It’s quite a daunting task to sum up an entire community of diverse individuals in a single page. How do we do justice to all the many aspects that make up the identity of a church? Instead of posting a vague statement trying to encompass everyone, we’ve asked some members of our community to give their two cents. We’d also love to hear from anyone who has participated with us. On this page, leave a comment below describing how you have experienced the Church at Clarendon. The collage of comments will do a much better job of painting the picture of our church than any one leader could do.
If you’re interested in our beliefs click here . Our vision and purpose statements are in the boxes on the the right. But if you’re trying to get a more nuanced picture of the essence of our community, check out some of the comments below.
So… Who are we?
Christ-centered, Bible-based, caring, authentic, trustworthy, challenging each other to be the best we can be, not pretentious, not what you would think of as the typical Washington crowd, more like the folks from home.
Spiritually stimulating (Jesus-based sermons, small groups, Bible studies), creative (children’s lesson, meeting locations, advertising), inclusive (rich-poor, black-white, young-old, left-right), community-based (church house events, shared meals, member moves), compassionate (far-reaching missions, helping homeless, caring for the “least of these”), relevant (applied messages, contemporary music, non-threatening outreach), and kid friendly (Sunday school, snack times, illuminating first-time lessons).
the heart of our church belongs to God. the heart of our church is not a business.
we embrace all and respect each other’s differences
we value integrity and push for transparency
we are uncomfortable with performance and disinterested in polish
we move towards hard questions and away from pad answers
we hug and we eat together
we come from all corners of the globe
we’re not interested in facades rather revel in earthy and raw personalities
we aim to keep God big and have no use for a God-in-a-box
we believe in miracles and expect God to hear our prayers
we love those with and those without
we are a church in progress, always changing, evolving and recreating, yet aware that God never changes and His love for us is firm and secure.
We are not perfect. We are not always polished, and we don’t pretend to have all the answers. We are not afraid to struggle honestly with difficult topics. Rather, we are a community on a continual search to know and love God more deeply. We are a diverse collection of people from many states and countries, with different educational backgrounds, different religious roots, and different family situations, all united in our fascination with and desire to follow Christ.