buy tickets at  www.collaboratetoimpact.org -- Blythe Scott Coordinator of City Partnerships,  The District Church Blythe@districtchurch.or...

Help bring Christmas cheer to Anacostia's kids! Donate Christmas stocking stuffers today! Kids' Konnection , located in Anacostia, ministers to nearly 1,500 kids each week in DC's toughest neighborhoods through its traveling Sidewalk Sunday School program. This Christmas season Kids' Konnection will be distributing 1,500 stockings to its Sidewalk Sunday School kids. Join us in helping make the Christmas of a Kids' Konnection child by donating stocking stuffers! To donate, just pick either the boy or girl list and go shopping! No need to buy everything on the list...just get enough to fill a stocking. Please spend no more than $50 per stocking. The women of COSC , WCF and Church of the Resurrection will be sewing and stuffing the stockings. Please make donations  no later than Sunday, December 9th. Email Erica for further details at erica@carecompanydc.org . We hope you will join in this multi-church effort to bless the ki...

Mysterious Prison , an independent film about homelessness in DC is showing on Tuesday, November 20 at the E St. Cinema at 7 pm. The film, by William D. Ashton, was produced with help from Central Union Mission and many homeless individuals throughout DC. The showing is free, and donations for Central Union Mission will be accepted. Register at  https://www.missiondc.org/mysterious_rsvp/ -- John Marienau Turpin TCDC

Join Collaborate to Impact and Bittersweet Benefits as they  celebrate and support the efforts of local organizations to end child sex trafficking in Washington, DC.   When: October 12, 7:30-10pm Where: Chez Billy , 3815 Georgia Ave NW, Washington, DC    Details: $15 donation at the door Cash bar + light snacks DJ + tunes Spoken word short film debut Raffle tickets + artwork for sale *All proceeds to benefit the organizations in attendance: Fair Girls, Restoration Ministries, Courtney's House and Polaris Project. -- Blythe Scott Blythe@districtchurch.org

A workshop to help volunteers learn to teach Conversational English will be sponsored by the NorthStar Church Network in Northern Virginia. This 16-hour training will be offered on Oct. 13 and 27 from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. at Ox Hill Baptist Church,  4101 Elmwood Street,  Chantilly,  VA 20151. Visit www.NorthStarChurchNetwork.org for more information and to download the registration form. -- via dcbaptist.org

UPDATE 11/14/12: Following postponement due to Hurricane Sandy, DCBC Annual Meeting will be held Mon-Tues December 3-4. The 136th Annual Meeting of the District of Columbia Baptist Convention will be held on Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 29-30 at Clifton Park Baptist Church , 8818 Piney Branch Road, Silver Spring, Md. 20903. We will gather using the theme, “A Story to Tell” with Deuteronomy 6:5-7 as the Scripture reference. To register or receive detailed information about the Annual Meeting, click here . This year, delegates, exhibitors and regular attendees can register online as well as order meals and find out more information about speakers and the schedule. -- via dcbaptist.org

Power House Baptist Church is interested in renting worship space in their building on 10778 Rhode Island Avenue in Beltsville,  MD to another church.  The building would be available on Saturday or after 3pm on Sunday afternoon.  Contact Pastor Geoffrey Gatambia for details at gatambia@aol.com. -- via dcbaptist.org

An excerpt from "The Gift of Honey and the Promise of God" by Ashley Goff of Church of the Pilgrims, in Dupont Circle. Published in Faith & Leadership . ...By that fall, we had expanded to our current three hives and wanted to integrate our garden more intentionally into the life of worship at Pilgrims. One of our first ideas came easily. In the ancient church, the first meal the newly baptized received was milk and honey. It was to remind them of the sweetness of life in Christ and the “promised land” they were now entering because of their baptism. Drawing on this ancient tradition and the biblical stories, we began sharing milk and honey with our newly baptized, along with these words, added to our liturgy:  With the living waters, may the justice and mercy of God flow from you like the sweetness of milk and honey. ... We badly need reminders of the new that Jesus Christ gives. But our need is not out of a lack of such reminders. Lord, grant us the eyes to se...

