The DC Metro area is filled with some pretty great churches.  Some are huge and some are small, some have multiple services and locations, and some meet in small venues and homes, but the variety is plentiful.   So then why did we start a new church instead of joining one "already in progress?"

Even among a small group like ours, we have had church experiences that left us wounded or restless.  Many of those experiences were in churches filled with well meaning people who love God, it was just that we were looking for something different.  There are so many ways churches express what it means to follow Christ; we just found we often felt like round pegs in square holes. From focusing on political agendas to traditions trumping relationships, we grew weary of "religious culture wars."  We also wanted a safe space to invite our friends to come and explore faith, regardless of their socioeconomic status, nationality, church background, sexual orientation, or other factors.

As we explored the scriptures in search of Jesus, we found a radical call to love and an amazing challenge to follow in his footsteps. We discovered a beautiful picture of a life lived in a call to love others, the Kingdom of God, as painted by the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount and demonstrated in the gospels. The Kingdom of God isn't somewhere above the clouds in a far away heaven when life is over, but a challenge to live this amazing Spirit-fueled Kingdom life now.

For several years we met in a home, studying the Bible together, and then rented a small classroom at an elementary school.  Finally we began to ask ourselves the question, should we all try to find churches that we could jive with, or should we just invite people to hang out with us?  So we decided, let's invite them to hang out with us and see what happens.

Churches are like a box of colored pencils.  While they may all have a central connection, they are unique as each brings their own color to the beautiful tapestry that God continues to create. We hope this helps to show a little bit of our unique color.  We understand that it isn't for everyone.  However, if what you have read resonates with you then we want to invite you to hang out with us. 

At New Journey, you won't find a huge crowd or a polished service.  What you will find is a group of folks that believe the call to follow Jesus looks like love.  Loving those who look like us, and loving those who look nothing like us.  We believe that following Christ means that we take what he said seriously, that love conquers hate and that fear should never serve as the compass for our decisions.

We're not perfect, and we won't pretend to be, so feel free to join us one Sunday.

Click here for information about what we do on Sunday mornings. 

Click here for a link to google maps for Ormond Stone Middle School.

Click here to explore our mission.