Capitol Hill Baptist Church

Five years ago, at the suggestion of a fundamentalist friend who knew us well, my wife and I visited Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.

Up to that point, we had been “in the ministry” for nearly 30 years, the last of which had been discouraging. We had been in churches that were stagnant or declining in attendance, suffered from either no leadership or dictatorial leadership, and were marked by internal turmoil.

It was implied that these were “the last days” and that we were the “remnant” and that a church that was growing could only do so by compromising the truth and that the millennials and generation X’ers had either quit church or were attending churches that were using entertainment to build a crowd.

The first Sunday we visited CHBC, I was stunned. I was in a church auditorium filled with that missing younger generation (and older folks as well) who were joyfully singing traditional hymnody and listening to hour-long expositional sermons. I was encouraged to see people coming to Christ, being baptized and joining the church, interns being trained and sent out to plant and revitalize churches, and a church body that actively cared for its members.

After attending for a time, we asked if we could join and were told “No”. (Imagine that from a Baptist church!) Our work schedules and geographic location would not have allowed us to be fully integrated in to the life of CHBC. We were, instead, encouraged to join another church which they recommended where we could be fully involved in church life and where we’ve been for the last 5 years.