| National Community Church | |
|---|---|
 Ebenezers Coffeehouse and headquarters of the National Community Church in Washington, D.C. | |
| Address | Washington, D.C. Springfield, Virginia |
| Denomination | Pentecostal |
| Associations | Assemblies of God USA |
| Website | national |
| History | |
| Founded | 1996 |
National Community Church (NCC) is a Pentecostal multi-site megachurch based in Washington, D.C., pastored by Mark Batterson. It is affiliated with the Assemblies of God USA.
National Community Church held its first Sunday service on January 7, 1996. During the first nine months of 1996, average attendance at Sunday services was between 20 and 25 people. At the time, all meetings were at the Joshua R. Giddings school in southeast Washington, DC, but the school was closed due to fire code violations. [1] [2]
NCC found a new home in the AMC Theatres at Union Station, holding its first services there on November 17, 1996. [2] A second Sunday service was added in February 2001 when the church grew to 275 weekly attendees. [3] In an August 2001 article in the Washington Post, the congregation was described as "young" and "casually dressed," and Batterson remarked that the church was "right in the middle of the marketplace." [3] In five years, the congregation at Union Station grew to over 500. [4] NCC launched its second location in the Regal Entertainment Group theaters at Ballston Common Mall in Arlington, Virginia in 2003, using a pre-recorded video to present sermons in both locations on Sundays. [2] [5]
In 2005, NCC began making its sermons available online via podcast. [6]
In March 2006, after investing a few million dollars to renovate an abandoned building a few blocks from Union Station, NCC opened Ebenezer's, a coffeehouse serving fair trade and organic coffee, with church offices located on the top floor and an event space in the basement. [1] [7] Ebenezer's has been recognized as one of the best coffeehouses in DC. [8] [9] [10] The basement of Ebenezer's became the regular venue for a Saturday worship service and the live taping of weekly sermons. [5]
The church expanded to movie theaters in Georgetown and Kingstowne, Virginia, and Sunday services were held at Ebenezer's when the movie theater at Union Station abruptly closed in October 2009. [1] [11] In 2010, NCC began a Sunday evening service at the GALA Hispanic Theatre in Columbia Heights, Washington, D.C. and a regular Sunday service in Potomac Yard in Virginia. [12] [13]
In 2011, NCC purchased a century-old theater on Barracks Row in Capitol Hill, which was originally known as Meader's Theater and had been home to the People's Church since 1962. [14] [15] In March 2011, NCC's congregation totaled around 2,000, and the theater became the NCC's central site, hosting multiple Sunday services and the Saturday afternoon taping of the sermon distributed to the other six locations and online. [14] [4] Over the next several years, the theater was renovated and in May 2016 it opened to the public as a movie theater and performance venue, named the "Miracle Theatre." [16]
In 2012, NCC entered into a partnership with a community organization, the Southeast White House, to buy an abandoned apartment building in the Hillcrest neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The building was renovated into a community center with a dance studio, basketball court, art center, computer lab, and recording studio, opening in 2017 as the "DC Dream Center." [17]
NCC celebrated Easter 2014 with 800 congregants at the historic Lincoln Theatre on U Street in Washington, D.C. where the church established a new weekly Sunday service. [18] In April 2014, NCC had over 3,000 congregants attending services in seven locations. [19]
In late 2014, NCC purchased the Navy Yard Car Barn, several blocks south of the Miracle Theatre on Barracks Row. [20] The building was renovated and renamed Capital Turnaround, re-opening in 2021 with an 850-seat auditorium used for Sunday worship services. [21]
In 2023, NCC led an Easter sunrise service at the Lincoln Memorial, taking over a tradition that was started by Capital Church in 1979. [22]
National Community Church is affiliated with the Assemblies of God USA and the Willow Creek Association. [23] [24]
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, usually identified as the National Council of Churches (NCC), is the largest ecumenical body in the United States. NCC is an ecumenical partnership of 38 Christian faith groups in the United States. Its member communions include mainline Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, African-American, evangelical, and historic peace churches. Together, it encompasses more than 100,000 local congregations and 40 million adherents. It began as the Federal Council of Churches in 1908, and expanded through merger with several other ecumenical organizations to become the National Council of Churches in 1950. Its Interim President and General Secretary is Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie.
Ford's Theatre is a theater located in Washington, D.C., which opened in 1863. The theater is infamous for being the site of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. On the night of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth entered the theater box where Lincoln was watching a performance of Tom Taylor's play Our American Cousin, slipped the single-shot, 5.87-inch derringer from his pocket and fired at Lincoln's head. After being shot, the fatally wounded Lincoln was carried across the street to the nearby Petersen House, where he died the next morning.
Capitol Hill is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the oldest residential neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., and, with roughly 35,000 people in just under 2 square miles (5 km2), it is also one of the most densely populated. The name is also frequently used as a metonym for the United States Congress.
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A cafe church is a Christian church centered in cafés. These edifices are associated with alternative worship and the emerging church movements, and seek to find new forms and approaches to existing as a church in the 21st century. These churches are often focused on relationship aspects of Christian fellowship and outreach to their local community, and use the modern gathering place of a café in their ministry.
Lincoln Theatre is a historic theater in Washington, D.C., located at 1215 U Street, next to Ben's Chili Bowl. The theater, located on "Washington's Black Broadway", served the city's African American community when segregation kept them out of other venues. The Lincoln Theatre included a movie house and ballroom, and hosted jazz and big band performers such as Duke Ellington. The theater closed after the 1968 race-related riots. It was restored and reopened in 1994, and hosts a variety of performances and events. The U Street Metro station, which opened in 1991, is located across the street from the Lincoln Theatre.
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Christ Church — known also as Christ Church, Washington Parish or Christ Church on Capitol Hill — is a historic Episcopal church located at 620 G Street SE in Washington, D.C., USA. The church is also called Christ Church, Navy Yard, because of its proximity to the Washington Navy Yard and the nearby U.S. Marine Barracks.
Mark Batterson is an American pastor and author. Batterson serves as lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington, D.C. NCC was recognized as one of the Most Innovative and Most Influential Churches in America by Outreach Magazine in 2008. Batterson is also the author of the books Win the Day,In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, and Wild Goose Chase. Batterson's New York Times bestseller The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears was released in December 2011 and has sold more than 2 million copies.
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After decades of neglect, National Community Church transformed this run-down onetime diner into a not-so-shabby neighborhood coffeehouse.