After attending this church for about a year and a half, I can tell you that I truly love this…read morechurch - for the community, the sermons, the discipleship intensives, the pastors, and everyone who works so hard to make this a community in a region where politics and people constantly change. Many people joke that a church review "can't really be bad" - I mean, Christian people tend to be on the nicer end! But if we're talking about churches that are truly centered around the core gospel of Christianity, I think a lot of churches would fall short on the spectrum. I didn't find that problem here at GCCC - in fact, I wasn't a believer until I started coming to this church, with foundational questions I needed to answer before I became a Christian. Why did God create us if He knew we were going to have original sin? If Christianity is a religion about love, then why was there bigotry about the LGBT community? Why did God seem angry in so many books of the Bible?
Well, spoiler alert, I got all of those questions answered through discipleship intensives, sermons, and small group - and I got baptized in 2018. What kept me coming was the great fellowship of this community - people are kind and friendly, and they have a great small group culture, where they foster growth in faith. The denomination is missionary focused (hence the name), with missions trips and alliances/partnerships around the globe. But I think that the best part is that every week, the deliberate songs of worship and the sermons, no matter what book we're on, tie back to the only central message that matters - God has loved us, and continues to love us through giving his only son, Christ, so we could have eternal life. That's it.
The church has two branches - one in Pentagon city, where mostly younger professionals flock to, and one in Tyson's where the congregation consists of mostly families. I would also say that one note is that the congregation is mostly Asian, and I would love to see more diversity in the church! But as an Asian American myself, it makes me happy that there are many members who share a common cultural background. That being said though, I would LOVE to see people of all ethnicities come together under this loving community. :) All in all though, I can truly call this church my spiritual home!