“We’re back.” That is the message the church is sending the city! Everywhere I turn, I hear about new church plants that are creatively incarnating the gospel in city centers through servant evangelism, business as mission, and the good old-fashioned preaching of gospel while leveraging technology and social media. 

One of our core convictions at National Community Church is this: There are ways of doing church that no one has thought of yet. While we are absolutely orthodox in theology, we’re somewhat unorthodox in methodology. The urban context demands it! That’s why we meet in movie theaters at metro stops. That’s why we built a coffeehouse instead of a church building. Not only has it become a place where church and communities cross paths, every penny of profit is given to missions.

One of the growing demographics in cities is the young urban professional who trades the comforts of suburban living for the convenience of urban life. NCC is composed of more than 50 percent single twenty-somethings. And diversity is becoming the norm for urban churches, both in terms of race and religious background. But the mission has not changed: to be the hands and feet of Jesus. That’s why we’re building a $3.8 million Dream Center in the poorest part of our city. It’s a place where we’ll preach the gospel with words and deeds 24/7. It’s our way of saying, “We’re back. And we’re here to stay!”

This article originally appeared in the NAE Insight.

Mark Batterson

Mark Batterson is lead pastor at National Community Church (NCC), located in Washington, D.C. Under his leadership, NCC has grown from 19 people to one church with 10 services at seven locations. He originally went to the University of Chicago on scholarship playing basketball and majoring in pre-law before feeling a call to full-time ministry and ending up at Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri. He holds a doctor of ministry from Regent University.