C E L E B R AT I N G 5 Y E A R S

The District
Church
A CHURCH FOR THE CITY

A N N UA L R E P O RT 2 01 5

Ive met
friends here
who have
become my
family.

DEAR CHURCH,

It is hard to believe what God has done in and through

our church since we started in our living room five years
ago. What started as a dream is now becoming more
and more of a reality.
In the following pages you will read how God has been working in and through
our church over this last year to reach more and more people with the love and
message of Christ. We will also include a special section highlighting some
numbers from the past five years collectively. Can you believe that since we started we have held 603 services,
hosted 1,019 people at 68 newcomers dinners, held over 3,500 small group gatherings, and baptized 54 people?
Gods Spirit has shown up in unique ways in each of these gatherings. Every person who has walked through our
doors has a unique story and has been ministered to at some level. As we often say, every number has a name,
every name has a story, and every story matters to God!
We believe that we are just getting started as a church. We are just laying the foundation and praying that what we
do now has an impact on the generations to come.
There are five specific projects that we believe the Lord has called us to as a church. We do not yet know the exact
timing and we do not yet have the financial or people resources, but we feel led by the Spirit to present these to
you in the hopes that you will commit them each to prayer and ask God how you might be a part of seeing these
dreams come to fruition. The five God-sized dreams are:
1. Plant a third parish
2. Build affordable housing
3. Expand our leadership pipeline of those called to ministry
4. Start a recovery ministry
5. Reverse the foster care and adoption waitlist
In April and May, we did a series called Why Church?, where we talked about the unique role of the local church in
advancing the mission of God. While the local church is becoming more and more optional for much of our culture
and even some Christians, we are convinced that the local church is Gods plan to bring change to our lives and
our communities, so we are not afraid to champion the cause of the local church and to be clear about how your
involvement and investment literally makes the difference of life or death for some people in our church and city.
We do not simply want to remember the past, but we want to press on toward the future of what God has called us to.
Join me in praying that Christ would continue to be the head of our church and the sole reason we exist. Lets pray that
many more people come and drink from the well of his living water that never runs dry.
Whether you have been part of this mission from the beginning or are just joining us, we believe that you have an
important role to play in helping us write this next chapter of our story.
To God be the glory,

Aaron Graham, Lead Pastor

WWW.DISTRICTCHURCH.ORG

OUR VISION
To be a church that exists for Christ
and the renewal of our city.
OUR MISSION
To make disciples of Jesus who
are committed to living out their
God-given mission in life.
OUR CORE VALUES

WORSHIP

COMMUNITY

THE DISTRICT CHURCH | ANNUAL REPORT 2015

JUSTICE

Making Disciples
Newcomers
Dinners
2010
4 meals
29 people

2011
13 meals
171 people

July 2014 - July 2015

677

# of first connect
Newcomers on Sunday
587 COLUMBIA HEIGHTS
90 EAST SIDE

18

people baptized

43

2012

54

15 meals
187 people

BAPTISMS
IN 5 YEARS

2013
14 meals
223 people

5 Year Facts

2014

SEPT 2010 - JULY 2015

15 meals
265 people

603

Total # of Services
(CH and ES)

JAN-JUL

2015
7 meals
144 people

+3,500
small group
gatherings

TOTAL
68 meals
1,019 people

small groups
ALPHA
Last year we held two Alpha classes
for those that were exploring faith
or returning to faith. These classes
were designed to provide a space for

spiritual seekers to share a meal and

share in the exploration of the core
components of the Christian faith.
During this time we served:

20 people
26 sessions
26 dinners

WWW.DISTRICTCHURCH.ORG

Gatherings

Every number has a name, every name has

a story, and every story matters to God.
Average
attendance

500

(ESTIMATE)

420

+80

+149

+75,000

271
201

JULY 2011
JUNE 2012

PODCAST
LISTENS

+70

JULY 2012
JUNE 2013

SINCE 2012

JULY 2013
JUNE 2014

JULY 2014
JUNE 2015

THE DAY AFTER I MOVED TO DC, I ATTENDED A SERVICE HERE AND THE
COMMUNITY DINNER THAT FOLLOWED. I FELT SO WELCOMED BY THE
STAFF AND CONGREGATION, SO AT EASE IN THE ENVIRONMENT AND SO
BLESSED BY THE MESSAGE THAT NIGHT THAT I KNEW ID BE BACK. WE
WENT TO SMALL GROUP THAT WEEK AND DECIDED RIGHT AWAY THAT
THIS WOULD BE OUR CHURCH HOME.

