Minister: Any interested congregation member can lead a service.
Congregation Size: 60
Preservice “Community Sharing” Length: 30 minutes
Service Length: 65 minutes
Sample Worshipper Dress: Jeans, a checkered short-sleeved Oxford shirt, and leather sandals
Crying Toddlers: 0
Pink-and-White Birthday-Cake-Shaped Hats: 1
Congregational Fervor
Thirty minutes prior to the service, “community sharing” time is held in the church lobby, during which announcements are made and new attendees are greeted. Servant Leader Sandra Miller explains the preservice meeting as “a way of reconnecting each week” and “an opportunity to know who to keep in your prayers.” Birthdays are also celebrated through an original song and the wearing of a colorful hat by the honoree.
Food for the Soul
An “Intentional Christian community,” Seekers Church undertakes “Christian servitude through empowering others in their daily lives,” according to its Web site. A recent sermon, titled “Time for Reflection,” addressed Seekers’ coming “Season of Recommitment,” in which members celebrate the anniversary of their parent church (the D.C.-based Church of the Saviour) by reaffirming their faith. Miller discussed “finding structures that matter and provide framework for life,” such as the news or current events. In that spirit, she noted the sermon’s theme had been changed from “Swimming to the Other Side.”
Food for the Body
Post-service iced tea is offered to summer worshippers; hot coffee is substituted during colder months.
Overall Worship Power Rating
Congregants were proud to point out that the Seekers Church was featured as one of the “Top 10 Progressive Churches in the Country” in Paul Wilkes’ book Excellent Protestant Congregations. “We are a little more accommodating to people of other cultures than some of the other branches” of the Church of the Saviour, mentioned one elderly congregant. She then turned and took a South Asian attendee by the arm. “We are very glad that you’re here,” she told her.
Art accompanying story in the printed newspaper is not available in this archive: Photograph by Darrow Montgomery.