Washington, DC International Christian Church

“The Word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet… over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.’ The Word of the Lord came to me: ‘What do you see, Jeremiah?’ ‘I see the branch of an almond tree,’ I replied. The Lord said to me, ‘You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my Word is fulfilled.’” Jeremiah 1:4-5, 9-12

What a weekend! From Friday to Sunday, March 14 -16, the 21 disciples of the “DC Mission Team” met at the Days Inn on Connecticut Avenue in Northwest DC. This gathering of disciples from Syracuse, New York; Corvallis, Oregon; and Chicago, Illinois experienced an incredible time of inspiration and fellowship as the team was also joined by Kip & Elena McKean of the City of Angels International Christian Church (Los Angeles) and Chris & Theresa Broom of the Chicago International Christian Church!

The Lord brought us together to “explore the land” (Numbers 13:2) and to restore the vision of building a metropolitan church of sold-out disciples in DC who would be “perfectly united in mind and thought” with God’s new movement of discipling churches around the world! Some have asked the question, “Why plant a new church?” In order to appreciate the necessity of this undertaking, it is imperative to understand the history of the former Washington, DC International Church of Christ. In June of 1989, the Boston Church of Christ led by the McKeans, sent out Russ & Gail Ewell accompanied by a mission team of 14 disciples to plant the Washington, DC Church of Christ. The church grew quickly. By March of 2000 this dynamic congregation had reached an attendance nearing 3,000, with disciples meeting in four regional groups: Baltimore, Northern Virginia, Montgomery County – Maryland and the District of Columbia (DC). Sadly, corresponding with the Absalomic rise in influence of some prominent Evangelists and most Kingdom Teachers and Kingdom Elders, the worldwide continuity of our beloved fellowship began to dissolve in late 2002 from the decisions reached at the Long Beach Unity Meeting in Los Angeles. A “leader of the movement” and central leadership were declared “unbiblical” and replaced with a church government of autonomy as most ICOC leaders agreed to return to a more mainline theology. From these changes, rebellion was sparked with the Kriete letter of early 2003. By the summer of 2003, the Baltimore Region of the former DC Church split off and became an autonomous congregation, and by the fall of 2003, the other three regions in Montgomery County, Northern Virginia, and the District of Columbia did the same. Later, the Northern Virginia group again divided into two more autonomous churches.
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Definitions of “standard” from The American Heritage Dictionary:

Standard (n.) - A flag, banner, or ensign, especially: The ensign of a chief of state, nation, or city. (emphasis added)

Standard (n.) - An acknowledged measure of comparison for quantitative or qualitative value; a criterion. (emphasis added)

The Iwo Jima Memorial near Washington D.C., commemorating the raising of the American flag atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945.

In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to Him, and His place of rest will be glorious. In that day the Lord will reach out His hand a SECOND TIME to reclaim the remnant that is left of His people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea. He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; He will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth. Isaiah 11:10-12 (emphasis added)In an army, banners and flags are called “standards.” Historically, one of the most important and most honored duties of a soldier is carrying the flag. These banners and flags were not merely for decoration. They represented the army’s beliefs and served a strategic purpose.
During the American Civil War (1861-1865), troops kept the unity of their lines and knew the right direction to go by following the standard-bearer. One of the enemy’s chief goals would be to capture or destroy the standard, after which the whole army would be thrown into disarray and confusion. If the standard-bearer fell, it became the responsibility of the closest soldier to him to pick up the flag and continue the advance. “Never let the colors touch the ground” was the standing order. Dropping a rifle in battle to pick up a flag doesn’t seem to make much sense at first. But when you realize the importance of keeping the standard held high, it becomes more important than carrying a weapon. Without it the troops would be scattered and confused. The flag or the standard is the rallying point.

The march on Washington D.C., 1963.

Washington, DC has long been the rallying point to raise the “banner” of freedom in view of all the American people and the world. Major historical events have occurred at the National Mall; one of the most famous being the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom Rally at the Lincoln Memorial. It was here that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech on August 28, 1963. With estimates of the crowd as high as 500,000 people, it was one of the largest political demonstrations in U.S. history to date and still one of the most vividly remembered. James Baldwin wrote, “That day, for a moment, it almost seemed that we stood on a height, and could see our inheritance; perhaps we could make the kingdom real, perhaps the beloved community would not forever remain the dream one dreamed in agony.”My beautiful wife, Patrique and I both remember the joy of rallying to the freedom of God’s standard in becoming disciples of Jesus. We remember the privilege of being able to learn the truth about our eternal inheritance through Christ, and observe that God’s Kingdom was “forcefully advancing!” (Matthew 11:12) Patrique began studying the Bible in 2001 and was soon baptized into Christ. She began working tirelessly to expand and mature the Teen Ministry, while also balancing a hectic schedule as a corporate attorney. As a pre-med major at Cornell University, I studied the Bible and was baptized into Christ in 2000. A year later I began serving in the full-time ministry while also completing a Masters Degree in Healthcare Administration. Those days were like standing on a height, inspired to see what God could do through sinful men!
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