THE DISTRICT CHURCH | ANNUAL REPORT 2015

OVER

1000
PEOPLE GATHERED
ON EASTER
WEEKEND AT
BOTH PARISHES.

WWW.DISTRICTCHURCH.ORG

Small Groups

Our church began as a small group.

We have always been a church that
gathers in homes.

THE DISTRICT CHURCH | ANNUAL REPORT 2015

43
GROUPS

760
ATTENDING

SMA L L G RO U P

78 LEADERS

SMALL GROUP

I HAVE NEVER FELT MORE LOVED

BY A GROUP AT TDC THAN I DO
WITH MY SMALL GROUP! KATRINA

OUR LEADERS HAD GOOD

MATURITY AND WERE GENUINE.
THEY SHOWED MUCH CARE
FOR THE GROUP. THEY WERE
A POSITIVE DRIVING FORCE
AND PASSIONATE ABOUT
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT.
AZHAR

I FELT LIKE A
PEER AND NOT
LIKE I WAS BEING
PREACHED TO.
JENNIFER

THIRTY
HOST HOMES

ALL NUMBERS ABOVE ARE A COMBINED TOTAL FROM BOTH COLUMBIA HEIGHTS AND EAST SIDE PARISHES.

WWW.DISTRICTCHURCH.ORG

Service & Outreach

2014-2015

252

People serving on
ministry teams

2028

Service hours given

1,573 COLUMBIA HEIGHTS
455 EAST SIDE

I REALLY ENJOY BEING IN THE BACK OF THE ROOM,

SEEING WHATS ON STAGE WHILE SEEING THE WHOLE
CONGREGATION AND HAVING THE OPPORTUNITY
TO WITNESS HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE WORSHIPING
TOGETHER BUT EACH IN THEIR OWN WAY.
SHIRI YADLIN, SOUND AND SLIDES VOLUNTEER

+
Over the last
year, weve also
partnered with:

10

Homeless Playtime
Project and Park
View Kids Zone;

THE DISTRICT CHURCH | ANNUAL REPORT 2015

Columbia Heights Educational

Campus, Miner Elementary School,
and Next Step Public Charter School;

Various anti-human
trafficking and HIV/
AIDS organizations.

Ours is neither a solitary nor self-serving faith, but one that

continues to push us out out to the world around us, out to the
margins and out towards our neighbors. As The District Church lives
into our disciple-making mission, we continue to ask, In what ways
are we outward-facing and outward-reaching?
As we face our city, we continue to provide prayers, support, and leadership to the DC127 initiative
that was birthed in our church and in our midst. In our work with DC127, we ask those marked by
Gods love to face outward towards children awaiting a foster or adoptive home. As we face our
neighborhoods, we look at those who live around us and ask God to show us ways to be helpful,
faithful, and effective neighbors, displaying
to those closest to us what it means to be a
follower of Jesus. As we face outward towards
the schools in which we gather for worship,
we display care and solidarity with them by
serving the parents during monthly Parent
Teacher Organization meetings, by sponsoring
Teacher Appreciation Lunches, and by serving
alongside neighborhood volunteers during
school beautification days. And as we face
our world, we commission missionaries, aid
workers, and church planters to go out. We
pray for and support those serving victims of
human trafficking, those who care for people
living in the aftermath of violence and oppression, and those planting churches in the greater DC area
and globally in places like Montreal, Canada.
All of this reminds us all that some of our neighbors live just a little farther away, but nevertheless
are loved by God and by us. Theres much to celebrate in our efforts at reaching out. It is right that
we should celebrate the dozens and dozens of District Church volunteers serving homeless children,
tutoring high schoolers, serving elementary school parents, and caring for our citys streets. And still
we continue to be a church that faces outward, asking what else and whats next, laboring together as
those following Jesus and seeking the renewal of our city.

WWW.DISTRICTCHURCH.ORG

11

71%

Giving

of our churchs giving

comes in online. To set
up your giving, visit
districtchurch.org/give.

Financial Highlights JULY 1, 2014 JUNE 30, 2015 (FISCAL YEAR)

Our Executive Board carefully seeks Gods guidance in determining and approving the allocation of each years
budget. Our staff are challenged and expected to be prudent stewards of the budgets entrusted to them. Every
dollar received or spent is accounted for through careful record keeping by our staff and our accounting firm.

