Leadership Journal

In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt signed a bill of Congress for the creation of a new railway station in Washington D.C. just blocks from the Capitol. It simply stated, "A bill of Congress to create a Union Station—and for other purposes." A century later those other purposes include the purposes of God. Today, Union Station serves as the home of National Community Church, one of the fastest growing churches in the city.

The story of National Community Church (NCC) began twelve years ago when an optimistic pastor named Mark Batterson moved his family to Washington D.C. from Chicago to start a church. His plan was conventional: begin with a small group, then meet in a rented public school, and finally buy or build a permanent church facility. But Batterson's plans were dashed when the public school his small church of thirty-five was meeting in was closed for fire code violations.

Frustrated and uncertain about the future, Batterson was walking through the shopping mall at Union Station when he had an idea. He found the manager of the movie theater and asked for permission to conduct a church service there on Sunday morning. The manager agreed. Suddenly, Batterson found himself leading a church located at the center of the most visited destination on Capitol Hill.

After experiencing rapid growth NCC changed its strategy. Batterson no longer wanted a permanent church facility. Instead he saw the benefits of being in the middle of the marketplace. Today, NCC meets in four theaters located at Metro stops throughout D.C., and in 2006 the church opened its first permanent facility—a coffee shop. Ebenezer's, also located on "The Hill," is a popular, award-winning coffee shop that was previously the location of a crack house.

Apart from its unorthodox facilities, National Community Church also has a unique membership. Nearly 70 percent of the church is single twenty-somethings, most of whom are government staffers working for Congress or the Administration. Some politicians have also made NCC their church home, including an attorney general and a former presidential candidate.

We met with Mark Batterson in his office, located above Ebenezer's, to talk about leading a church in the shadow of the Capitol.

You've led churches in other cities. What's different about pastoring in Washington, D.C.?

Being four blocks from the Capitol, compared to being somewhere else in the country, means that everything is intensified. You can't avoid politics. It's just not possible. The people I'm talking with everyday are working on political issues during the week. They're the ones drafting legislation one way or the other.

Were you aware of the political dynamics when you decided to plant a church here?

It was actually appealing to me. I wanted to influence influencers. What's unique about Washington is that no one's from here. Almost everybody came here to change the world, to make a difference. By pastoring a church in D.C. I felt I could be around people that really had a drive and a vision to make a difference in the world. Even something like our decision to open this coffeehouse tapped into that. A lot of people in our congregation really wanted us to serve only fair trade coffee. But we had some on the other side of the aisle saying fair trade was a sham.

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