Passing along the invite : You're invited to the official world premiere of The Line on Tuesday , October 2 in Washington,DC ! From Emmy award-winning producer Linda Midgett, The Line is a groundbreaking documentary chronicling the new face of poverty in America. Immediately following the screening, a panel of experts—featuring Jim Wallis , president and CEO of Sojourners, and producer Linda Midgett —will discuss the film and its impact. The event is free and open to the public ; however an RSVP is required as space is limited. Please click here to RSVP. Guests must plan to arrive at The Gwendolyn and Morris Cafritz Theatre no later than 7:30 p.m. Since this event will be filmed, guests who arrive after 7:30 p.m. will be denied entry. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. With over 1,000 simultaneous screenings across the country, we hope that you will join us for this very special premiere in DC! October 2, 2012 World Premiere of The Lin...

There are 373 kids waiting for adoptive families in the foster care system in DC. there are about 800 churches in DC. that means if ONE famly in every 2 or 3 churches in DC adopted ONE kid, there would be NO kids in the foster care system. and if every family in every church was involved in supporting families in need in some way (helping provide food, job resources, counseling, parenting classes, etc), the Church would PREVENT the situations that cause kids to enter the foster care system in the first place. The Church can literally make sure there are no more fatherless children. This is our calling as the Church - God tells us to "seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; defend the cause of the needy." (Isaiah 1:17) And just as He adopted us through Christ into His family (Ephesians 1:4-5), He desires us to show His love to the world in the way we adopt others into our family. Fostering and adoption is one of the biggest ways we can ta...

Human trafficking is referred to as modern day slavery. Today, more children, women and men are held in slavery than over the course of the entire trans-Atlantic slave trade. And some of these people are enslaved right here in the U.S. - and right here in DC. Human trafficking is one of the worst injustices imaginable: buying, selling, and using people's bodies, taking something from them against their will. God's Word makes it clear we are to fight for the cause of the oppressed, and this is undoubtedly one of the clearest situations of oppresion in our world today. To learn more about human trafficking, as well as what some faith groups are doing to combat this injustice, check our FAAST's website . There are also a group of churches here in the DC area meeting to talk about working together to fight human trafficking, so if you're interested in learning more about that send me an email. There are two upcoming opportu...

On September 24, The John Leland Center for Theological Studies will host the 40th Annual Faculties' Convocation for the Washington Theological Consortium beginning at 3:30 p.m. with a prayer service, and a public lecture and discussion at 4:00pm.   The title of the Lecture could not be more fitting for Leland's sponsorship: Theology and the Public Square .  Our commitment to equip transformational leaders for the global ministry of Jesus Christ demands theological reflection, not only for congregational life, but for all the vocations God gives his people inside and outside the church.  So important is this aspect of ministry preparation that our newest degree program focuses one of two possible tracks directly on the question of leadership outside the congregational setting.  And theology is at the heart of all Christian leadership.  So the WTC Lecture this year is a very timely opportunity for our students, faculty, and alums. The lecture w...

Christian unity is so important to our witness for Christ in this world - especially in the world today, as the political sphere is intensely vicious and Christians are particularly vulnerable to being used by all sides. It is so important that now, in a time of such uncertainty and ugliness, the Church shows the selflessness and love of Christ in our unity and in our love for others. And one of the ways we can do this is by working together to bring God's redemption to our city, partnering with each other in various joint initiatives, and supporting and advancing each other's work - and in doing so making the Gospel's message stronger. There are always many opportunities for partnership among churches in DC, but I've recently had several great meetings with leaders from some other churches that have gotten me especially excited! Below are some opportunities for partnership I wanted to share with you all, in the hope that through working together on initiatives like ...

A nice  article in the Post  on Saturday about the pastor of  Peace Fellowship Church  in NE. The pastor, Peter Chin, is a second generation American who grew up in Chicago. The article speaks about the differences in Pastor Chin's role in the tight-knit local community and church community, as well as of his experience of America in general and African Americans in particular as compared with his parents' generation. In doing so, it has become part of a very small but growing public discussion of relations between Koreans and African Americans within the church. Chin posts some excellent follow-up thoughts on his blog  here . One highlight: I appear to have become an unwitting and flabbergasted pioneer in the discussion of race in the Christian community, particularly the dynamic between Koreans and African-Americans.  The conspicuous silence on the subject allows any yahoo to speak his mind and get noticed.  And that does nothing but sadden me. ...

