Feature Church: Washington, DC

The beginning of the Apostolic Faith Church in Washington D.C. was on June 3, 1953, when Mary G. Kelly opened her home and invited friends to join together for a time of worship and fellowship. On March 1, 1964, property was purchased with the anticipation of building a church. The adjacent lot with a house was purchased in 1972, and meetings were held in the house until 1978. That year, the house was torn down and the church was built. While construction was in progress, meetings were held in a rented house around the corner on Florida Avenue. The new church, located at 513 M Street, N.E., was dedicated in the late fall of 1978 by the Reverend Loyce C. Carver, General Overseer of the Apostolic Faith organization.

The Washington D.C. church has always been hospitable. Their “welcome-to-our-house” posture helps them acknowledge and befriend visitors and strangers alike who come to the meetings. Under the leadership of Reverend Josephine McElveen, the people make it a point to help visitors feel at home. An extension of this hospitality is the food bank that they run to assist the underprivileged. This service gives them an opportunity to introduce the food recipients to the Savior of the world.

A spontaneous, high timbre rhythm and enthusiastic singing is found in most of the Apostolic Faith churches of the East Coast. A mellower version of the same characterizes the music of this church. To complement this, a new ensemble of young musicians is hard at work to produce the church's first mainstream orchestra. They are sounding good already!

The youth group of the Washington D.C. Apostolic Faith Church is spirited and highly motivated. They challenge each other, and the young adults are bringing other young people into the services. The young people have dubbed themselves the “D.C. Angels.” We pray the Lord will continue to help them to be good examples to their peers.

Two services are held each Sunday, along with a Monday night prayer meeting and a Friday night Bible Study. The people in the Washington D.C. congregation really crowd around the Word of God—their enthusiasm for the “manna from Heaven” does not allow anyone to be sleepy during sermon time! Resounding amens from those in attendance support each message, and readiness of spirit in the hearers makes it easy for the power of God to fall. God regularly sends revival their way.

“United Nations Under God” is the name given the Washington D.C. church, for the congregation truly is a melting pot. It is multi-cultural, multi-racial, and multi-national, and it represents a wide age span. It consists of African-Americans, Africans from various countries, Caucasian-Americans, Pacific Islanders, and people from different parts of the West Indies. The beauty is the unity among them, which is so obvious. They really respect and honor each other as true Christians do. The attendees are thankful and praising God for the spirit of genuine brotherhood that they enjoy.

It is no wonder that the Washington D.C. Apostolic Faith Church is now experiencing a pleasant problem: a need for a bigger church. Since the church was built more than twenty-five years ago, this is the first time it has felt a pressing need for a larger space. This is no coincidence. The church has placed itself in the path of God's blessing and He is pouring down the Spiritual rain upon them.