Doing Church at the Metro Stops
Not having a building doesn't stop this creative and growing congregation in D.C.
October 1, 2005
You don't expect a church to meet in a nightclub in Washington D.C., a coffeehouse on Capitol Hill, and the movie theater complex at Union Station. But that's what National Community Church does. "We're practicing orthodox Christianity in some unorthodox places," says lead pastor Mark Batterson. It began in 1996 when the church plant was told that the public school in which they'd been meeting was being closed for fire code violations. Within a few weeks, the flock of fewer than 50 arranged to meet in the theaters at Union Station. It wasn't Plan A, but it did have advantages. "Union Station is the most visited destination in the nation's capitol," Batterson says. "We've got our own subway stop, bus stop, train stop and parking garage. We've got forty food court restaurants right outside our meeting site. The theaters give us multiple meeting rooms with comfortable seats and screens" (which, he says, function as "modern-day stained glass, similar to how medieval churches used pictures to tell the gospel story"). The church even plays with its setting, using popcorn boxes to receive the offering. "What more accessible and visible location could we want?" Batterson says. "I can't imagine a better place to reach the unchurched and dechurched in D.C." The location removes an obstacle to anyone intimidated or threatened by a church building. The congregation is 75 percent unchurched and dechurched; 80 percent are single; and 80 percent are in their twenties. The location fits well with the church's core values, which include "expect the unexpected" and "playing it safe is risky." Referring to Paul's dialogues at Mars Hill in Acts 17:16, Batterson says, "Too many churches are boycotting the Areopagus. If Paul hadn't been willing to ...
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