My People Pray  is a time for all Christians to join in prayer to the Lord our God. Saturday, September 15, please join your brothers and sisters in Christ for a day of prayer on the Mall. The event is non-partisan and non-political (see agenda below), and seeks to take up the privilege and responsibility given to us by God to communicate with Him and intercede for the world. -- John Marienau Turpin via dcbc.org TIME ACTIVITY 10:00 am  Opening Music, Worship Time & the Lord's Prayer Welcome by Moderator, My People Pray 2012 10:30 am Prayer of Adoration and Praise Annie Roberson - Park Cities Presbyterian Church, Dallas, TX  11:00 am Prayer of Confession & Repentance Father Steven Dart -Christ Anglican Church, Carefree, AZ    invited 11:30 am Prayer for the Church Rev. Ricky Creech, D.C. Baptist Convention, Washington, DC  invited 12:00 noon Prayer for Families (Speaker or Church/Organization Name Here) 12:30 pm Prayer for the Lost and...

Church of the Advent and Trinity Forum  invite you to The University Club (1135 16th St. NW) from 6:30 to 8:30 pm on Tuesday, August 21  for an Evening Conversation on "Science and Spirituality in Conversation: Matters of the Mind" featuring psychiatrist and neuroscientist Curt Thompson and theologian James K.A. Smith. This promises to be a fascinating conversation on the links between neuroscience and spirituality, and the insights of our faith into understanding our minds and ourselves. This is the second Evening Conversation in a three-part series entitled "Science & Faith in Conversation: Our Place, Self, and Soul" and sponsored by the Templeton Foundation "Scientists in Congregations" Initiative .  To register, visit https://www.ttf.org/index.php?option=com_civicrm&task=civicrm/event/register&Itemid=192&id=91&reset=1  

Dear Church, Please get involved in this great ministry to communities nationwide and worldwide. Convoy of Hope is taking a three-pronged, D-M-V approach on Saturday, September 22. www.convoyofhope.org Saturday, September 22 10:00am   Alexandria, VA Outreach When Sat, September 22, 10am – 2pm Where Cora Kelly Recreation Center, Alexandria, VA ( map ) Description For more information go to www.alexandria. convoyofhope.or g or call 202-544-0414 ext. 114 more details»    copy to my calendar 10:00am   Hagerstown, MD Outreach When Sat, September 22, 10am – 2pm Where Fairgrounds Park, Hagerstown, MD ( map ) Description For more information, please call 301-739-1167 ext. 201 more details»    copy to my calendar 10:00am   Washington D.C Outreach When Sat, September 22, 10am – 2pm Where Columbia Heights Community Center, 1480 Girard St. NW, Washington, D.C., 20009 ( map ) Description For more informati...

For those with kids entering school (again), those looking to help the kids, or both: THC has a copy of DCPS' official K-12 School Supplies List:  http://www.thcdc.org/images/uploads/DCPS_School_Supplies_2011-2012.pdf Central Union Mission's Operation Backpack - Donations (monetary or supplies ) due August 9; Backpack giveaway August 18. Contact: Tracy Duncan, Central Union Mission Outreach Manager: 202-745-7118 x 260, or TDuncan@missiondc.org . The Redskins are accepting donations at their training camp facilities:  http://blog.redskins.com/2012/07/23/help-area-children-with-backpack-drive/ Transitional Housing Corporation (THC) DC - Backpacks for homeless & at-risk youth. To donate, contact Andrew Adams, THC Development & Volunteer Manager at 202-291-5535 x 405, or aadams@thcdc.org . NBC 4 Backpacks for Kids - Contact Aisha Karimah, aisha.karimah@nbcuni.com Fashion Empowering Women Foundation - Build a Backpack Drives . Donations end August 18. -- ...

TCDC is now on Twitter . Please follow us @thechurchindc. And while you're at it, check out some of the great local churches on twitter as well: Mount Carmel Baptist Church - @mymcbc Open Door Presbyterian Church (English Congregation) - @ODPCEC Glee Kingdom Church - @gleekingdommd Fairfax Community Church - @FairfaxCC Metropolitan AME Church - @MetropolitanAME McLean Bible Church - @mcleanbible Capital Baptist Church - @capitalbaptist Washington International Church - @WIC_CMA The New Macedonia Baptist Church - @mytnmbc The Church in Bethesda - @ChurchnBethesda Restoration Church - @RestChurchDC Beulah Baptist Church - @BeulahDC ... and many more! The Spirit is present with His churches. Sanctify us, Lord! -- John Marienau Turpin

