There’s still time to nominate local icons for Best of D.C.
Pastor: The Rev. Dr. Richard L. Sheffield
Associate Pastor of Youth Ministries
: The Rev. David E. Gray
Attendance: About 75
Service Length: About 75 minutes
Sample Worshipper Dress: Khakis, blue shirt, navy blazer
Miniature Children’s Chapels:
1
Congregational Fervor
A crowd of highly attentive 7- and 8-year-olds got a lesson on the value of honesty in the children’s sermon. “Have any of you ever had a dog eat your homework?” Gray asked, before setting cuteness aside. “Our reputations and our relationships depend on being honest.”
Food for the Soul
During his sermon, the fatherly Sheffield dispensed with ecclesiastical mumbo jumbo in favor of getting down to the core message. “God is not a know-it-all,” he explained to the congregation. “But he does know it all.…The fancy word for that in seminaries—where we use buzzwords—is omniscient.”
Food for the Body
For $5, worshippers could purchase a hot lunch consisting of pot roast, potatoes, green beans, tomato soup, and macaroni and cheese. However, those too thrifty to spring for lunch could still dig into the gratis doughnut holes and coffee.
Overall Worship Power
With Easter drawing near, Sheffield took a moment to share his thoughts on Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ: “If you haven’t seen it, don’t bother.”