To request a full financial report, email finance@districtchurch.org

Last Years Income

Last Years Expenses

General Tithes & Offerings

$1,007,977

Personnel

$431,782

Total Designated Giving

$282,731

Leadership Development

$47,768

Total Giving

$1,290,708

Discipleship

$29,079

Ministry Teams

$43,850

Communications

$38,120

Operations

$54,784

Facilities

$195,261

Launch Expenses

$26,874

Outreach

$306,097

TOTAL EXPENSES

$1,173,616

TOTAL INCOME

$1,209,708

NET INCOME

$117,092

**Designated giving includes: DC127, Advent Offering, Pentecost

Offering, Leadership Residents & District Renewal Fund

THIS YEARS BUDGET

TOTAL
2015-16 BUDGET:

$1,654,983
7.1.15 - 6.30.16

Notes

$622,214
$243,861
$299,908
$259,000
$230,000

TOTAL CHURCH PERSONNEL

TOTAL FACILITIES
TOTAL MINISTRY EXPENSES
TOTAL OUTREACH
TOTAL SAVINGS & EXPANSION

Average weekly giving needed = $31,827.

Average weekly giving needed per person = $64.

12

THE DISTRICT CHURCH | ANNUAL REPORT 2015

+ All numbers include both Columbia Heights & East Side parishes
+ Personnel includes: Lead Pastor, East Side Pastor, Pastor of
Teaching & Formation, Discipleship Pastor, Worship & Arts
Director, Operations Manager, Communications Coordinator, Kids
City Leadership, Residents & Fellows.
+ Ministry teams include: Hospitality, Kids City, Worship,
Production, Visual Arts, and Prayer.
+ Facility rentals include: CHEC, Miner Elementary, Next Step PCS,
and Church Office.
+ Outreach includes: DC127, Advent & Pentecost offerings, local/
global projects, mission partnerships, network giving, and
benevolence. With your financial support we launched DC127 as a
separate legal entity in April.
+ Net Income is set aside for savings and future expansion.

NEWCOMERS DINNERS

Getting Connected

ES

CH

5 Year Numbers

2014-2015

2014-2015

68

14

10

1019

277

38

dinners/lunches

people served

dinners/lunches

people served

dinners/lunches

people served

ONL INE AT D I STRI CTCH U RC H .O RG

36,265

UNIQUE WEBSITE
VIEWS

2,892

SOCIAL MEDIA
REFERRALS

WWW.DISTRICTCHURCH.ORG

13

Timeline

Just as we celebrate spiritual markers in our own journey of following Christ,

we want to celebrate the spiritual markers in the life of our church. There are so
many we could include but here are a few highlights:
A P R IL 2010

S EPTEMB ER 19, 2010

NOVEMB ER 2011

The
Beginning

Public
Launch

Ordained to the
Gospel Ministry

Pastors Aaron & Amy Graham

begin hosting a small group
& launch team meetings in
their home. What starts with
10 people grows to 35 people
by the end of the summer and
they outgrow their home.

We hold our first public

worship gathering at Capital
City Public Charter School (now
Next Step PCS) with 48 adults
and 2 kids in attendance.

Justin Fung becomes the first

person ordained at The District
Church into pastoral ministry.

SE P T E M B E R 2 013

NOVEMB ER 2013

AU G U ST 201 4

Office Space

DC127 hosts
Foster the City

Columbia Heights
Parish Moves to
CHEC

Our staff outgrows the

local coffee shops and the
Fairmont House and we
move into a leased space in
the Shaw neighborhood.

14

Inspired from James 1:27, The

District Church launches a
new ministry called DC127.
Chelsea Geyer serves as the
first staff person and convenes
28 churches from across DC for
"Foster the City" to begin the
work of reversing the fostercare wait list in DC. Today our
church gives over $100,000 a
year to DC127.

THE DISTRICT CHURCH | ANNUAL REPORT 2015

After praying for many years

God opens the door for us to
begin worshiping weekly at
Columbia Heights Educational Campus next door to
where we have been meeting
for the last four years. The
space is four times the size
and allows us to move back
to two morning services. This
also begins a new partnership with a school serving
low-income families in DC.

A P R IL 201 2

JA N UA RY 2 01 3

J UN E 2013

Fairmont House
Purchased

Leadership
Retreat

The East Side

Parish Launches

With a vision to train leaders

called to ministry in DC the
Leadership Residency House
is purchased. Justin Fung
becomes first staff person to
live in the house. It also serves
as the churchs first real office
for a year.

At our annual Leadership Retreat

we prayed and believed God for
1) a 2nd Parish and 2) a Foster
Care Ministry. Both of which
were prayers that would be
answered the following year.