As was already posted below, this Tuesday, July 10th, at 7pm there will be a one hour workshop on HIV/AIDS at the Festival Center in Columbia Heights. DC has the highest infection rate of any city in the U.S., yet the Church has been largely silent when it has come to fighting this epidemic over the past 30 years. Christ calls His Church to love like He loves, and there is no question that He would confront this issue face on, fighting the spread of this disease and loving passionately those who are affected by it. The workshop on July 10th is an opportunity for Christians to come together and learn more about HIV/AIDS, see how DC faith communities are already responding, and see where God might be calling you to be His hands and feet when it comes to this issue. The International AIDS Conference is in DC at the end of July, which presents an awesome opportunity for the Church to become better educated on HIV/AIDS and how to best take action. The workshop on the 10th will talk about...

Dr. John Hutchinson, head pastor of McLean Presbyterian Church , will start in September as head of Redeemer City to City , a gospel-centered church planting movement in global cities across the world. Dr. Hutchinson and McLean Pres have been involved in City to City's fostering of a church-planting network in Berlin . See the story at  http://redeemercitytocity.com/blog/view.jsp?Blog_param=442 . -- Posted by John

Sponsored by National Community Church , The Church of the Advent , The District Church Questions: Contact Jill Carmichael, carmichaelj05@gmail.com

Capital Vietnamese Christian Fellowship Annual Summer Youth Retreat: August 2-5, 2012 CVCF's primary goal is to make Jesus famous in the lives of youth in the greater DC area and beyond.  The 2012 CVCF retreat will be August 2-5 at the same location this year - Rhodes Grove Conference Center, Chambersburg, PA. Fundraising help still needed, so get your church involved! The conference will welcome guest speaker David Tauler.  David, a minister at Antioch Korean Baptist Church and worship leader at McLean Frontline, was born in Washington, D.C. and graduated from the University of Maryland on a music scholarship. His father is Chilean and his mother is American. He speaks English, Spanish and learned Korean as a 17-year old when he began serving in a Korean church. He promises to bring a message of humility, prayer, and worship to fellowship with all the youth. See the Brochure  And download the  Registration Form here .  For more inf...

Literacy Missions: Spread God’s love by teaching someone to read and write In a 16-hour Adult Reading and Writing Literacy Missions Workshop you can learn to share the Gospel while teaching someone to read and write. The workshop will be held on Saturday, June 9 and 16 from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. at the Baptist Building, 1628 Sixteenth St. NW, Washington,  D.C. Bring a sack lunch. The cost of materials is $30. Information and registration can be found by visiting www.dcbaptist.org or 202.265.1526.  The workshop is sponsored by the Center for Church and Community Ministries (CCCM). -- John Marienau Turpin 3 Strands Community Church, TheChurchinDC via  http://www.dcbaptist.org/enews_briefs.php

Volunteers Needed for IMMERSE : National Gathering of American Baptist Youth Members of the D.C. Baptist Convention are needed to serve as volunteers for the upcoming National Gathering of American Baptist Youth (Immerse Conference). If you have a heart to serve, then this is your opportunity to bless those coming to the D.C. metropolitan area. Volunteers are needed in the following areas for a two-hour (or more) shift:  • Registration (July 22 – 24, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.): Help stuff bags in preparation for registration,  man tables during registration,  and help students unload busses (July 24). • Mission Team Leaders (July 25, 27; 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.): Ride with or meet groups at mission sites, and serve as a local point of contact for mission sites. • Health Team (July 24 – 27, 3 p.m. – midnight): On-call doctors, nurses, EMT to assist with basic medical needs of participants. • Safety & Security Team (July 24 – 27, 7 p.m. – midnight): Help monitor campus dur...

DCBC Partners with MissionServe: Join Us in Being a Blessing With a grant obtained from the City of Takoma Park, this summer the D.C. Baptist Convention in partnership with MissionServe will work to rectify code violations on approximately 23 homes in Takoma Park, Md., July 1-6. We have 330 volunteers, 6th grade to college-age, already confirmed to serve, and housing for all volunteers has already been obtained. We now NEED 23 of our churches to adopt a “work squad” of 13 volunteers. What does this mean? • The “work squad” assigned to your church would attend worship service with you on Sunday, July 1, and we ask that you provide them with lunch. • Commit to prepare and bring lunch to the work site Monday, July 2 through Friday, July 6 (Wednesday, July 4 will be an off day, so no lunch is needed.) for the squad and the homeowner(s). • Follow-up with the homeowner(s) once the work project is complete. What an awesome ministry opportunity for your church to reach the communit...

