In 1996, Mark Batterson opened a “church for the unchurched” with about 50 worshipers meeting in Union Station’s dingy, basement movie theaters. Today, National Community Church, named one of America’s “most innovative and influential” by the Christian Outreach magazine, has expanded to three more D.C-area theaters, a Capitol Hill coffee shop, and weekly attendance of about 1,500 people. The unexpected early October closing of the Union Station theaters left one congregation homeless, but faithful. Batterson, 39, spoke with The Examiner about where his faith comes from, and what place has to do with it.
Do you consider yourself to be of a specific faith?
I’m a Christian and I fall into the Protestant camp, but these days the simple answers don’t suffice. I grew up going to church, but several different brands of it, from Baptist to Assemblies of God to nondenominational. The thing that I love is that the church I pastor is an eclectic congregation in terms of backgrounds, so my own variety of experiences prepared me to pastor people of different backgrounds.
Did anyone or any event especially influence your faith or your path in life?
I’ve got a picture right behind my desk of a cow pasture in Alexandria, Minnesota — which sounds strange. But when I was 19 years old, on a trip with my family, I got up early in the morning and took a prayer walk down some dirt roads, and that’s where I was when I really felt like God was calling me into full time ministry. For a long time I’d invited Jesus to follow me, but that’s very different than the invitation that he extended. At that moment it wasn’t about Jesus following me, but about me following him. Man, that was a defining moment for me. I gave up a full-ride scholarship at the University of Chicago and transferred to a small Bible college in Missouri to pursue the ministry.
What did it feel like? It was scary — faith wouldn’t be faith without an element of doubt. It’s not like I saw handwriting on a wall, but I heard what I would describe as the inaudible but unmistakable voice of God. There are those unique moments, call them an epiphany. The Holy Spirit, in that still, small voice, speaks to you. And there’s no other explanation other than, “I think God wants me to do this.” You almost had to be there. People who have had those moments can identify, but you almost had to have been there.
How has the loss of your church space at the now-shuttered Union Station movie theaters affected your faith, or your worship?
It was a healthy reminder that a church is not a building, but a church is a people. It knocked the wind out of us, but man, we are so full of faith — we’re so energized and optimistic. It’s been terrible and wonderful, but we’re encouraged. We continue to pursue different options.
Have you ever worried that holding church services in movie theaters and coffee shops somehow detracts from the sanctity of worship?
I come from a school of thought that you can redeem anything and use it for God’s purposes. I love the idea of going into a movie theater where sometimes things are showing on the screen that aren’t exactly uplifting. I love that you can turn anyplace into a sanctuary — we use the screen as postmodern stained glass, and videos as creative elements of worship. All we’re doing is using a new medium and redeeming it for God’s purposes.
At your core, what is one of your defining beliefs?
I have a simple mission statement — I exist to help people reach their God-given potential. As a pastor, a writer, a father — I see potential in people, and I feel like my job is to help them maximize that potential. The church is too often fixated on sins of commission — don’t do this, don’t do that. But I believe you can do nothing wrong, and still do nothing right. I think it’s the sins of omission — what you would’ve, could’ve, or should’ve done — that grieve the heart of our heavenly father. The church is known for what it’s against, and not what it’s for. And that’s a problem.
– Leah Fabel
