Networks

Our offices in Washington, DC serve three sister congregations: the Church of the Advent in Columbia Heights, the Church of the Resurrection on Capitol Hill and the Church of the Ascension in Arlington, Virginia. Pastors and staff meet together weekly for prayer, mutual encouragement, strategy, and sharing of best practices. As God provides people and financial resources, we will continue to establish separate new congregations throughout metro Washington while remaining a united family in Christ.

Our three sister congregations are part of a larger network of churches in the Northeast under the spiritual oversight of Bishop Thaddeus Barnum. Member churches support one another in mission and prayer, and endeavor to meet together twice each year.

Ascension is part of an international network of churches known as the Anglican Communion. This network grew out of the missionary expansion of the Church of England over the past 500 years, and now consists of 38 self-governing provinces around the world, in 164 countries, with tens of millions of members. In many places particularly throughout the Global South, the churches of the Anglican Communion are known for their vibrant faith in God and transformational presence within their communities.

The Church of the Ascension participates in the Anglican Communion by virtue of its affiliation with the Anglican Church of Rwanda. In 1994, Rwanda was devastated by genocide, as one-tenth of the population–roughly one million people–was slaughtered in 100 days of ethnic violence between Hutus and Tutsis. In the aftermath, Christians began working for forgiveness and reconciliation throughout the country, including in refugee camps and prisons. As people heard the good news about Jesus, victims and perpetrators became friends and family through him. Today, more than 1 million people–Hutus and Tutsis–gather every Sunday in Anglican churches in Rwanda to worship the God who saves and makes enemies friends. In human terms, this kind of genuine transformation is simply unfathomable. But for Christians, it is what is known as “Amazing Grace,” and is the central theme of the Bible: God loved the world so much that he gave his own Son to be slaughtered on a cross, so that whoever believes in him might be forgiven their wrongdoings and reconciled to him through the resurrection power of Jesus. More than anything else, this Amazing Grace is what is needed to address the brokenness of the city of Washington, DC. That’s why Amazing Grace is at the center of the life and ministry of the Church of the Ascension.

You can read more of the story of how Ascension became affiliated with the Anglican Church of Rwanda in Thad Barnum’s book, Never Silent.