Convoy of Hope (posted about below) is also coming to DC this year! For those who aren't familiar, Convoy of Hope is a Christian ministry that goes all over the world helping organize businesses, local churches, and community organizations to plan a day of family fun and much-needed free services to communities. And on Saturday, September 22nd, Convoy of Hope is coming to the Columbia Heights neighborhood of DC! There will also be a location in Alexandria, VA, but this post is specifically about the Columbia Heights location: National Community Church (NCC) is the main church organizing the Convoy in DC, but one of the main goals of Convoy of Hope is to bring churches together and help create lasting partnerships, so NCC does not want to be the only church hosting! They want volunteers from other churches to help lead some of the outreach areas, so that this event is a partnership between churches that then turns into a more lasting outreach partnership after the event! ...

See below for information about what seems like a very interesting event sponsored by Church of the Advent:   An Evening Conversation with Jennifer Wiseman: "Our Place in the Cosmos" Greetings from The Trinity Forum! On behalf of The Trinity Forum and the Church of the Advent, I am delighted to invite you to an Evening Conversation with astronomer Jennifer Wiseman! Please join us on Thursday, May 31 at the University Club in Washington, DC for what promises to be a fascinating conversation surrounding what science and faith have to tell us about the awe-inspiring vastness of our universe, and our place within it. This is the first Evening Conversation in a three-part series entitled "Science & Faith in Conversation: Our Place, Self, and Soul" and sponsored by the Templeton Foundation "Scientists in Congregations" Initiative.   Jennifer Wiseman is an astronomer and Director of the Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion for the American...

Convoy of Hope  is a Christian ministry working with churches all over the United States and the world to bring a day of family fun and much-needed free services to communities. Frederick-area churches, individual volunteers, services and businesses are teaming up to offer FREE: Breast Cancer Screenings, Health Screenings, Groceries, Hair Cuts, Family Portraits, Job Fair, Kids' Carnival, Live Music, a variety of community services, and a BBQ lunch for all.  For more information on Frederick's Convoy of Hope, see  Facebook  and  Hope4Frederick.com . The volunteer training is Friday, June 1, 7:00pm at Thomas Johnson High School, 1501 North Market Street. Convoy of Hope Frederick 2012 will be on Saturday, June 2 at the Frederick Fairgrounds. Gates open 10:00am, and the event runs until supplies run out. 2012 will be Frederick's second Convoy of Hope event. Last year's was also a great success. ...And stay tuned for simultaneous Convoy of Hope ev...

This summer a team from The District Church is traveling to Uganda for two weeks on a missions trip to serve with an organization called Mercy's Village . The team is still working on raising all the funding they need, so on Wednesday, May 30th from 6:00pm - 8:30pm, Collaborate to Impact will be hosting an event at Acre 121 (right by the Columbia Heights metro) to help raise support for the missions trip. There will also be an open mic night at the fundrasier, so you don't want to miss this fun night! Come out and support The District Church Uganda team as they seek to serve this summer! If you can't make the fundrasier but would still like to support the team, you can donate here . Or if you have any questions about the fundraiser or the trip to Uganda, you can email me! Blythe Scott blythe@districtchurch.org

"I came into Central Union Mission in January 2011 a broken man. I was 24 years old, confused, frustrated and lost. I had left my home in South Carolina looking to escape a lifestyle of drug addiction and violence. When I came to DC, I had nowhere to go. I ran into a lady who gave me the homeless shelter hotline, who then referred me to Central Union Mission. After arriving here a supervisor named Kevin Wright told me about a Spiritual Transformation Program and what it did for him. That night I prayed on it, and the next day I joined the STP. My life has never been the same. "Here I learned I don't have to be high to enjoy life. I have experienced what it's like to have people genuinely care about me and my past and what I'm going through. God has shown me His riches, His mercy and His son Christ Jesus through Central Union Mission. During my time here I have become a new creature as stated in 2 Cor. 5:17: "If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has c...