A group of about 40 TDC'ers

that live near the H Street
Corridor are convened by
Pastor Justin Fung to start a
second parish and launch weekly
services at Miner Elementary
School. Over 100 people attend
the first service.

SE P T E MBE R 2 014

JA N UA RY 2 01 5

J ULY 2015

Pastoring the
East Side Parish

A Church of
Small Groups

Generosity
Accumulates

After moving here from

Memphis with his wife Lisa
and three children and living
at the Fairmont House for the
first year, Matthew Watson
becomes pastor of the East Side
Parish and works to intentionally
expand the church's presence
in the neighborhood, especially
through the volunteers serving
weekly with Kids' & Teen City.

We continue to be a church
of small groups. We now have
over 40 groups meeting weekly
to study God's Word and
fellowship in every quadrant of
the city and in MD and VA.

In the last five years, we have

given away almost $700,000
to care for the poor, plant new
churches, and advance Gods
justice mission locally in DC.
With your continued giving we
are on track to give $1 million
to missions before the end of
next year!

WWW.DISTRICTCHURCH.ORG

15

East Side Parish

At our two year celebration in June, we set about remembering again why we
planted the church on H Street and what our vision was for starting a new
community of faith here. We remembered our passion to see the gospel take root in this neighborhood.
We remembered the desire to be a community that welcomed new DC residents who arrive full of education, hopes
and aspiration and longtime DC residents who share history, wisdom and struggle. We remembered the deep
burden to reach children and teenagers with the message of Christ and the message that they are treasures. We
remembered the simple beginnings of gathering in homes, praying in living rooms and serving neighbors.
Two years later, this remains our vision: to be a church that reaches across race and class and embodies the beloved
community that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke of. As we continue to make disciples and set our hearts about
participating in Gods renewal of all things, we find ourselves gaining increasing favor with Miner Elementary, with
the students, their parents, and the administration of that school. Were serving the parent teacher organization,
were teaching students in the schools community garden, and were serving on neighborhood councils. We could
speak of our growing passion to engage the arts community on H Street and the deposits of beauty many within
our parish are making storytelling events, grassroots music events, songwriting workshops as well as our efforts
at the simple art of neighboring. In all of this all of our planning and planting, all of our preaching and storytelling,
all of our serving and supporting our goal is to see disciples made, our city renewed, and Gods Kingdom come on
H Street as it is in Heaven.

Matthew Watson
East Side Pastor & Outreach Pastor

16

THE DISTRICT CHURCH | ANNUAL REPORT 2015

DC127
DC127 was launched by The District Church in 2013, and we are a network
of churches dedicated to ensuring every child in foster care has a home, and
families in crisis get the support they need to stay together.

foster or
adoptive families

15

Safe Families
Host Homes
active or in
process

80

volunteers in
mentoring,
coordinating, and
support roles

core church
partners, and
20 churches in
our network

+20

kids served
by the DC127
network

THERE ARE A LOT OF REALLY GOOD

CAUSES TO BE INVOLVED WITH IN THE
CITY, BUT FOR ME DC127 IS ONE OF
THE MOST EXCITING. ITS NOT JUST
ABOUT A PERSON SIGNING UP FOR AN
ORGANIZATION AND VOLUNTEERING
SOME TIME, BUT ITS ABOUT MOBILIZING
GODS PEOPLE TO PURSUE GODS HEART IN
RADICAL WAYS IN COMMUNITY WITHIN
THEIR CHURCHES AND WITH OTHER
CHURCHES AROUND THE CITY. WHEN
I THINK ABOUT NOT ONLY THE GREAT
NEEDS, BUT ALSO THE GLORY THAT GOD
GETS WHEN THE CITY SEES THE CHURCH
RESPONDING AND TRULY LOVING THEIR
NEIGHBORS, ITS CLEAR TO ME THAT THIS
IS WHERE I WANT TO DIG IN AND SPEND
MY TIME. ... ITS BEEN SO ENCOURAGING
TO SEE PEOPLE ASKING THEMSELVES
WHAT CAN I DO?, WHETHER THEY ARE
SINGLE OR MARRIED, LIVING WITH HER
ROOMMATES OR ON THEIR OWN, FEW
SEEM TO HAVE EXEMPTED THEMSELVES
FROM THIS CALL.
WHITNEY KING, CHURCH COORDINATOR,
RESTORATION CHURCH

WWW.DISTRICTCHURCH.ORG

17

Staff

We are an elder-ruled and staff-led church, meaning that the eldersor what we call our
executive boardhold the staff accountable to make sure the mission and vision are achieved in a financially
and legally responsible way that upholds biblical standards and fits within our values as a church. Our staff and
leadership community of small group leaders and ministry team leaders carry out and lead the bulk of the ministry.
While our church is non-denominational, we are connected with four associations that we learn from and
collaborate with for common mission: New Thing Network, Ecclesia Network, BGAV / V3, and the Christian
Community Development Association.
As a staff this year we have been focusing on five strategic priorities: Please join us in prayer as we seek to deepen
our impact in these five areas as a church.

