Grace Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC (widely known as GraceDC) recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. Below, Richard Allen Hyde interviews Pastor Glenn Hoburg on behalf of IRD about the history of the church, it’s influences, and ministry within urban centers.
GraceDC Downtown
5 pm Sunday, Chinese Community Church, 500 I St NW
GraceDC Meridian Hill, Mt. Pleasant/Columbia Heights/Petworth
10:30 am Sunday, 810 Shepherd St NW
GraceDC Mosaic, Brookland/Upper Northeast
9:30am Sunday, 1423 Girard St NE
Richard Allen Hyde: GraceDC was one of the first of what have become many new congregations in the city of Washington. Tell us how you started.
Glenn Hoburg: There were a number of beginnings. One was when three pastors from the suburbs just began to talk amongst themselves about a new congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America to grow and minister to the people and city of Washington. At one point they met on a bench in Dupont Circle to quietly pray for a church that did not yet exist. They were very much influenced in this hope by the ministry of Tim Keller, who founded Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, which has become the mother church of many new churches in cities across the country.
RH: How did that grow into enough people to get together and call a pastor?
GH: McLean Presbyterian in Virginia had a number of members and contacts in the city who began to meet together as a fellowship. These meetings then grew into what you might call a house church in the city and eventually enough people to begin meeting in a hotel ballroom with around 100 people. McLean in Virginia and Redeemer in New York provided some seed money and very important prayer support.
RH: You did not just show up as a self-appointed prophet/pastor and call upon the populace to join you?
GH: Absolutely not. This was not a parachute plant. The way was well-prepared. Tim Keller in New York and John Hutchinson in McLean were very supportive from the beginning. I met with each of them for prayerful support and guidance.
RH: In this case, denominational backing was very helpful.
GH: Yes.
RH: At first, was GraceDC predominantly people in their twenties in Washington just starting out on their careers?
GH: Yes. Many were from the south, which is where the PCA is particularly strong, but also from around the country where the PCA has a growing campus ministry. At the beginning we were about 90 percent people in their twenties. Many of our early members eventually found jobs elsewhere and moved on; many married and moved to the suburbs and many have stayed.
RH: What was the key for drawing these folks into GraceDC?
GH: We emphasized that we were a welcoming community. We immediately offered prayer support and Bible study through community groups of fifteen to twenty that met all over the city. We also emphasized that our new church called them to serve the city in which they lived. The Gospel is a call to serve.
RH: Have you been able to broaden your appeal to different age and ethnic groups?
GH: To some extent, yes. We have been welcoming to people of different theological, cultural and political perspectives; welcoming seekers of all varieties, especially welcoming to people who want to serve the city in which they live. Rather than attempting to draw people from all over Washington to our downtown location, we founded two new congregations in different neighborhoods. We now consider ourselves one church in three congregations. We began meeting in a hotel ballroom near Dupont, then met in a Methodist church on Mt. Vernon Square, then in a Baptist church a few blocks away at 8th and H Northwest near the new sports arena; now at the Chinese church in that same area. Along the way we planted congregations in Brookland/Upper Northeast and Mt. Pleasant/Columbia Heights/Petworth. These two especially have taken on the character of their surroundings in Meridian Hill and Brookland.
RH: You welcome all people to your worship service, but you do not welcome all people to weekly communion.
GH: That’s right. We believe that Jesus clearly established two sacraments, baptism and holy communion. We believe that baptism must be prior to communion and that people be firm in their Christian faith before joining us for that sacrament. If you are not a baptized Christian or member of a church that believes in baptism, we recommend that you use the time of Holy Communion for meditation and consideration of God’s call; and plan to talk to a minister about baptism and joining our church.
RH: So you do have requirements for membership and standards of behavior, but you are resolutely non-partisan in your preaching.
GH: Yes, we strive to be politically non-partisan in a very partisan time and a very partisan city full of professional partisans. We are only partisan for the Gospel.
RH: You meet for worship at 5pm. How well has that worked?
GH: It works very well for young professionals; for people with kids, not so much. Kids are flexible – they can adapt to any hour. It’s the parents who need to get the kids in bed by a certain time, certainly in our culture. At times I regret that we did not add a morning service a while ago. We may do that sometime in the future.
RH: Any other regrets or things you could have done better?
GH: I wish we had gotten into the real estate market sooner. Having a consistent place to worship and a property we own and care for is an important way to show our commitment to the city of Washington.
RH: What had you done before that prepared you for this kind of ministry?
GH: In addition to studying at Covenant Seminary, I had worked for six years in campus ministry at Harvard, so I had some familiarity with young people on a professional track.
RH: You studied music before studying for the ministry. How important has music been in the growth and perseverance of GraceDC?
GH: Yes, I studied at the Berklee School of Music in Boston. Good music is essential for church growth in our context. We have had good musicians, some paid professionals and some volunteers, from the beginning. I wanted to be especially certain that our rhythm section – drums, bass, piano – would be high quality and professional. Music is a critical part of worship. I do not want to be worried about the quality of the music before worship begins.
RH: Tell us more about Tim Keller.
GH: Tim Keller was that rare combination: a great pastor, a great writer and a great teacher of pastors. He led the movement within the Presbyterian Church in America to bring our ministry to the center of the city. He was instrumental in founding the Church of the Redeemer in Manhattan, which has grown into a vast ministry in New York, five large congregations, and a network of urban churches around the country. Washington, DC and New York City of course are very distinctive urban centers, but young people everywhere arrive in urban centers hungry for connection with other seekers and believers.
RH: What is the essence of the Gospel for today, especially today’s young urban professionals and also, of course, for everyone else?
GH: Urban professionals urgently need reminding that God is calling them out of individualism and into community. We break that down into three concepts, the family of God, living in place and having an individual and community spiritual practice.
RH: Any reflections or advice for other pastors after twenty years of ministry in Washington?
GH: The people of this city need pastors. They need to be able to talk to someone confidentially in this city where there is so much competition and so little privacy. We have a growing association of ministers, from all denominations, who meet together to support one another in our dedication to ministering to all of the people of this city. There is ample need and opportunity here to find solutions to common problems.
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