18

1. We care for our souls: We want to maintain our

focus more on who we are becoming than what we are
accomplishing, knowing that we cannot separate the
health of the minister from the health of the ministry.

4. We expand our neighborhood presence: We want

to form deeper partnerships and relationships on the
neighborhood level through our local parishes and
small groups.

2. We clarify our discipleship process: We want to make

it clear how someone can follow Jesus and help others
follow Jesus here in DC through the ministry of TDC.

5. We deepen our volunteer engagement: We want

to improve the ways we recruit, train, and celebrate
our volunteers.

3. We become more intentionally diverse: We

want to build on our growing diversity to even more
intentionally become a church that looks like heaven
and acts like Jesus.

We are always focused on advancing our mission of

discipleship and reaching our city, but these strategic
priorities are crucial for us to focus on to help us more
faithfully live out this mission.

THE DISTRICT CHURCH | ANNUAL REPORT 2015

Whats Next
+
Executive Board
Michael Li

God-Sized Dreams

Erika Prochaska

Have you ever felt God calling you to do something but lacked the
finances or capacity to carry it out? This is what we sense as a
church. We believe God has called us to each of these endeavors;
however, each will require God-sized resources. Will you join us in
praying that these dreams would become a reality?

Jiyoung Park
Asa Briggs
Adam Nations
Aaron Graham
Staff
Aaron Graham - Lead Pastor
(reports to Executive Board)
Matthew Watson - East Side
Pastor & Outreach Pastor
Amy Graham - Discipleship Pastor
& Small Groups Coordinator
Justin Fung - Teaching &
Formation Pastor
Anna Hurley - Operations
Manager & Executive Assistant
Kimberly Williams - Worship &
Production Leader
Jordan Wilson - Worship Arts
Director
Beverly Lwenya - Communications
Coordinator
Andrea Ackermann - Part-Time
Worship Leader, East Side Parish
Ministry Fellows
Jenn Nichols - Discipleship Fellow
Seminary Interns
Jacqueline Lee - Baxter
Sylveta Brown
Ministry Team Leaders
Vivi Coria - Kids City Columbia
Heights Leader
Courtney Albon - Hospitality Team
East Side Leader
David Hood - Production Team
East Side Leader

Plant a third parish: Pray for God to reveal to us the specific

neighborhood in DC we are to plant in next. Ask God to raise up
our next pastor, as well as a team of small group and ministry team
leaders, who will lead us.
Affordable Housing: Pray for the financial resources and for
favor to be able to acquire a piece of land or property in order to
build affordable housing for the poor in our city. Pray also for the
opportunity to solve our office and event space needs through
this project.
Leadership Pipeline: Join us in praying for future parish pastors,
worship leaders, artists, and ministry leaders to emerge from within
our church and that we would have the openness to receive those
God sends us from afar.
Recovery Ministry: Pray for our church to be known as a place
where the sick can come for healing; for a willingness in our
church to admit our powerlessness over addictions and unhealthy
relationships and to get help; for lay counselors to be trained; for
support groups, partnerships with professional counselors, and a
recovery gathering.
Reverse the List: Through birthing DC127, we are focused on the
day when there will be no more children waiting for families, but
rather families waiting for children. We want churches in DC to rise
up to take a lead in opening their homes to adopt, foster, or become
host homes to care for children and families in crisis here in our city.

BY GIVING TO THE DISTRICT RENEWAL FUND,

YOU CAN HELP MAKE THESE GOD-SIZED
DREAMS BECOME A REALITY!

WWW.DISTRICTCHURCH.ORG

19

COLUMBIA HEIGHTS PARISH

10:00 AM & 11:30 AM

Columbia Heights Educational Campus

3101 16th St NW
Washington, DC 20010
EAST SIDE PARISH
10:30 AM

Miner Elementary School

601 15th St NE
Washington, DC 20002

CHURCH OFFICE

1616 7th St NW
Washington, DC 20001
facebook.com/districtchurch
@districtchurch
www.districtchurch.org